Police: Human remains found during search of woods

Human remains have been found during a search by Nassau County police and federal investigators in a wooded area on the Baldwin-Roosevelt line, police said Friday.

During the search, investigators found the remains of a male in what “might look like a grave site,” said Nassau police Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick of the homicide squad.

“We don’t know who this person is right now, so we don’t know his past or who he is associated with,” Fitzpatrick said. “At this time we only have one set” of remains.

The medical examiner will make a determination as to the identification of the victim and the cause of death, he said.

The search of the area will continue, Fitzpatrick said. The approximately 27-acre site contains rugged terrain and overgrown vegetation and includes a lake.

“The process is slow due to the terrain and growth,” he said.

Acting Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Thursday, the day the search began, that Homeland Security Investigations had received information Wednesday night from a “person of interest” about the possibility of human remains in the area.

Fitzpatrick said Friday that HSI investigators gave Nassau police the tip.

Sources have said investigators were searching for the body of a possible victim of gang violence.

Ryder said he could not say whether the search was linked to MS-13 gang violence or any active missing persons cases in the county.

Nassau police officers on Friday were again on the scene, in the area of West Greenwich Avenue and Wilbur Lane.

New York State police used their canine unit to locate the remains and found other places of interest that investigators will want to later search, Fitzpatrick said.

Nassau officials could not say how long the remains were in the park or how badly decomposed they were.

With Robert E. Kessler and Nicole Fuller