Woman told Long Island MS-13 remains may be her brother
ROOSEVELT, Nassau County (WABC) -- Police in Nassau County are trying to identify a body found in a wooded area after the arrest of a third person in another murder linked to the violent MS-13 gang prompted the search.
Josue Figueroa-Velasquez, 18, is now facing murder charges in the death of 16-year-old Angel Soler.
Soler's remains were found last October in a wooded area in Roosevelt after he was attacked with a machete. David Sosa-Guevara, 26, of Wyandanch, and Victor Lopez, of Roosevelt, were previously arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Police believe his killing is linked to the deadly MS-13 gang, and Figueroa-Velasquez's arrest prompted Nassau police, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations to search for possible remains in a wooded area in Roosevelt. The body was recovered in a grave about five feet deep in the field off Frederick Avenue, and the discovery is suspected to be connected to MS-13.
"We went to what we believed to be a grave site, we dug until we found a body in that site," a police official said. "There are human remains in there at this time we're not going to be able to identify until DNA comes back. The biggest concern that we want the people to know is that this is an older murder. There is no concern in the community right now to cause any kind of panic."
Eyewitness News spoke with a woman who said police told her the remains may be her brother. Josue Amaya went missing in 2016.
"I'm really doing bad," the sister said. "He's like a son to me. I'm really not well at all."
She said police have asked her family for DNA so they can compare it with the remains.
They are going to pay," she said. "He never did harm to anyone. Why did they harm him?"
Amaya's mother is in Honduras, and the family is trying -- with difficulty -- to get her into the United States.
The search was prompted by a tip that came in with the arrest. It ended Thursday morning with no additional remains found.
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