Human arms, leg found near schools in Babylon, police say
BABYLON, New York (WABC) -- Two human arms and a leg were found at a park in Babylon on Thursday, Suffolk County police said.
The remains were discovered in wooded areas at Southards Pond Park.
The scenes were along the west and east sides of the park.
The initial gruesome discovery was made by a girl, who was walking to school amongst a group of students who attend Babylon Middle School and High School.
The girl then called her father, who then called 911. The arm's fingertips were gone and had a clear tattoo.
According to the police chief on the scene, it didn't appear that the arm had been there a long time.
Suffolk Police and the medical examiner arrived on the scene after a second body part -- a leg -- was found a half-mile away on the other side of the park in the woods near Babylon Elementary School.
On Thursday night, a third body part, a second arm, was found by a canine cadaver dog.
Police say the right arm was found about 20 feet further into the woods from where the left arm was, almost in a direct line.
Investigators believe the arms belong to a male.
The gruesome discoveries prompted Babylon District Superintendent of Schools Carisa Manza to move elementary and grade school recesses indoors for the day out an abundance of caution. Dismissal procedures were also modified.
"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," Manza said. "We applaud them for their diligence in reporting their disturbing discovery to our building administration and law enforcement."
Manza said mental health resources are available and ready to assist students at all grade levels who may have been affected.
"It is a little disturbing because the school is right here so I was kind of worried," said parent Salma Lakhaney.
As for neighbors, the discovery has them shook.
One neighbor told Eyewitness News that she stopped walking her dog by the park.
"There's definitely a bad vibe right here," the neighbor said. "Like the last two weeks for sure. I stopped walking here by myself because there's just weirdos."
The case is being treated as a homicide.
The main questions now are who was this person and who did this?
Detectives are hoping tattoos and DNA will help them identify the person soon. Police say there are no reports of any missing persons in the area.
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