{"id":45,"date":"2026-05-21T06:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=45"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:37:15","slug":"exclusive-concerned-bystanders-called-911-to-report-open-nyc-manhole-near-where-donike-gocaj-fell-into-hatch-2-weeks-before-her-horrific-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=45","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Concerned bystanders called 911 to report open NYC manhole near where Donike Gocaj fell into hatch \u2014 2 weeks before her horrific death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two concerned bystanders called 911 to report open manholes two weeks ago near the same intersection where Westchester mom Donike Gocaj fatally fell into an uncovered hatch.<\/p>\n

Read more Complaints for open manholes dramatically doubled in NYC before Donike Gocaj died in hatch horror<\/a><\/p>\n

Rhonda Roland Shearer, an artist and nonprofit founder, told The Post on Wednesday that she spotted a dangerously ajar manhole cover along Fifth Avenue on May 3 while walking from nearby St. Thomas Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She called 911 to request that the FDNY cover the hole, but was shocked to learn about Gocaj\u2019s horrific death around the corner just weeks later on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Oh my God, this is, in great likelihood, the same cover. Or multiple covers in the same area,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gocaj, 56, plunged into an open manhole around 11:20 p.m. after stepping from her SUV parked along East 52nd Street, around the corner from where Shearer spotted a similar hazard.<\/p>\n

A witness said Gocaj \u201cdropped\u201d into the steaming-hot 10-foot-deep hole and hauntingly screamed, \u201cI\u2019m dying,\u201d as bystanders frantically tried to reach her<\/p>\n

She died of what the city\u2019s medical examiner ruled Wednesday were scald burns with thermal injuries from breathing in hot air or steam, along with blunt force trauma to her torso.<\/p>\n

Gocaj\u2019s death is exactly what Shearer hoped her 911 call would help avert.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were just walking by. Immediately, the grandmother in me thought this is very, very dangerous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more Bruce Springsteen takes jab at Trump, Paramount during Stephen Colbert\u2019s second-to-last \u2018Late Show\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Shearer\u2019s son, Jade Allen, who also ambled from St. Thomas that afternoon, said the manhole cover stuck partially open at a 45-degree angle.<\/p>\n

He, too, felt Gocaj\u2019s death could have been avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t want to fall into a pit to their death,\u201d he said. \u201cI just felt bad for her and her family. I feel like it\u2019s something that could have been corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day after the mother and son spotted the manhole cover, another bystander placed a 311 call to report another skewed or missing lid, sources said. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The caller was transferred to 911, prompting cops to respond and put the cover back on, the sources said. <\/p>\n

Shearer said she reached out to police in Briarcliff Manor, where Gocaj lived, to connect with the devoted mom\u2019s family in case they pursue a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is this poor woman was tortured in her last moments in life, and that is just horrifying,\u201d Shearer said.<\/p>\n

Read more Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson walks back stinging comments about Starbucks, as fears mount that the coffee giant may pull out of the liberal city<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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