Skeletal Remains Tied to Nurse Missing Nearly 4 Years, Police Say

Image: NYPD / Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock

Skeletal remains found behind a strip mall in Queens may finally bring closure to the nearly four-year search for a missing New York nurse.

The remains, discovered late Monday afternoon in College Point, are believed to belong to 69-year-old nurse Richard “Max” Albright, who disappeared on the morning of October 14, 2021. Albright worked at the Hospital for Special Surgery for 16 years before his sudden disappearance.

Missing Since 2021

Albright was last seen leaving his home in Jackson Heights on October 14, 2021. His wife, Cathy Albright, said he’d been dealing with foot pain that day and was wearing slider slippers, khaki pants, and a red shirt when he left for his usual morning walk.

Surveillance footage from their building’s lobby reportedly showed Richard shuffling as he exited, but he never returned home.

At the time, he had recently undergone three open-heart surgeries and was on blood thinners. Cathy believes he may have suffered a medical emergency shortly after leaving their apartment.

“I knew he had passed, but to have his remains and to know what happened is really what I want,” she told PIX11 News.

Human Remains Found

The remains — which included a human skull, hip, and leg bones — were discovered in a brushy, wooded area off 134-01 20th Ave. and Main Street in College Point, just before 4 p.m. Monday, according to the NYPD.

The location is near a strip mall featuring major retailers like ShopRite, Target, HomeGoods, and TJ Maxx. NYPD officers and homicide detectives spent the afternoon combing the site behind a chain-link fence.

Cathy said police told her the remains were identified as her husband’s, and that his wallet with all its contents was found nearby.

However, the NYPD and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner have not officially confirmed the identity. The cause of death also remains under review.

“The matter is under investigation, including work by our forensic anthropologists to make an identification,” a spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office said.

Long Search for Answers

During the early stages of Richard’s disappearance, Cathy launched an extensive search, even hiring a private investigator who charged $125 an hour. The investigator discovered that Richard had taken a public bus the morning he vanished and later purchased a 30-day MetroCard.

The couple had been married for 23 years, after meeting at a newspaper in Texas where they both worked. Richard later transitioned into nursing and worked as a registered nurse at the Hospital for Special Surgery for more than a decade.

Cathy says the hardest part has been not knowing what happened.

“I’m shocked, but I’m also very glad. The not knowing is the hardest part. It’s been almost four years,” she said.

🤔Nurses, share your thoughts in the discussion forum below!