The Forrest Hills mother, found dead in a hockey bag on Saturday, was seen alive in her backyard a day earlier, hours before the video captured a mysterious figure apparently dragging his makeshift coffin down the street.
Orsola Gaal, 51, whose body was found by a dog walk around 8 a.m. Saturday, was remembered by her shocked Queens neighbors over the weekend as a typical mother who stayed home, was married and had two teenagers.
“I saw her [Friday] in her backyard, “neighbor John Bankson told The Post.
“We share a common backyard [her] a dog, ”said the resident, apparently referring to a charming little brown puppy that Gaal posed for in many Facebook photos on his page.
“[Saturday] We said to ourselves this morning, “Why can’t we hear the dog this morning?” That’s super shocking, “Bankson said.
New York City police said Sunday that surveillance footage of an “unknown person” was dragging a bag on wheels from the direction of the majestic Tudor-style home where Gaal and her family lived.
A neighbor said they saw Orsolya Gaal in her backyard on Friday.orsolya.gaal.9 / Facebook
A hockey bag containing her body was found nearby and cops traced traces of her blood back to the side door of her Juneau Street home, authorities said.
Police found Gaal’s 13-year-old son on the top floor of the home, police said.
“He said he lived there, but did not know where she was,” cops said in a statement.
Surveillance footage of an “unknown person” dragging a bag on wheels from the direction of the home where Orsol Gaal and her family live. Kevin C. Downs
The boy was detained for questioning and later released, law enforcement sources said.
Gaal’s husband, businessman Howard Klein, was in Portland with the couple’s 17-year-old son on a college hunt at the time, according to social media reports.
Klein told The Post on Saturday that he had returned home, repeatedly saying that the family’s life was “at stake.”
Orsol Gaal’s body was found by a dog walk around 8 a.m. Saturday. Kevin K. Downs Police are investigating the luggage bag that contained Orsol Gaal’s body. Kevin K. Downs
“There are concerns about our safety,” he said. “Our lives are at risk.”
In a subsequently deleted tweet announcing his recent trip out of state with his son, Klein also made a proposal for hedge financier Bill Browder’s book about Vladimir Putin.
“I just landed in Portland, OR before re-evaluating Ann Arbor with my 17-year-old son,” Klein wrote. “I highly recommend the Freezing Order @Billbrowder, a person I’ve been following closely and admiring since I started on Wall Street in 1997, EMEA brokers and Russian fundraising hedges like Hermitage.”
Police took Orsol Gaal’s son, Leo Klein, for questioning. Facebook
The book is subtitled “A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder and Survival of Vladimir Putin’s Wrath.”
According to sources, Gaal was declared missing earlier in May 2020, but later reappeared.
The couple’s eldest son also disappeared in 2004, but was later found.
Additional reports by Joe Marino
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