The Lengthy Island dad who described rescuing his teen from a ship after she disappeared for a month says he believes she was sex-trafficked — and “pressured to do issues {that a} 14-year-old woman shouldn’t should do.”
Frank Gervasi’s daughter Emmarae vanished the night time of Dec. 9 after reportedly moving into an odd automotive exterior their Patchogue house, and the household stated it was terrified somebody had kidnapped her.
Her dad and Suffolk County cops then stated Friday that she had been discovered on the boat in Islip — and in a Sunday Fb video, Gervasi detailed what he thought might need occurred to her.
“Emma was being held in opposition to her will,” the bearded, tatted-up dad stated, including that he’d learn “quite a lot of dumb feedback” that claimed the teenager may have simply left on her personal.
“She was not allowed to depart the boat until she was escorted by any individual, and he or she was being pressured to do issues {that a} 14-year-old woman shouldn’t should do,” he continued.
“So I do consider that is sex-trafficking, and it’s being seemed into.”
He stated the younger teen is doing effectively in her restoration after her month-long nightmare, which solely ended when a lady known as him with an nameless tip that finally led him to the boat.
“The cellphone name I obtained was that she was on a ship in Islip,” he stated, including he was initially skeptical. “The woman who gave me the tip was afraid to go within the boat.”
However the determined dad stated he had no such worry, busting into Emma’s jail ship — moored in a marina close to the White Cap Fish Market — to rescue her Friday.
Nobody else was on board on the time, Gervasi stated. He added that he thought she’d been held by “some harmful folks” and that there was a lookout boat close by to maintain tabs on her.
“She is in a facility proper now getting the assistance she wants and is protected,” Gervasi stated in a Saturday social media video. “I’d prefer to thank the group for the entire assist that you just gave us.”
Emmarae was final seen leaving her home with a jacket or sneakers and moving into the automotive, based on Larger Lengthy Island.
Safety cameras captured her knocking on doorways at a Bohemia motel the following day, however she disappeared once more.
Gervasi stated his daughter initially went off with a person she met on-line, however left him and was later picked up by a “random” 65-year-old man she didn’t know.
Over the previous month, Gervasi pleaded for assistance on social media and stated he looked for leads on his personal, driving round Lengthy Island in what typically felt like a futile search.
“I used to be beginning to lose hope,” he stated at one level. “I awakened yesterday, and I needed to surrender. I needed to die. I simply didn’t know the place my little woman was.”
Now, Gervasi stated, he desires to assist different New York households whose children might need equally disappeared.
“My nightmare is over. Nonetheless different dad and mom’ nightmares are nonetheless present — and their youngsters are nonetheless lacking,” he stated Sunday. “It’s an terrible feeling, and it’s one thing that we’re going to be actively engaged on, attempting to determine assist different households.
“Trafficking is a large drawback internationally,” he continued. “It’s a really large drawback on Lengthy Island, and I stress that folks ought to regulate their youngsters.
“These individuals are predators, and they’re going to cease at nothing to get to your children.”
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