Hold the Glamour

Two days ago my day started at 6.30am. I was out the door by 7.45am ready to catch a cab to the Port Authority on 42nd Street and 8th Ave, New York.

I boarded an 8.20am bus to a town in New Jersey called Rochelle for a casting at 9.30am. I was dressed up, hair and make-up were done and I wore a cute pair of heeled boots for maximum impact to impress my potential clients.

Minutes away from my first casting of the day, the bus I was on slowed down. I looked up and saw police cars everywhere as we crawled passed a crime scene.

I then saw a partially naked women’s body lying under a tree — DEAD! All but her legs from the thigh down were covered up by a white sheet. I stopped breathing. The reality of it all moved from my stomach to my throat. Insanity! I’ve lived in New York for almost 12 years, and never before had I seen a crime scene like this one.

I saw my client, tried on three outfits and had photos taken of me wearing their samples. I was there for an hour.

I waited 40 minutes for a bus to take me back to New York all the while wondering if I’d see the poor victim on my return (I didn’t).

Once in New York, I lost my weekly unlimited metro card (public trains & buses) on my way to my agency JAG in Chelsea… Great! I was still a little shaken at seeing the dead woman.

I picked up my composite cards, book and details for my next two castings. Next stop was Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Someone at casting #2 took a comp card and some digital shots of me in my own clothes. I rushed out the door on my way back to the city.

I hadn’t anticipated on walking so much in my cute heeled boots which were no longer feeling so cute. All I kept imagining was taking them off and soaking my feet for hours.

Casting #3 was in Tribeca, New York. I didn’t have a picture ID on me to be let into the building so the security guard gave me a hard time for a while before he let me up to the 12th floor of the building… Really? I just saw a dead woman.

I had literally traveled to two states and two boroughs in one day. Onward I went, walking the city that never sleeps and is never quiet in my boots and hot, throbbing feet — counting every step closer to home. What a day!

Later that night, I watched the news and saw the segment about the dead woman I had seen. It was horrible and very real unfortunately.

Have you ever seen a dead body from a crime scene before?

If so, what happened and when?