Photo: Dusan Ladjevic / iStock / Getty Images
A young girl and her friends made a gruesome discovery that led police to a horrific crime scene in a New York park on Thursday (February 29). Authorities said the girl and her friends were walking to school through Southards Pond Park in Babylon when she noticed a severed limb on the ground.
When police arrived and searched the park, they found the severed body parts of a man and a woman scattered throughout the area.
"Based on the conditions [of the body parts], preliminarily, it appears it's a matter of a small amount of days — if not hours — that they were out here," Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commanding officer of the Suffolk homicide squad, told reporters during a Friday morning press conference.
Officials are trying to identify the bodies. The male's fingertips were removed, but he did have tattoos, which investigators hope can be used to identify him.
"That's just really, really crazy. Terrible," a resident who lives near the park told Greater Long Island. "It's mostly quiet here. Kids playing. They got the dog park. The only time I've ever seen activity is when they hold events on Main Street."
According to the New York Post, investigators are looking into whether the killings were the result of gang violence related to MS-13, which is active in the area.