Mystery of 500 pounds of pasta found dumped in a New Jersey town may have been solved

It appears officials now have a good idea of where 500 pounds of pasta found dumped near a stream in a New Jersey town may have come from.

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The pasta, which included spaghetti, elbow pasta and ziti, was left along a 25-foot-wide area next to the stream in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, last week, nj.com reported.

Nina Jochnowitz, who previously ran for council in the town’s sixth ward, was contacted by a citizen about the pasta dump, the website reported.

It was unclear how long the pasta had been there before Jochnowitz was notified, she said.

Police are investigating the pasta dump, Himanshu Shah, Old Bridge’s business administrator, said. The town’s Department of Public Works cleaned up the pasta.

“DPW visited the site and did in fact find what appeared to be 15 wheelbarrow loads of illegally dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood,” Shah said in a statement.

According to NBC New York, neighbors said that the pasta came from a house a man was cleaning out after his mother died.

“I mean, I really feel like he was just trying to clear out his parents’ house and they were probably stocked up from COVID,” said Keith Rost, a neighbor.

People in the neighborhood said the pasta was not cooked when it was dumped but absorbed moisture once outside on the ground.

“We would estimate several hundred pounds of uncooked pasta that was removed from the packaging and then dumped along the creek. It looks like it was only there for a short time, but moisture did start to soften some of the pasta,” Shah said.