THREE severed body parts have been found on Long Island in a haunting discovery made by children as they walked to school.
The horror began on Thursday at around 8:40 am when a student stumbled on one of the limbs at a popular park in Babylon, New York.
Human remains were discovered by a student at a park in Long Island, New York, on ThursdayWCBS-TV
After the discovery, even more body parts were foundWNBC
A police dog found a leg sticking out of a pile of leaves at the large park in BabylonWNBC
The girl called her dad, who rushed to Southards Park Pond.
“The father responded, confirmed it was an arm on the side of the road, and he called 911,” Suffolk County Police Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer said.
The arm had a distinct tattoo on it but was missing its fingertips and it’s unclear how they were removed.
Cops and forensics teams descended on the area to search for any other evidence.
Later in the afternoon at 1:30 pm, a police dog found a leg sticking out of a pile of leaves about a mile away, on the opposite end of the park.
“The dog found the leg and once he did, he stopped,” Beyrer told reporters.
“There’s a mound of leaves, we don’t know what’s going to be under the mound.”
Later in the evening, a third limb was found.
The right arm was discovered in the woods about 20 feet from where the left arm was found, Beyrer said.
The human remains don’t appear to have been there that long, cops said, and the arms likely belonged to a male.
It’s still unclear if the limbs belong to one person or multiple victims.
‘EXTREMELY UNSETTLING’
One of the limbs was found feet from an elementary school.
Two nearby schools – Babylon Memorial Grade School and Babylon Elementary School – had indoor recess due to police activity in the area, said a representative of the Babylon School District.
The superintendent called the incident “extremely unsettling” in a letter to parents but added that the investigation wasn’t related to the schools.
“The safety and mental health of our students is our number one priority, and we know this incident may be causing some extreme anxiety among our students, particularly the high school students who were directly affected by this situation on their way to school this morning,” the letter read.
“We applaud them for their diligence in reporting their disturbing discovery to our building administration and law enforcement.
“Our mental health resources are ready to assist our students at all grade levels, and we encourage any student feeling uneasy, anxious, or scared in any way to please take advantage of them during this time.”
Authorities are investigating the discovery as a homicide and are examining the tattoo on one arm in an effort to identify the victim.
“It’s very scary. It’s very close to home. All of my children go to school here,” Nicole Bonsignore told CBS News.
“It’s a shame. It’s in a nice neighborhood,” another concerned resident told News 12 Long Island.
“Things like this go on, I realize, but you hope it doesn’t go on by where you live.”
The discovery brought back haunting memories for Long Islanders as the body parts were found just 16 miles from Gilgo Beach, where the remains of the Long Island Serial Killer’s victims were discovered.
“Probably the other Gilgo Beach serial killer making his presence known,” a concerned resident wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Gilgo dude?” someone else wrote.
The search has been suspended until the morning, said police.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Suffolk County Police Department for comment.
Detective Lt. Kevin Beyrer said two arms and a leg were discoveredWNBC Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
