Orange County family pleads for answers in 2004 fatal shooting of Warwick hunter
Media reports at the time indicated that state police ruled out suicide or a self-inflicted gunshot wound early in the case, and that no one reported an accidental shooting.
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A heartbroken Orange County family is renewing their plea for information from the public to help solve the mysterious death of a Warwick hunter killed almost 20 years ago.
Timothy Mania was 48 years old when state police say he was fatally shot a few days before Thanksgiving in 2004.
“Our family went looking for him,” says Mania’s niece, Stacy Gray. “Family members ended up finding him. He was shot while he was hunting.”
Gray says her uncle was a school bus driver in the Goshen area and was hunting in camouflage clothing before his afternoon run on his mother’s 75-acre property near Birdsall and Cascade roads in Warwick when he went missing. She says Mania was found dead the day later from a gunshot wound in the woods at the edge of the family’s property line.
Media reports at the time indicated that state police ruled out suicide or a self-inflicted gunshot wound early in the case, and that no one reported an accidental shooting. No arrests were ever made, and state police say there’s currently no new leads in what they say is a homicide case.
Gray says the impact on their family hasn’t lessened over the years.
“It played a big toll on a lot of our lives. My uncle was like a second father to me,” she said.
Mania's niece says the family has their suspicions about what happened, but nothing could be proved. Gray says her grandmother, Mania’s mom, and her own mother both passed away years ago without ever knowing for sure what happened or why. She’s asking anyone with information to help their family finally find closure as the anniversary of the tragedy nears.
“Please, come forward. It’s not fair for anybody just not knowing anything. It’s hard, very hard,” says Gray.
If you have information about what happened to Mania, state police say to call them at 845-782-8311 and reference case number 908160.
