Brothers charged after body unearthed in Lumberton
LUMBERTON, N.J. (WPVI) -- Two brothers have been charged after a body was found buried in the backyard of the home where they lived in Lumberton, New Jersey.
Christopher Costello, 27, and Bryan Costello, 24, are both charged with murder.
The victim, 23-year-old Justin Dubois, lived with them at the home in the unit block of Spencer Court, the prosecutors office said. The home is owned by the suspects' father.
"Oh my God it's just unbelievable," said Geun Na, who lives just two doors down from the crime scene.
Investigators say they executed a search warrant after Dubois' relative reported him missing on Oct. 31, saying he had not been seen in four days.
Authorities say when they searched on Thursday they discovered the soil was disturbed in the backyard. They dug in that spot and found Dubois' body.
There was no immediate word on a motive or a cause of death.
Neighbors say they've complained to police for years about the steady flow of strangers in and out of the Costello house, but they never imagined what was happening there would end up with a body buried in the backyard.
"Well there was obviously some drug activity, that's for sure," said one neighbor who did not want to be identified." "The whole neighborhood is shocked, to say the least. This is Lumberton. This doesn't happen here."
"I'm a little scared. I have a seven-year-old, I try to keep him safe and stuff like this really, really hits home," said Kelly Walty.
The Costello brothers are being held on $500,000 cash bail each.
