A grieving mother says her family finally has “closure” after officials confirmed that human remains found last year belong to her son, who had been missing for nearly a decade.
John Paul Fernandez disappeared from his Middletown, N.J., home on Dec. 13, 2015. A missing person poster released by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office notes he was 23 when he was last spotted near Natco Lake on Route 36 South in Hazlet, N.J.
Nearly nine years later, on Nov. 4, 2024, investigators from the prosecutor’s office’s Major Crimes Bureau and the Middletown Police Department responded to reports of human remains in the area of Willow Street in Middletown. The dead-end residential street runs parallel to the Henry Hudson Bike Trail, per Asbury Park Press. At the time, officials said nothing about the discovery appeared suspicious.
In a Facebook post on Nov. 1, 2025, John Paul’s mother, Ninia Fernandez, shared that DNA testing confirmed the remains were his. The prosecutor’s office said members of the Middletown Police Department had informed Ninia of the positive identification on Oct. 14.
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“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,” she wrote. “While this brings heartbreaking closure, it also brings peace to finally bring our son home.”
She described her son as someone with “a gentle and giving heart” and someone who “always stepped up when needed.” She recalled his humor, lively personality, and ability to make others laugh with animated stories and infectious energy.
Ninia told Filipino outlet GMA News Online that John Paul had been a senior at Seton Hall University, where he was majoring in accounting.
She also thanked “everyone who helped us look for JP, prayed with us, and never stopped hoping alongside our family,” as well as the investigators and forensic experts who worked on the case.
Ninia shared that private services will be held, with a celebration of life planned for a later date so others can honor his memory.
She ended her message with a heartfelt note: “I miss my son so much — every single day. Thank you, from the depths of our hearts, for never forgetting him.”
