The mysterious piles of pasta found in a New Jersey forest likely came from a stockpile of food a man found in his dead mother's home, neighbor says

After about 500 pounds of pasta were found on a riverbed late last week in Old Bridge, New Jersey, there were loads of questions about the mysterious spaghetti's origins. Now, a neighbor says the noodles were likely dumped by a man who cleaned out his mother's home after her death. 

Neighbor Keith Rost told NBC New York that the man lived in the house with his mother. Upon her death, he put the house up for sale. He likely found the pasta — which filled roughly 15 wheelbarrows — while cleaning out the house, Rost said.

"I mean, I really feel like he was just trying to clear out his parents' house, and they were probably stocked up from COVID," Rost told NBC New York. He added that it could be a generational thing, saying: "My grandparents always had a cupboard full of cans and pasta, just to be safe."

According to The New York Times, Himanshu Shah, a town official, said the local public works department found "what appeared to be 15 wheelbarrow loads of illegal dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood" last week.

Nina Jochnowitz, who previously ran for council, posted on Facebook on April 28 that the city had cleaned it up. She added that while the pasta was "a new type of dumping," the area had seen plenty of thrown-away construction debris and garbage. 

Jochnowitz told the Times she discovered the identity of who dumped the noodles but would not reveal it to anyone, given the attention the incident has received.  

The Old Bridge Township Police Department and city council did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.