The body, possibly of the Irish filmmaker, appears on a New York beach

Irish filmmaker and cinematographer Ross McDonnell remains missing after police found a dismembered body on a New York beach.

The NYPD was called to Breezy Point Beach around noon on Friday after someone saw the human torso, with its legs attached and no head or arms, lying in the sand, an NYPD spokesperson told The Associated Press. Times. Police described the body as having “legs attached.”

McDonnell is believed to have gone swimming a couple of weeks ago at the beach next to where the body was found on Friday; She hasn’t been seen since. Authorities, who have not yet identified the body, are awaiting the results of DNA tests, the New York Post reported.

Police said the medical examiner’s office would determine the cause of death, but that the person’s identity would not be released until the family had been notified.

However, a WNBC report Citing law enforcement sources, police believe the body may be that of McDonnell. Foul play or suicide is not suspected, they added; He probably went swimming, got caught in a current and drowned. The damage to the body was likely caused by ocean hazards such as sharp rocks.

McDonnell, 44, was last seen on Nov. 4 leaving his apartment on a bicycle in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, according to multiple news reports. Several days later, his bicycle was discovered on Fort Tilden Beach in Queens, according to a lost poster shared by Dublin-based production company Wild Atlantic Pictures.

Representatives for the production company did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment.

One of McDonnell’s close friends, Gene Gallerano, told the Irish times last week that McDonnell was believed to have been at the beach and gone “into the ocean.”

“He was last seen on Saturday night, the alarm went off on Sunday, we don’t know much more than that,” Gallerano told the publication. “It’s been a very, very emotionally intense week.”

McDonnell, a Dublin native, recently resided in New York and traveled often for work. He is best known for his work in documentary film, as he co-directed 2009’s “Colony,” which chronicled the mass disappearance of bee colonies in the U.S. The film was released that year in the Toronto International Film Festival and won a top prize at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.

McDonnell also received News and Documentary Emmy Awards for his cinematography on the Showtime documentary series “The Trade” and a 2021 COVID-19 documentary “The first wave.” He is nominated for the 2024 Cinema Eye Honors as director of photography in Jimmy Chin-hosted the National Geographic series, “Edge of the Unknown,” which airs on Disney+.

McDonnell’s work as a photographer and photojournalist can be found at The New York Times, the new yorker and attenuator. In 2021, she published a series of photographs spanning almost a decade, during which she documented young Irish people experiencing one of Europe’s largest urban renewal projects, centered in Dublin. She focused on the suburb of Ballymun and hoped to undertake more projects in the neighbourhood.

“After many years photographing in Ballymun I still feel very close to those guys and we are still friends today.” he said Museum of Photography Ireland last year. “Looking ahead, I think it is time to consider what I can do with and for the Ballymun community, in terms of reciprocity through my photography.”