UPDATE: Point Beach Man Dies Suddenly At 40 In Brick; Narcotics Suspected

Shocked Point Pleasant Beach area residents are mourning the death of a local man this past week at age 40, according to authorities.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office retracted its earlier cause of death. A police source now says that narcotics are suspected to be connected to the death.

Baalim Slade Katz, an Army Reserve vet who was a watch manager at Gold Fever, passed away suddenly on Monday at Ocean Medical Center in Brick, according to the O'Brien Funeral Home.

Katz, who served in the Army Reserves from 1992-1993, was born in Edison but was a life-long resident of the Point Pleasant area.
 
Surviving is his father Stuart Katz and his wife Anita; mother Claudia Schuster and her husband John; daughters Taylor and Annabella Katz; the mother of his children Dorothy Martinez; sisters Samara Katz, Cailyn Crannell and her husband Ryan, Amelia Alexander, and Dana Frulio and her husband Vincent all of Point Pleasant.

He also leaves his nieces Anya Grace Schuster and Giulianna Frulio; nephews Mason Crannell and Maddox Crannell as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Visiting hours were held on Thursday from 2-4 and 6-9 p.m. at the O’Brien Funeral Home, 505 Burnt Tavern Road, Brick. Burial and graveside service took place on Friday 11:30 a.m. at Hillside Cemetery in Metuchen.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the educational fund for Taylor and Annabella.