A 65-year-old man was arrested in connection with a 14-year-old girl’s disappearance on Long Island.
The teenager, identified as Emmarae Gervasi, was found by her father, Frank Gervasi, 49, after “26 days of hell.”
Frank revealed that he received an anonymous tip about his daughter that led him to a large boat just off Main Street in Islip, Long Island.
Emmarae Gervasi, 14, was rescued by her father, Frank Gervasi, after vanishing on December 9 in Patchogue, Long Island
Image credits: longbeard1975
Image credits: Frank Gervasi
“I did find her myself before police got there,” he told News 12.
Emmarae’s rescue led to the arrest of a suspect named Francis Buckheit, 65.
It was on December 9 when the teenage girl disappeared. She had gotten into a strange car outside her Patchogue home and vanished without a trace.
Her father noted that she had run away from home at least once in the past.
The day after her December 9 disappearance, surveillance cameras captured Emmarae knocking on doors at a Bohemia motel before vanishing once again.
The teenager was discovered on a docked boat in Islip following an anonymous tip
Image credits: longbeard1975
Image credits: News 12
The father believes she initially went with someone she met online and was later picked up by a “random” stranger.
The worried parent urged the public to rally together and help find her whereabouts.
“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,” he said at the time.
“I won’t stop looking until I find her,” he added.
Frank later revealed that he received an anonymous tip over the phone from a woman who claimed Emmarae was on a boat near the White Cap Fish Market and Seafood Restaurant in Islip, Long Island.
The discovery of Emmarae’s whereabouts led to the arrest of Francis Buckheit, 65
Image credits: longbeard1975
Image credits: longbeard1975
“The phone call I received was that she was on a boat in Islip,” he said in a Facebook video. “The lady who gave me the tip was afraid to go in the boat.”
The heroic parent managed to miraculously save the teenager, who was found alone on the docked boat on January 3.
The father said he “busted” onto the boat and rescued her, even though there was allegedly another lookout boat close by, meant to keep an eye on her. He believes she was in the custody of “some dangerous people.”
“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,” he told News 12.
The arrest of suspect Francis was also listed as January 3. He pleaded not guilty to charges of r*pe, kidnapping, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. He is currently being held without bail.