The man found dead on the side of a Queens highway with his hands tied earlier this week was a real estate broker who had been missing since early January, according to interviews with his family and friends.

Those close to Emmanuel Moncoeur, 57, said he was usually reachable by phone, so they grew worried when they could not contact him last month.

“ After three, four, five days, when I never heard from him, I said, ‘What's going on?’” said Valery Pierre, who shared an apartment in Glendale with Moncoeur. “He's not the guy who’s gonna travel and not let me know.”

Police on Friday said they were investigating Moncoeur’s death as a homicide after discovering his body decomposing in the grass next to the Clearview Expressway near Union Turnpike on Tuesday morning. He died from blunt force trauma to his head and his hands were bound, according to NYPD officials.

Police had not yet identified any potential suspects connected to Moncoeur’s death.

The Clearview Expressway and Union Tpke.

Google maps

Pierre said Moncoeur’s absence prompted him to call police and report him missing. He said police came to their apartment to follow up, but he did not hear more until detectives broke the news of his roommate’s death earlier this week.

“ We had such a close [relationship]. We had deals together, he saved my investment,” said Pierre. “He was like a godfather.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Moncoeur was working as a real estate sales and sponsoring manager for eXp Realty. He was also listed online as an associate real estate broker at the listing service OneKey.

Renel Saint-Amour, Moncoeur’s brother, told Gothamist he initially thought Moncoeur was not picking up his phone because he was traveling back to the family’s hometown in Haiti, as he did every winter. Saint-Amour said he became worried when his brother’s phone seemed to be disconnected, because Moncoeur used that phone for work.

He said he last spoke to Moncoeur on Jan. 1 and was not aware of any major concerns his brother had about his safety. Through tears, Saint-Amour said he was still trying to figure out how to inform other family members of Moncoeur’s death.

Pierre, the roommate, said he was struggling to understand how and why Moncoeur died, as well.

“ I was thinking like, ‘Something’s happening, but he will come back,’” he said. “He will open the door and I will say, ‘Man, where have you been?’”