Man found dead inside car on Sunset Park street; family says he was trapped by snow plow

SUNSET PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A grieving family in Brooklyn is blaming their loved one's death on a snow plow, saying the plow trapped him in his car and he died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Angel Ginel, 44, was discovered Monday in his silver Lexus, parked on a Sunset Park street.

He was last seen alive Sunday night, when he was shoveling snow with a friend. He did not return home, sparking a search.

Friends found the Lexus, parked a block away from his apartment. Several helped dig their way into his car, where they discovered him in the drivers seat.

It appears Ginel dug his way into the car and became trapped inside by a passing plow that piled more snow up against the door.

The Lexus was still running, its tail pipe obstructed by snow. In Sunset Park, police officers were on the streets Tuesday removing snow from behind vehicles "to prevent another tragedy."

The medical examiner conducted an autopsy Tuesday, but there is still no definitive word on the cause of death.

"He is the love of my life. This is so hard for me," said Ginel's wife Ramonita.

She says her husband had been missing for one day, Sunday into Monday. She called friends, work, and police, looking for Angel.

She doesn't drive and had not used or checked their car, but she is the one who found him, one block from home.

"He was just laying there, he wasn't breathing," she said. "I was banging on the windows, 'Angel wake up', and he wouldn't get up. And I started shoveling the snow and called my son and nephew and they came, and his hand fell off the door, I guess he was trying to get out, he was pounding."

Carbon monoxide deaths happen in minutes according to the FDNY, and people become sick so fast the moment they realize they are in trouble, they can't move to get out or get help.

"Great guy, family man, just a hardworking man," said Edwin Morales Jr., Angel's stepson, who ran over after his mother screamed to him in a panic that Angel was inside the car.

"He probably came to the car, wanted to warm up, he put his phone to charge and the plow truck came down the street got him stuck in the car, and by the time he tried to escape, it was too late," said Morales.

Asked whether she thought Angel might have had a heart attack, Ramonita said, "No, he was plowed in."