Female head, man's arms found amid discovery of other body parts in Babylon
BABYLON, Suffolk County (WABC) -- A park in Babylon, Suffolk County reopened Friday after the discovery of several body parts belonging to a man and a woman the day before.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner says a female head, right upper leg, left leg from the knee down and right arm and two male arms were found, and autopsies are underway to determine the identities of the victims and what happened to them.
It is believed that the female body parts are that of an adult woman.
The grisly discoveries began Thursday morning, when a group of teenagers walking near Babylon Memorial Grade School found a severed arm on the side of the road at the edge of Southard Pond Park.
A girl in the group called her father, who came to the scene and immediately called police.
When officers arrived and searched the area, they found a second arm about 20 feet from where the first arm was found.
Police say both appear to belong to a man.
Parents tell Eyewitness News the school district immediately alerted them about the investigation, which is understandably unnerving to many.
As the search expanded Thursday afternoon and into the night, a cadaver dog found a woman's leg, arm and head on the opposite side of the park, near Babylon Elementary School.
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At a Friday morning press conference, detectives said the condition of the remains suggests they had not been in the park long - maybe a few days or even hours.
The ages of the victims are unknown, but investigators said they were adults.
Police say the male arms have tattoos on them, so they are searching through databases for a possible match.
Investigators are hoping the tattoos and DNA testing will help determine the male victim's identity and eventually lead them to find out what exactly happened.
The female arm and leg do not have tattoos.
Detectives say the park includes a large area wooded area that can present challenges for search teams.
They do believe a car may have been involved in dumping the remains.
No additional body parts were found Friday morning, and the park has since reopened.
Eyewitness News reporter Pedro Rivera spoke with one woman who grew up in the neighborhood and says that while it was a surprise human remains were found, it was not the first time this has happened in this area.
"We've had issues in the past of finding bodies or a body but to see this happening now twice is shocking," Babylon resident Joanna Higgins said.
Higgins lives a few blocks away and remembers back in 2018, when human remains were discovered by an arena near Ralph and North Railroad Avenue. It turned out to be a gang related murder.
Those remains found almost six years ago, were just a half a mile from the latest gruesome discovery.
"This isn't like Babylon. Babylon is a very happy town. For this to show up in our town its shell shocking," Higgins said.
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