In an update to an ongoing story, a second person has been arrested in the disappearance of a New York girl, who was found on a boat. Her father located her nearly a month after she went missing.
14-year-old Emmarae Gervasi disappeared for more than 20 days. Her father believes that Emmarae became a victim of an alleged sex trafficking ring. Now, authorities have charged 47-year-old Bunice Knight with a list of charges, via New York Post. Counts include second-degree rape, three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, and endangering the welfare of a child.
They're accusing Knight of allegedly having sex with Emmarae at his home. The teen's father Frank Gervasi later located his daughter on board of a boat at the WhiteCap Marina in Islip. Someone called him telling him where to find the missing New York girl. She had been missing since December 9 when she got into a car.
Surveillance cameras led to Knight's arrest.
Second Arrest In Case Of New York Girl
"What done in the dark will b brought to the light," Frank Gervasi said on Facebook. Knight plead not guilty and faced a $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond. He's the second arrest in the case. Police also arrested Francis Burkheit and charged him with kidnapping the missing New York girl. It's unclear if the two men knew each other.
According to the New York girl's father, she was "forced to do things that a 14-year-old girl shouldn't have to do." He said that his daughter was under house arrest due to drug abuse and had an ankle monitor when she went missing. Someone removed the ankle monitor and gave her drugs.
"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."
He also claimed that Burkheit had planned to traffic his daughter to the South. Burkheit also plead not guilty to the crime.
