Lengthy Island police arrested a second suspect in connection to the mysterious, month-long disappearance of 14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi who was discovered on a ship as her father believes she was a sufferer of intercourse trafficking.
Copiague resident Bunice Knight, 47, was charged with rape and endangering the welfare of a kid on Friday, NBC New York reported.
Gervasi disappeared from her Patchogue house when she jumped into an unknown automobile round 5 p.m. on Dec. 9.
Her father, Frank Gervasi, found her on a ship on the WhiteCap Marina in Islip on Jan. 3 after receiving a useful tip.
Emmarae had been dropped at Knight’s house close to the marina for roughly an hour on the identical day that she was rescued on the boat, in line with the outlet.
Officers used surveillance cameras from close by houses to establish Knight and make the arrest.
“What done in the dark will b brought to the light,” Frank Gervasi stated on Fb in response to Knight’s arrest.
A grand jury indicted Knight, however no particulars had been launched till the indictment is unsealed at an arraignment scheduled for subsequent week, Information 12 Lengthy Island reported.
Frank Gervasi had searched daily for his lacking daughter, posting video updates to social media and serving to search events that neighborhood members had fashioned.
Gervasi claimed his daughter was the sufferer of intercourse trafficking, saying she was “forced to do things that a 14-year-old girl shouldn’t have to do.”
He shared that his daughter had struggled with drug abuse previously and was carrying an ankle monitor the evening she went lacking.
“The person who picked her up at my house, he removed the bracelet and, again, unsavory characters did what they did with her and she was already under the influence of drugs,” Gervasi beforehand instructed The Submit. “She just started wandering aimlessly after that.”
“The type of drugs they’re doing, there’s definitely a link between the drugs and trafficking,” he added. “Heavy drugs that they use [on] these girls to get addicted to traffic them.”
In a Fb video posted on Jan.4, he stated that Emmarae is “in a facility right now getting the help she needs.”
Knight is the second man to be arrested within the lacking teen’s case.
Francis Burkheit, 64, was arrested and charged with kidnapping of the teenager on Jan. 6.
Burkheit, who owned the boat Emmarae was found on, had deliberate on delivery her all the way down to the Carolinas earlier than his arrest, Information 12 reported citing court docket paperwork.
Each Burkheit and Knight pleaded not responsible to their fees.
“There’s a lot more of a story than what’s being told,” Burkheit’s legal professional Danielle Papa stated after his arraignment.
It was not revealed if the 2 males knew one another.
