Remains of Seton Hall University student who went missing in 2015 found on NJ bike trail

Human remains found along a bike trail in New Jersey were positively linked to a college student who went missing near his home in 2015.

John Paul Fernandez, a 22-year-old senior at Seton Hall University, vanished near his home in Madison on Dec. 13, 2015. He was last seen along Natco Lake on Route 36 South in Hazlet, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

On Nov. 4, 2024, officers with the Middletown Police Department and, later, investigators with the prosecutor’s office’s Major Crimes Bureau investigated reports of human remains found in the area of Willow Street in Middletown. The dead-end residential street runs parallel to the Henry Hudson Bike Trail, the Asbury Park Press reported.

It took nearly a year, but last week, Ninia Fernandez, John Paul’s mother, shared the DNA testing on her Facebook that confirmed the remains belonged to her son. She wrote that authorities notified her of the match on Oct. 14.

“There are no words to describe the pain and the countless tears we have cried for him — every single day, for every year he was gone. While this brings heartbreaking closure, it also brings peace to finally bring our son home,” she wrote.

“JP had a gentle and giving heart. He always stepped up when needed. He was quirky, funny, and full of life — the kind of person who could make anyone laugh with his animated stories and contagious energy. That was who he was: dependable, kind, and never afraid to be himself.”

Ninia previously told The Setonian that John Paul left a six-page suicide note at their home describing how he planned to “end his life in a high place somewhere in the woods.”

No cause of death has been determined based on the recovered remains.

Since John Paul’s disappearance, Ninia posted annual tributes on his birthday, sharing that she was “still crying for [him] every single day since [he] left” while also keeping tally of the days, even as they ticked into the thousands. She also frequently shared posts directed specifically to John Paul, asking him to share “a clue” about where he was to “give me peace.”

“Remember the last time we spoke? I told you I felt your pain in my heart. You said you can’t believe how I found it in my heart to forgive,” she recalled in a tribute posted on his 23rd birthday, the first celebration since his disappearance.

“How much longer? Only you and God knows. As I have mentioned before, I will be patiently waiting. The day you come home, no words, just hugs. I just hope that it won’t be too late for me to enjoy that day,” Ninia wrote in 2018.

“Come on home darling. We can’t wait for you to feel the unconditional love we have for you. There will be tears but this time it would be tears of joy,” she added in another post.

The grieving mother also detailed the difficulties that came with not knowing anything about what happened to John Paul and wrote on Facebook that she frequently worried about whether he had lost weight, had cavities, or if his glasses needed repairing.

Ninia said that the family will be organizing a private service for her son ahead of a separate celebration of life “where all who wish to honor his memory will be welcome.”