During the descent seen in the video....the aircraft appeared to be traveling quite fast....and it seemed it was approaching some low cloud or fog.
Could it be something as simple as trying to slow down and the pitch up took him back into cloud.
From the collateral information it does appear he was "lost" despite being very close to his takeoff point and in an area he knew well.
Also....there are two ways to use the "Direct To" feature on a GPS....one is for your Destination....and the other is to your Departure Point.
In poor weather....using your Take Off Point as the waypoint and flying the reciprocal track away from the Take Off Point towards your destination allows you a very quick way of getting turned around if you encounter deteriorating weather.
Linden, New Jersey was not that far away.
Had the Pilot followed the shoreline at a low altitude and slow ground speed and used all of his navaids....perhaps this tragedy might have been avoided.