Bodies Were Inside Freezer for Long Period, Police Say

Two frozen bodies found in the food locker of a popular downtown restaurant on Saturday had apparently been concealed in the freezer for an extended period of time, police said Monday.

But, pending a coroner’s investigation, police would say little else about the discovery of the two unidentified bodies, found wrapped in cloth at Jack’s Placita restaurant. An autopsy is scheduled for today to determine the cause of death and identity of the victims, police said.

The bodies were discovered by a man cleaning the freezer Saturday morning, police said. Police refused to speculate on how the bodies could have escaped detection in the walk-in freezer, which a restaurant employee said measures about 10 feet by 10 feet.

“We’ve got a lot of reconstruction to do,” said Lt. Daniel Lang. “We do not want to give a lot of information and run the risk of compromising the investigation . . . but it seems like a safe bet to say it’s murder.”

Lang said police are investigating whether there is a connection with the disappearance of Lydia Katash, 40, owner of the restaurant, and her boyfriend, Eli Massalton, 30, who managed the popular nightspot. The couple were last seen shortly before the restaurant closed at 11 p.m. Jan. 26.

Katash’s former husband, Jack Katash, said at the time of their disappearance that the two were carrying three or four days’ worth of restaurant receipts--about $15,000.

Katash and his wife had operated the restaurant, next to the Grand Central Market in the 300 block of Broadway, for 15 years, until Massalton, Jack Katash’s second-cousin, arrived from Israel about seven years ago.

Katash has said Massalton and his ex-wife became romantically involved, and the Katashes had divorced.

On Monday afternoon, about 30 people sat in the bar and at tables sipping beer and listening to a guitarist playing traditional Mexican music.

Although reports of the gruesome discovery had reached the patrons, few seemed to be disturbed.