Human Remains Found In Freeport Park
FREEPORT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The FBI was scouring a Long Island park after investigators found human remains there Wednesday.
As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported, the FBI's Long Island Gang Task Force and members of the Nassau County Police Department are continuing to search Cow Meadow Park in Freeport following the gruesome discovery Wednesday morning.
Video from Chopper 2 showed a blue tent covering the remains, which were found near a marshy area in the park.
"We've been going to this park our whole lives and there's never any violence down here or anything it's very unusual for this part of Freeport," Adam Lamonica told CBS2's Bauman.
Officials did not release the sex or age of the victim, or how long the remains had been there, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
Since Tuesday night, investigators have been hiking through the brush and utilizing K-9 units in their evidence collection process, scouring the area for clues, CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
There is no word on other possible victims, but police sources said federal investigators will be on the scene all day.
Neighbors are concerned.
"I heard there's a few students from Freeport High missing, as a parent it hits home and it's very concerning," said resident Bill Fuller. "Nassau County has great resources, let's get to the bottom of this."
"This is a quiet neighborhood, everybody knows each other for the most part, you don't get the loud noise, you don't get the traffic, there's only one way in, one way out," resident Brendan Ward told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria.
"We're on the water, it's beautiful here and nobody thinks it's going to happen in your backyard and sometimes turning a blind eye to these things is not the way to do it," another resident said.
The discovery is eerily similar to one made less than a week ago.
On Thursday, in nearby Roosevelt, investigators found the remains of 16-year-old Angel Soler, a student of Freeport High School who had been missing for three months.
The discovery followed a Homeland Security tip from a "person of interest" about a body dumped in a wooded area. Sources said homicide investigators believe Soler's murder is connected to MS-13 gang violence.
There have been six MS-13 murder victims in Nassau County in the last two years and almost 20 victims in neighboring Suffolk County.
The violence was cause for concern for some Freeport parents such as Michael Tucker.
"You hear about it happening out in Suffolk. But this is too close to home," he said.
President Donald Trump visited Long Island back on July 28 and promised a crackdown on the MS-13 gang.
It is unclear if there's an MS-13 connection to the Freeport case.