Eight years after a college student was maimed by a mysterious blast in Central Park, the case remains unsolved — and the victim’s parents frustration with law enforcement grows.
Connor Golden of Virginia was just 18 years old when he and two pals were exploring the park on July 3, 2016, and he stepped on what investigators initially believed to be a homemade firework.
However, authorities later determined the powder that ignited was TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, a highly volatile explosive that has been used in terrorist bombings.
The explosion tore off the teen’s foot, forcing doctors to amputate his left leg below the knee.
“We will not be satisfied with the investigation effort until there is closure and Connor gets justice. He deserves that,” his dad, Kevin Golden told The Post this week.
Golden said his family is “frustrated on multiple levels.”
He claimed law enforcement doesn’t return calls and cited “the endless succession of lead investigators that have been assigned to the case, only to retire or be replaced a short time later.”
He said his son, now 26, is “living in California chasing his music industry dreams,” and “has turned the page.”
The family started a Facebook page, “NYC Central Park Bombing Cold Case,” in December 2019.
There is currently a $40,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the incident.
The explosives used in the blast were packed in a clear bakery bag, authorities revealed on the two-year anniversary of the crime, as they asked for the public’s help in the case.
Kevin Golden said his son “has every right to complain about the injustice of the incident, about law enforcement seemingly having turned its back, having failed to find and arrest the perpetrators, about the daily burdens of managing his limb loss, but he never has.”
“There are no updates in the investigation. The $40,000 reward is still available,” an NYPD spokesperson said Friday.