A head and another arm were recovered at a Long Island park where homicide detectives returned Friday to search for more body parts, a day after two arms and a leg turned up within about a mile of each other in the area, authorities say.
Investigators say a total of six body parts have been recovered from Southards Park Pond in Babylon Village. An arm, the head and parts of a right leg and left leg belong to an adult woman who police are working to identify. Two previously recovered arms are those of a man, and police indicated late Friday that it is believed they belong to the same individual.
The area was cordoned off throughout the day to assist in the investigation, with the search wrapping up before 5 p.m., as the command post left and police tape was taken down. Suffolk County Police Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer said Friday it appeared the body parts had been there for just a matter of days, if not hours, before being found.
"We believe the persons who dumped the bodies here were mobile, pretty confident a car was involved," Beyrer said.
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The grim series of discoveries started with a group of teenagers who found a left arm in the bushes as they were walking to school. One of the kids called a parent, and the parent called 911 after checking it out for himself.
A short time later in the early afternoon, a police dog searching another part of the large park found a human leg under leaves about a mile from the first location — and not far from a nearby elementary school. Later Thursday, a right arm was found, about 20 feet further into the woods from where the first arm was discovered in the morning, police said.
Investigators planned to overturn more leaf piles as part of their search for additional remains Friday. They believe the body parts were dumped recently. Their investigation was focused on the park's exterior initially. Investigators said they'd decide whether to search the park's interior in short order.
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Police didn't immediately provide any further information on the limbs found, hoping that testing the DNA and examining tattoos (which were found on at least one of the arms belonging to the man, but none on the woman) could help lead to an identification. Gang-related activity has not been ruled out.
