Man Arrested for Murder in Connection to Remains Found in Wildlife Refuge

By Katie McFadden

The discovery of human remains within the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge near Broad Channel, resulted in an arrest for a murder that took place last summer.

Late Thursday night, March 5, a heavily decomposing human head was discovered within the wildlife refuge, off of Cross Bay Blvd. Police investigators and a medical examiner van could be seen on Cross Bay Blvd. on Friday morning, as they processed the crime scene. The medical examiner later determined the remains were human, and it was suspected that the head belonged to torso of a Guyanese woman found deeper into Queens in September.

Sanitation discovered the woman’s dismembered torso while clearing trash from the edge of Idlewild Park near Brookville and Rosedale on September 23, 2025. Her decomposing body, with identifiable tattoos, was in a garbage bag.

The head found last week completed the case and confirmed the family’s worst fears. According to police, on Wednesday morning, 75-year-old Rupchand Simboo was arrested in his South Ozone Park home for the murder of his 34-year-old wife, Salisha Ali, who was last seen alive by a relative during a Facetime call on July 13. Later that day, Simboo had filed a missing person report. Investigators believe he killed her and tried covering his tracks.

The couple met in 2023 when she lived in Trinidad. They got married in 2024 when she moved back to Queens.

Simboo was charged with murder, obstructing governmental administration and tampering with physical evidence.

It is not clear how Ali’s head wound up in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge or where exactly it was located. Idlewild Park, 10 miles away, connects to Jamaica Bay through Thurston Basin. Ali’s arms and legs have not been recovered.