Port Liberte woman's body taken from water

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Police have identified the 58-year-old Jersey City woman who was found dead Sunday between her boat and the dock it was moored to at Port Liberte.

When Laura Costa-Prevant, of Half Moon Isle at Port Liberte, was reported missing on Friday it triggered an extensive search that was joined by the New York Police Department's Harbor Patrol, officials said.

On Sunday, an officer pushed Costa-Prevant's boat away from the floating dock where it is moored in the canal off Port Liberte and he discovered her body floating beside the dock, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said last night.

Costa-Prevant was fully clothed and wearing a brown fur coat when recovered from the water, the prosecutor said, adding that investigators believe she fell into the water.

Police found no signs of trauma to Costa-Prevant's body and an autopsy performed by at the state Regional Medical Examiner's Office in Newark found no signs of foul play, DeFazio said.

The medical examiner was unable to determine the cause of her death, which is pending further medical studies, including routine toxicological tests.

Jersey City Fire Department Battalion Chief Donald Windrem suffered a minor head injury during a fall while he and others were searching for Costa-Prevant.

MICHAELANGELO CONTE