Community reacts to discovery of body parts at local park: 'This should not be our reality"
BABYLON, Long Island (PIX11) — A park in Suffolk County reopened Friday night after a gruesome discovery of several body parts, belonging to a man and a woman, led detectives to scour more than a dozen acres searching for more possible remains — and even clues leading to the person responsible.
Suffolk County Police tell PIX11 News the search is complete at Southards Pond Park which reopened to the public after closing Thursday. While the search inside the park might be over, the investigation into a suspect is still underway.
According to police, a teenager made the chilling discovery of human remains Thursday morning. The gruesome find now has neighbors on edge, and even confused.
“How’d they do this without any of us seeing it,” questioned local resident Bob Murray. “Like I said, I’m here all the time.”
The teen was on her way to school Thursday when police said she found an arm with tattoos and no fingertips, believed to be from a man, inside the park. That discovery led police cadaver dogs to find other body parts including a woman’s head, leg, and arm — as well as another arm and leg thought to be from the man.
“It’s a matter of a small amount of days, if not hours, that they were out here,” said Suffolk County Police Detective Lieutenant Kevin Beyrer.
Neighbors who frequent the normally serene park said it’s not hard to stumble on things that could be hidden inside.
“There’s a lot of storage areas if someone’s going to go in there and do the wrong thing, yes, but you could see it,” said Joe, a neighbor who did not give his last name. “It’s not like it’s going to be hidden like Gilgo where it was buried.”
As the investigation continues, neighbors like Joanna Higgins now share a sense of unease — questioning the safety of the once-peaceful haven.
“I think that this is terrible and I think that this should not be real,” Higgins said. “This should not be our reality.”
Police are working to identify the people found inside the park. Detectives said they believe a car is involved that may have dropped those body parts off. There’s no word yet on if there is a suspect.