Authorities Seek Clues in East Hanover Woman's Death

The circumstances of an East Hanover woman's death from injuries sustained in a fire in a wooded area across the street from her house this week remain under investigation, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.

Authorities are now seeking clues to the woman's whereabouts leading up to her death.

Kim DeOliveira, 53, died early Monday morning near 39 Phyldan Road, across the street from the home where she lived with her husband, Fred, at 44 Phyldan Road. Autopsy results are pending.

Authorities are requesting information on Kim DeOliveira's whereabouts from noon Sunday until the early-morning hours on Monday. Investigators have learned DeOliveira shopped at Marshall's department store off Route 10 in East Hanover where she was seen leaving at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Investigators are still trying to determine where DeOliveira was before she arrived at the store and where she went afterward.

"We are in the process of conducting interviews and performing forensic analysis of the evidence that we have collected," Acting Prosecutor Fredric Knapp said. "The investigation is ongoing and we are making progress to determine what happened to Ms. DeOliveira.”

Steve Pezzino, who lives at 39 Phyldan Road, said he saw several small fires in the woods behind his property at about 3 a.m. Monday, according to the Daily Record. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, Pezzino said he encountered Fred DeOliveira, who was looking for his wife at about 5 a.m., the article said.

The DeOliveiras were a subject of a 2008 Redbook magazine article called “Renovating Our Home Is Demolishing Our Marriage!”

In a March 2008 Redbook article, which has been removed from the magazine's website, DeOliveira complained that her handyman husband worked long hours but neglected their own home, which she said was in desperate need of a renovation.

DeOliveira's death remains under investigation by the Major Crimes Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, East Hanover Township Police Department, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Section and the Morris County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“We ask that any person who knew Kim DeOliveira, or who may have any information about her movements to contact the police to help our investigation," East Hanover Police Chief Stanley Hansen said.

Anyone with information can contact the East Hanover Township Police Department at 973-887-0432 or the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 973-285-6200.