A 30-year-old Brooklyn cafe owner who mysteriously vanished on Halloween was identified by authorities yesterday as the man found shot to death and burned in the woods of eastern Pennsylvania on Nov. 1, the following morning.
Joshua Rubin — whose body was only recently identified through DNA and dental tests — opened the Whisk Bakery Cafe on Newkirk Avenue a month before disappearing.
A day or two after his body was found near Allentown, his credit card was used at the Woodbury Commons retail outlets in Orange County, NY, sources told The Post.
“I’m devastated. He was a wonderful guy,” said Jan Rosenberg, the real-estate broker who handled the cafe lease for Rubin. “He just seemed like an open, sweet, loving guy with a lot of energy to do this project.”
But a month before opening the cafe, “actually running it began to seem overwhelming” to Rubin, said Rosenberg.
Rubin, who was diabetic, also recently was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she said.
New York law-enforcement sources said they believe Rubin was shot near the location where his body was set afire.
There are no suspects in the murder of Rubin, who lived in Kensington.
A man at the home of Rubin’s mother in Rhode Island declined comment.
New York Post
