In a miraculous tale that shows a father's love and determination, a missing teen is found safe on a docked boat in New York. This comes 26 days after she went missing.
She was apparently abducted on December 9. 14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi went missing while going to retrieve some things from her Jeep outside her house. Fast forward 26 days, and Gervasi's father found her on a boat docked near a local fish market on Long Island. Someone anonymously called him to give him clues about where to find his daughter.
"I did find her myself before police got there. It was the end of 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," said Frank Gervasi, Emmarae's father said to News 12. The missing teen is now in the hospital. Prior to her disappearance, witnesses observed her getting into a vehicle.
Missing Teen Found
The next day, she appeared on security camera knocking on doors at a hotel. Her father Frank never gave up hope that his daughter was alive. He worked alongside authorities to locate the missing teen.
"She is home. She is in a facility and getting the help she needs and is safe," he said. "I'd like to thank the community for all the support you gave us. Posting all the videos, pushing all the content, Handing out flyers, donating your time to look for my missing girl. It is those things that are going to help bring other kids home."
The father of the missing teen explained that an anonymous caller tipped him off.
"I got an anonymous tip yesterday, and I want to thank that person for coming forward and giving me information about my daughter. The phone call that I received was that she was on a boat in Islip. I followed it up on my own and I went down there to check," he explained. "I bust into the boat and recovered my daughter. She has been saved and is alive. I believe it was persistency that helped bring her home."
Gervasi says that he still has a lot of questions on how the missing teen disappeared. He proposed two current theories — the teen went off with someone she knew but was afraid to come back. Or, a random person picked her up, transferring her to a trailer park then to the boat. Gervasi believed that one of the anonymous calls came from his daughter. He said he thought he recognized her voice on the phone.
But the family is relieved to have her home.
