TWO women have been arrested and charged with sex trafficking for their alleged roles in the disappearance of Emmarae Gervasi.
The 14-year-old was saved by her loving father a month after she disappeared from her home in a “Taken-style” kidnapping.
InstagramFrank Gervasi saved his daughter Emmarae from 26 days of kidnapping[/caption]
Suffolk County Sheriff’s OfficeJacquelyn Comiskey was arrested and charged with sex trafficking[/caption]
News 12Emmarae was found on a boat in Islip, Long Island[/caption]
The number of suspects allegedly involved in the crime now totals seven after Emmarae hopped into a car outside her home on December 9.
Emmarae was only saved after her heroic dad Frank rescued her from a boat she was being held on in Islip, Long Island, New York.
Suffolk County cops charged Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, and Elizabeth Hunter, 34, with sex trafficking and endangering the welfare of a child on Monday, according to the New York Post.
Comiskey is alleged to have transported Emmarae to Bunice Knight’s home in exchange for crack cocaine the day before she was found on the boat.
Comiskey claimed to be a loving grandmother on her Instagram page, according to Greater Long Island news.
Both pleaded not guilt to the charges when they appeared in front of a judge at Suffolk County First District Court.
Their bail was set at $750,000 each.
Knight, 47, of Copiague, New York, was arrested and charged a fortnight ago with endangering the welfare of a child.
Francis Buckheit, 65, was later arrested and charged with rape, kidnapping and acting in a manner injurous to a child in connection to the shocking case.
Both Knight and Buckheit have pleaded not guilty.
Frank reacted to the news of Knight’s arrest in a Facebook post saying: “What happens in the dark will come to the light as I said over and over again.”
Three other men have also been charged in the case.
Alton Harrell, 63, was arrested on Jan. 17, while Daniel Burke, 63, and Robert Eccleston, 63, were arrested on Jan. 24.
They were all charged with kidnapping, rape and endangering the welfare of a child but pleaded not guilty.
HERO DAD’S INVESTIGATION
Emmarae was last seen before her disappearance getting into a car outside her home in East Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York on December 9.
Frank revealed Emmarae had struggled with drug abuse in the past and was wearing a monitoring ankle bracelet at the time.
Emmarae was seen on security footage less than 24 hours after her shock disappearance knocking on doors and helplessly wandering around Bohemia, New York.
But she disappeared again.
InstagramEmmarae was kidnapped after she got into a car outside her home[/caption]
InstagramThe 14-year-old was wearing an ankle bracelet at the time of her kidnap[/caption]
Frank Gervasi launched his own investigation into the disappearance of his daughter in a “Taken-style” effort to save his daughter.
A court-ordered ankle monitor the teen was wearing was found cut off a block away from the home.
He said at the time: “I fear that she is being held against her will.
“I know she is with somebody and they are either convincing her to stay or won’t let her leave or worse she may be dead by now.
“The lady who gave me the tip was afraid to go in the boat.”
Frank desperately began to appeal for information about his daughter on social media as cops couldn’t find her.
A month later, an anonymous phone tip allowed Frank to stage the miraculous rescue before even the cops could reach Emmarae.
Frank found his daughter barefoot wearing no jacket and without a cell phone at the time.
InstagramDad Frank said getting his daughter back was a ‘gift from god’[/caption]
InstagramFrank says Emmarae was sex-trafficked and plied with drugs by ‘unsavoury characters’[/caption]
He had no idea if she was alive.
Frank pulled off the miraculous rescue by following up his own leads.
Frank says Emmarae was sex-trafficked and plied with drugs by “unsavoury characters”.
He said: “She was not allowed to leave the boat unless she was escorted by somebody.
“So I do believe this is sex-trafficking, and it’s being looked into.”
Frank confirmed he arrived at the crime scene before the police, in a real-life Taken movie-style hunt , according to News 12.
In the blockbuster Hollywood movie, an American father tracks down and saves his daughter after she was kidnapped by criminals while on vacation in Paris.
After the rescue, Frank said: “It was 26 days of hell seeing her alive in my arms.
“It was a gift from God. I can’t describe the feeling I had when I grabbed her.”
InstagramAll of those charged with Emmarae’s disappearance have pleaded not guilty[/caption]
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