Family stunned after man found dead on burning boat in drydock in Brooklyn

The family of a man found dead on a burning boat in Brooklyn last month is confused – saying it is the second time in just over a year that they have lost a sibling, while a third has been missing since November .

Anthony Doolan, 31, was discovered on the boat, which was dry docked on private property in Red Hook, at 4:54 a.m. April 27 after the fire. Witnesses first called 911 and reported a dumpster fire, FDNY officials said. But when firefighters reached the fenced area on Conover St. near Beard St., they discovered the fire was coming from a boat on a trailer.

Hours before Doolan was found, he was with his sister in Astoria, she said.

“He was at my house that morning,” said Jessica Simpson, 34. “He left my house at 1 a.m. He said he would stay with his friend. He left and then three or four hours after he left my house I see on the news that this happened.”

For five days, Doolan’s family wondered where he was, but with their brother homeless, they had no way of contacting him.

“He had no phone, nothing,” Simpson said. “I reached out (to others). … Maybe he called one of his friends upstate.”

It wasn’t until May 2 that Doolan’s family received news that he had died – and only after his death did the family learn that he had been sleeping on the boat.

“The fact that he was burned and sitting on a boat just doesn’t make sense,” the sister said.

On Friday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the death is not being considered suspicious at this time as police await a final decision from the city medical examiner. An initial autopsy was inconclusive pending further investigation.

“Inside the boat we find lighters, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, syringes and a stove that runs on butane to light the stove,” Kenny said of the police investigation into the death. “We also find an advantage card and a pill bottle in the name of (another) man. Through fingerprint analysis we can identify the victim.”

“The body was found in the fetal position,” he added. “It appeared he was sleeping in the boat and perhaps using the stove as a heat source.”

Several boats were stored in the parking lot, where there was also a homeless camp next to the burning boat, police said.

Kenny said Doolan made several narcotics arrests in Middletown, Orange County.

“I found out through the detective that he lived on the boat,” said Brother Joseph Simpson, 41, of Middletown. “I’m still confused about everything that happened.”

Doolan’s brother said Doolan took his mother’s death when he was 14 particularly hard, but the nine siblings remained close and cared for each other, especially the youngest, Anthony.

“He was a good boy. He was young when we lost our mother, and from then on he was lost without a mother. He moved with me to Albany, he moved with our sisters – he tried to find a way. He thought the city would be something new and amazing for him, and then this happened.”

“He was a harmless person, he would never hurt anyone,” he added. “He grew up as a country boy, so it doesn’t make sense for any of us to set ourselves on fire.”

Doolan’s siblings, desperate for answers, said they had heard nothing from the NYPD and that it was police in Liberty, Sullivan County, who notified the family of Doolan’s death.

Death is just the latest hardship for the family.

“I have lost two brothers in the last year and another brother is missing. “It has been a devastating year for our family,” Joseph Simpson posted in an online fundraiser. “I am a proud man and I am proud to provide for the family. But I just can’t afford to pay for services and then let them go.”

Carl Simpson, 44, died in his sleep on April 2, 2023. The family said Carl’s autopsy results have not yet been released and his body is still at the coroner’s office. Jason Simpson, 43, has not been heard from since November.

Joseph Simpson said Jason and Anthony both went to New York City and kept an eye on each other while trying to make ends meet.

“They would stick together, they would do things together. They did their little jobs with cans and went to soup kitchens,” Joseph Simpson said.

Doolan’s family only has the fond memory of their little brother pretending to be a superhero on his bike and being willing to do anything for a laugh.

“He had the best sense of humor,” said oldest sister Melissa Doolan, 48. “He would ride around town with a ShopRite bag on his shoulders like it was a cape.”

“He did impressions of people, he was such a comedian,” Joseph Simpson said. “He jumped up on the table and did a Johnny Cash impression.”

The family hopes anyone with information will come forward.

“They say a man has been found dead, but to us it’s not a man who’s been found dead, it’s our little brother,” Joseph Simpson said. “We have to get to the bottom of this one way or another.”

With Rocco Parascandola