Emmarae Gervasi, 14, went missing after she was last seen outside her home with no shoes or coat. Then she turned up alive on a boat after “26 days of hell”. Here’s everything we know about the mysterious case
A man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of teenage girl Emmarae Gervasi who was found alive on a boat after a month-long search operation.
The arrest is the latest development in the mysterious case, which sparked a huge hunt involving police, authorities and members of the girl’s local community.
Emmarae, 14, was missing for what has been described as “26 days of hell” after she vanished from outside her home in East Patchogue, Long Island, New York, with no shoes and no coat.
Her family has now identified the man arrested as Francis Buckheit, 65, from Islip, also in Long Island.
From her bizarre disappearance to the arrest, here’s everything we know so far about the case.
Emmarae Gervasi
Emmarae disappeared without a trace on December 9 when she quickly left her home in East Patchogue to grab some items from a parked up Jeep, having just asked her dad what they were having for dinner.
She left into the pouring rain with no shoes and no coat before entering a dark-coloured car just outside of the family home.
The next sighting of her came the following day when she was captured on CCTV knocking on doors at a motel just eight miles away in Bohemia.
The search for Emmarae Gervasi
Emmarae had run away from home on at least one occasion before the incident after having some “struggles”, according to her father, but this time they knew something was different.
Working closely with the Suffolk County Police Department, the family also took to social media sharing missing posts and pleading for help to find her.
Her dad Frank took an active role in the search, spending hours driving across Long Island, often until 2am and 3am, chasing any tips that came through.
The wider family and local community sprawled across Long Island, even widening to upstate New York where officers used police cadaver dogs and helicopters to aid the search.
At the time Frank said: “I fear that she is being held against her will. I know she is with somebody and they are either convincing her to stay or won’t let her leave or worse she may be dead by now. I won’t stop looking until I find her.”
The family even offered a $15,000 reward for any vital information that could bring their daughter home.
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Finding Emmarae Gervasi
A final tip came through to her dad on Friday afternoon (January 3) when he received a call from an anonymous woman after seeing the missing posters.
The woman claimed she thought the teenager might be on a boat docked up at the nearby fish market in Islip, but she was too scared to investigate the boat herself.
Mr Gervasi said: “The phone call I received was that she was on a boat in Islip. The lady who gave me the tip was afraid to go in the boat.”
Deciding to take actions into his own hands, he rushed to the scene in the hopes to find his daughter who had now been gone for nearly a month. After finding the inconspicuous boat he “busted” onto the vessel and laid eyes on his daughter after 26 days.
In an interview with a local news station Gervasi added: “I did find her myself before police got there. It was the end of 26 days of hell seeing her alive in my arms. It was a gift from God. I can’t describe the feeling I had when I grabbed her.”
Her mother Melissa Dervay recalled the moment she knew the search had finally come to an end. She added: “The moment I heard her voice and knew she was OK, I felt a weight lifted off my body.
“I’ve been so tense for the past four weeks, quietly fighting a battle. Now, I’m elated. I feel light, and I just want to scream, ‘She’s OK. She’s been found.”
The teenager is now believed to be recovering in the care of a hospital.
The Suspect
Police have not released any details of the suspect but officers revealed that an arrest had been made. In a Facebook post on Monday, Frank Gervasi identified the suspect as Francis Buckheit, 65, of Islip.
Authorities have not confirmed this but a man of the same name and details appeared in court on Saturday with charges of rape, kidnapping and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
The records show he will remain in custody without bail and will reappear in court later this week.