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Background: NEW YORK, APRIL I3 (UPI) A BRILLIANT YOUNG NUCLEAR PHYSICIST WAS FOUND SHOT TO DEATH IN CENTRAL PARK TODAY FOLLOWING A DAY SPENT AT THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSIONS NATIONAL LABORATORY.

POLICE SAID THE BODY OF DR. CHARLES J. GALLAGHER, JR., 35-YEAR OLD FATHER OF TWO, HAD BEEN HIDDEN IN A CLUMP OF BUSHES AND WAS NOT FOUND UNTIL FIVE, OR POSSIBLY 10 HOURS AFTER HE WAS SLAIN. HE HAD FAILED TO SHOW UP AT A SCIENTIFIC TESTING LAST NIGHT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, WHERE HE WAS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS.

COLLEAGUES HAD WAITED IN VAIN FOR HIM AT COLUMBIA'S PUPIN LABORATORY, WHERE SECRETS OF THE ATOM BOMB WERE DISCOVERED DURING WORLD WAR II. GALLAGHER'S WIFE SAID HE LEFT THEIR WEST SIDE APARTMENT AT ABOUT 6 P.M. FOR THE MEETING ONLY A FEW BLOCKS AWAY.

THE BODY, CLAD IN GRAY TROUSERS AND A BLUE SWEATER, WAS FOUND LYING FACE UP ABOUT 60 FEET FROM THE 74TH STREET BOATHOUSE IN THE PARK, WHICH IS LOCATED SEVERAL MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE LABORATORY.

POLICE SAID GALLAGHER'S UMBRELLA WAS LYING AT HIS FEET, HE WAS STILL WEARING HIS WRISTWATCH AND HAD A FEW COINS AND A KEY RING IN HIS POCKET, BUT NO WALLET. A KEY ON THE RING FIT AN AUTOMOBILE PARKED NEARBY, LEADING TO HIS IDENTIFICATION. THERE WAS AN OVERTIME PARKING TICKET ON THE CAR TIMED AT 12:45 A.M. EST TODAY.

THE BODY WAS FOUND AT 6:30 A.M. EST BY ARTHUR BLAKLEY, WHO LIVED NEARBY. HE SAID HE WAS WALKING IN THE PARK AND NOTICED TWO MEN PEERING INTO THE BUSHES. HE SAID THE MEN TOLD HIM THEY WERE GOING TO CALL POLICE AND LEFT HURRIEDLY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS.

A PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION INDICATED GALLAGHER DIED BETWEEN 5:30 P.M. LAST NIGHT AND 1:30 A.M. TODAY. HE HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE CHEST.

A NATIVE OF NORWALK, CONN., GALLAGHER WAS GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT AND RECEIVED HIS DOCTORATE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. HE HAD BEEN A RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, A NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION NATO FELLOW AT THE INSTITUTE OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS INN COPENHAGEN, AND JOINED THE COLUMBIA FACULTY IN 1961.

IN 1963 HE WAS MADE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT COLUMBIA, WHERE HE WAS DOING WORK ON ONE OF 16 ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION PROJECTS. HE SPENT YESTERDAY MORNING AND PART OF THE AFTERNOON WITH SCIENTISTS AT THE COMMISSION'S LONG ISLAND LABORATORY AT BROOKHAVEN.