From the June 23, 1870 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“The nude body of a man was found floating in the river at the foot of Eagle Street, Greenpoint, yesterday afternoon, under most peculiar circumstances. The corpse was that of a man apparently about forty years of age, five feet eight or nine inches in height, with dark, closely cut hair and a smooth face, and had evidently been in the water only a few days.

Around the neck and wrists were found double wires twisted in a form of a necklace and bracelets. These were rather loose, leaving room between the wires and flesh for the insertion of a finger, and look as though they might have been designed for the attachment of cords, though for what real purpose is unknown. A portion of cotton sheet from a bed was wound about the body, which gives rise to the supposition that the deceased had been a patient of some hospital where he died of disease and subsequently was thrown overboard from the hospital ship to save the trouble of a decent interment.”