Elderly Woman Found Dead in Car at JFK Airport Long-Term Lot

A grim discovery stunned travelers at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday when police found the body of an 83-year-old woman inside a vehicle parked in the long-term lot.

According to Port Authority officials, officers were called to Lot 9 around 2:10 p.m. after a passerby reported a woman slumped in her car near Aqueduct Road and Lefferts Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens. Emergency responders smashed a window to get inside but quickly realized there was nothing they could do. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

“She was spotted earlier in the day in the same position. When she didn’t move for hours, someone finally called it in,” one law enforcement source told reporters.

Photos from the lot show the woman’s body, concealed under a white sheet, lying beside the open door of a white sedan. Yellow police tape cordoned off the area while stunned travelers looked on.

Sources told the New York Post that the vehicle’s engine was last seen running on September 30—two days before the body was discovered. Investigators are now piecing together whether the woman may have died earlier in the week and gone unnoticed in one of the airport’s busiest parking lots.

“It’s deeply unsettling to think someone could sit there for days without being found,” said a Queens resident who frequently parks at JFK. “This raises real questions about security patrols in those lots.”

Officials stressed that the discovery has not disrupted airport operations or traffic flow. Still, part of the lot remains blocked off while investigators comb the vehicle for clues.

The Port Authority Police Department confirmed that the city medical examiner will determine the cause of death. Foul play has not been ruled out, though detectives are also weighing the possibility of a medical episode.

The woman’s name has not yet been released, as police work to notify her family. For now, the case remains under investigation.

“This is a tragic situation,” a Port Authority spokesperson said. “We are awaiting the results of the medical examiner’s report.”