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Long Island police arrested a second suspect in connection to the mysterious, month-long disappearance of 14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi who was found on a boat as her father believes she was a victim of sex trafficking.
Copiague resident Bunice Knight, 47, was charged with rape and endangering the welfare of a child on Friday, NBC New York reported.
Gervasi disappeared from her Patchogue home when she jumped into an unknown car around 5 p.m. on Dec. 9.
Her father, Frank Gervasi, discovered her on a boat at the WhiteCap Marina in Islip on Jan. 3 after receiving a helpful tip.
Emmarae had been brought to Knight’s home near the marina for approximately an hour on the same day that she was rescued on the boat, according to the outlet.
Officials used surveillance cameras from nearby homes to identify Knight and make the arrest.
“What done in the dark will b brought to the light,” Frank Gervasi said on Facebook in response to Knight’s arrest.
A grand jury indicted Knight, but no details were released until the indictment is unsealed at an arraignment scheduled for next week, News 12 Long Island reported.
Frank Gervasi had searched every day for his missing daughter, posting video updates to social media and helping search parties that community members had formed.
Gervasi claimed his daughter was the victim of sex trafficking, saying she was “forced to do things that a 14-year-old girl shouldn’t have to do.”
He shared that his daughter had struggled with drug abuse in the past and was wearing an ankle monitor the night she went missing.
“The person who picked her up at my house, he removed the bracelet and, again, unsavory characters did what they did with her and she was already under the influence of drugs,” Gervasi previously told The Post. “She just started wandering aimlessly after that.”
“The type of drugs they’re doing, there’s definitely a link between the drugs and trafficking,” he added. “Heavy drugs that they use [on] these girls to get addicted to traffic them.”
In a Facebook video posted on Jan.4, he said that Emmarae is “in a facility right now getting the help she needs.”
Knight is the second man to be arrested in the missing teen’s case.
Francis Burkheit, 64, was arrested and charged with kidnapping of the teen on Jan. 6.
Burkheit, who owned the boat Emmarae was discovered on, had planned on shipping her down to the Carolinas before his arrest, News 12 reported citing court documents.
Both Burkheit and Knight pleaded not guilty to their charges.
“There’s a lot more of a story than what’s being told,” Burkheit’s attorney Danielle Papa said after his arraignment.
It was not revealed if the two men knew each other.
