LAKEWOOD, NJ — Brian Jewell, 17, of Tom's River, N.J., who died Saturday night in Lakewood, N.J., while posing as a hanging victim for a "Haunted Hayride," was not supposed to have the rope around his neck, authorities said yesterday.

Jewell was found hanging Saturday night at the "Hangman's Scene" for a Halloween hayride, police said. The rope was intended as a prop and was not supposed to go around Jewell's neck, said Lt. Michael Murray, a spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor's office. Lakewood police spokesman

The rope was intended as a prop and was not supposed to go around Jewell's neck.
Lt. Howard Patterson said the death appeared to be accidental. He said the Ocean County medical examiner was expected to do an autopsy this week.

Jewell's death was discovered about 8 p.m. Saturday by participants in a Halloween hayride at the Lakewood Riding Center featuring costumed performers, Murray said. The hayrides, conducted nightly during October, are owned and run by Ocean Haunted Hayrides Inc., he said. A group of hayriders approached the hanging scene but Jewell, an employee of the firm, never gave them his haunting pitch, Murray said. Instead, Jewell just stood limply on a platform as if he really had been hanged, he said.