POUGHKEEPSIE – A body recovered from the Hudson River near Waryas Park on Saturday is said to be that of National Guard Sergeant Nicolas Faust, 43, who went missing after leaving a social gathering in Poughkeepsie on March 24, 2024. City of Poughkeepsie police and fire departments were dispatched to the park on Saturday, May 4, 2024, just after 5:00 pm for the report of a body in the water.
At the time of the dispatch, hundreds of people were in the park for various events, and many became onlookers as Poughkeepsie firefighters launched a boat to recover the body and return to the shore. News of the recovery spread through social circles rapidly, resulting in friends and family of Faust traveling to the park.
New York State Police investigators responded to perform a tentative identification by comparing photos of distinguishing marks to those on the corpse. A person close to Faust told Mid Hudson News on Sunday that it was his friend. “The investigators who were following up with several of us regularly implied that it was Nick, but they said we had to wait for the official identification from the ME’s (Medical Examiner’s) Office for confirmation,” adding “It’s devastating.”
Faust had formerly lived in Marlboro in Ulster County and Peekskill in Westchester County. He had driven to a friend’s party on Mill Street in Poughkeepsie and was last seen at 2:00 am. When friends realized he had not been seen for quite some time, the police were notified, and an investigation ensued.
Over several days early in the investigation, Faust’s car was located in a semi-private parking lot near the party address and his wallet and identification were said to have been found inside by the state police. A review of surveillance footage from a nearby store showed Faust walking alone, traveling west on Mill Street from North Bridge Street toward North Perry Street. Surveillance cameras from an establishment near Main and Clover Streets were reviewed for the same time frame, with negative results. According to a source close to the investigation, cameras near the Poughkeepsie train station were also reviewed with no sign of Faust on the footage.
The body was turned over to the Dutchess County Medical Examiner’s Office for the determination of the cause of death.
