Authorities discovered more human remains in a popular Long Island park on Friday, one day after a high schooler walking along an adjacent road found an arm with no fingertips. An immediate search of the area led a canine unit to a leg protruding from a pile of leaves.
The grisly findings of at least two unidentified victims have rocked the suburban community of Babylon, situated 20 miles from New York City.
“Many of you may have already seen media coverage about the nature of the crime scene investigation taking place near our elementary and grade schools. This is an extremely unsettling incident to occur in any community let alone so close to our schools,” the local superintendent said in a letter to parents. (RELATED: Resort City Under Siege – US Tourists Warned As Violence Erupts)
New York's very own PIX11 has more:
Two nearby schools — Babylon Memorial Grade School and Babylon Elementary School — had indoor recess as a precautionary measure due to the police investigation, according to a representative of Babylon School District. Student dismissal was also modified.
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“The safety and mental health of our students is our number one priority, and we know this incident may be causing some extreme anxiety among our students, particularly the high school students who were directly affected by this situation on their way to school this morning. We applaud them for their diligence in reporting their disturbing discovery to our building administration and law enforcement. Our mental health resources are ready to assist our students at all grade levels, and we encourage any student feeling uneasy, anxious or scared in any way to please take advantage of them during this time,” the superintendent wrote, in part, in the letter.
Suffolk County Police believe the remains found Friday were from the same woman. They aren't commenting on if the arm and leg found Thursday belong to the same victim. The medical examiner is conducting an autopsy on the female.
Observers can't help but notice that the dumping ground bares disturbing similarities to the nearby Gilgo Beach serial killings between 1996 and 2011. (RELATED: Police Frantically Search After Finding Missing TV Star's Bloody Clothes)
Detective Lt. Kevin Beyrer told reporters that someone dumped the remains within a short time of their discovery.
“Based on the condition, preliminarily, it appears it's a matter of a small amount of days, if not hours, that they were out here,” he noted.
“The arms had tattoos and that's what I'll say. We're searching databases for those tattoos.”
Officials hope to have more answers for the concerned public once positive identifications are made.
If you have any information related to the case, please call Suffolk Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.
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