Suffolk County Police announced they had arrested a 64-year-old man for the rape and kidnapping of 14-year-old Emma Gervasi—who first went missing on the evening of Dec. 9th, inspiring a social media storm of a search party throughout the holidays.
A Suffolk County grand jury later identified the indicted as Francis Buckheit, of East Islip. He will be arraigned in the Riverhead-located criminal court building later this month.
Emma’s outspoken father, Frank Gervasi, came out ahead of the authorities last week in a Facebook video to declare his daughter—who had been found on a boat at the Islip Marina on
Friday, Jan. 3rd after a woman phoned in a tip—was subject to sex trafficking.
Shortly after being recovered, Emma was admitted to the Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center in Dix Hills, where she is currently in good spirits while being treated and undergoing further evaluation.
What had been reported before this week’s publication:
Emma Gervasi, 14, had dealt with extensive “troubles” in the past, including a propensity to run away from home and substance abuse
Emma was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of her disappearance at 5 p.m. on Dec. 9th. Her stepmother was upstairs and her father on the way home when she, barefoot and without a raincoat in a torrential downpour, went to retrieve something out of a car that pulled up to the end of her Patchogue home’s driveway. Security cameras show her entering the car and driving off
Emma’s father Frank said she met up with a man “in his late 30s” she met online and had communicated with over Snapchat. This man was reportedly inappropriate with her, removed her jewelry and committed additional offenses of this sort
Emma was last seen on surveillance footage knocking on motel doors in Bohemia at 2 a.m. on Dec. 10th
At some point, Emma left the late 30s man to travel with the 64-year-old accused
26 days after Emma went missing, on Friday, Jan. 3rd: Frank rescued his daughter from a boat in the Islip Marina called “The Phoenix”
Per his lawyer, Buckheit denies all charges, and pleads not guilty. "He’s emotional, he’s upset, he maintains his innocence," attorney Danielle Papa, of Hauppauge, spoke of her client.
She added, "There’s more to this particular story than what’s been reported.”
In an interview with celebrity psychologist Phil McGraw on his Weds., Jan. 8th episode of “The Dr. Phil Podcast,” Frank revealed that the moment he found his daughter “was a moment of elation” and “probably one of the greatest feelings I ever experienced.”
Frank recalled that while exact circumstances are still being investigated, he knows for certain the drugs administered to Emma early on greatly “affected her ability to make any good decisions” beyond that point.
He told Dr. Phil that in the days leading up to receiving the tip that perfectly clocked Emma’s location, he was surely determined, but nevertheless spiraling within his mind, given the bleakness of the holiday season he and his family just had to endure.
“As a parent, every thought possible goes through your head,” said Frank. “As the days go on, the thoughts get worse: ‘Is she dead? Is she alive? Is she hiding? Is she kidnapped?’ You don’t know what to think, it literally tears you up every second of your day. Your mind is non-stop thinking: ‘Where is my kid?' It’s an awful feeling.”
False leads, blind ransom demands, negative input from online trolls, fake GoFundMe pages and graphic photos of unrelated blood splatter being sent their way only added to Frank’s strife as the Gervasi family and Suffolk County Police fought to weed out distractions, Frank said.
He says the fated call was tough to believe at first, given the pattern of constant misinformation. But then the woman on the other end began to accurately describe identifying marks of Emma’s, such as her neck tattoo.
“God gave me a gift that day,” Frank said, commending the woman who phoned in Emma’s location from just outside the boat despite his yet-confirmed belief that this woman likely played a factor in Emma’s captivity.
“I think the person might have had a moment of clarity, felt bad, and thought she [Emma] might be the missing girl,” Frank said. “I definitely think she had some involvement in it—how much, is unclear—but she may have been an active participant.”
When Frank arrived at the Islip Marina dock, the woman said she was not clear if Buckheit was on the boat, but was certain Emma was. “Go in at your own risk,” she advised.
Frank did just that.
Emma’s month-long restless father busted through the locked doors, unarmed and unsure of what he would meet on the other side of the curtain that separated him from the figure responding to the commotion he caused. To his adoration, what he saw was his daughter—who instantly recognized him as they rejoiced in a beautiful, hug-filled embrace.
According to Frank, Emma exclaimed: “How the hell did you find me?” as they reunited. Frank next cleared the boat with Emma held behind her, relieved to see her father but also worrisome that her captor was en route back to the boat.
Once the coast was clear, they chatted briefly before police and a SWAT team arrived. In the 5-minute window the Gervasi’s had together before detective interviews and sirens galore took over, Emma confirmed that a 3 a.m. phone call Frank received mere days after Emma’s disappearance—in which a voice resembling that of his daughter’s trembled to say, “I love you,” before abruptly hanging up—was indeed his daughter.
Emma’s captors—Frank insistent that the number of perpetrators in this case travels beyond
Buckheit—reportedly allowed her to make this one phone call.
An ambulance transported Emma to the hospital, where doctors determined she was dehydrated from the drugs she was given.
Alleged in the criminal complaint, Buckheit drove a Mack truck up to the marina a couple of hours later, shortly after 8:30 p.m., where police were waiting for him; “I’m just going home,” he told police, who measured the unsteady and alcohol-reeking Buckheit’s BAC at 0.12.
Based on statements given by Gervasi and the anonymous tip supplier—identified by media outlets as “a 34-year-old female witness,” Bucket was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child, in addition to driving while intoxicated and other vehicular crimes.
“The police department was very helpful. They did a good job in aiding me to find her,” the Gervasi patriarch told Dr. Phil. “They never stopped looking for her."
And neither did he, Frank's interviewer perceived: “Frank never gave up hope during the loneliest holiday he ever went through,” Dr. Phil told the audience.
Electing not to elaborate upon the intricacies of their family dynamic, Frank confirmed that he currently has full custody of Emma, and that Emma’s biological mother has seen and visited with Emma since her rescue.
Though Emma has been found, the very fact that Gervasi sported a “Protect Out Children” hoodie, coupled with the sentiments he signed off with during his guest spot on “The Dr. Phil Podcast, suggests he will continue to help other parents find their missing children.
“There’s a lot of missing children out here—not just in Suffolk County, but across Long Island,” he said. “When my daughter went missing, it made us paranoid. It’s definitely a huge problem out here, and across the country.”
On regrets and what he will do differently once Emma returns home, Frank told Dr. Phil he seeks to crack down on social media in his household. Though Emma never owned a cellphone, Frank says “kids are smart” and find workarounds. Surreptitiously gaining access to outside Internet put Emma directly in harm’s way; Frank refuses to let this happen again.
Dr. Phil urged Frank and other concerned parents to value the importance of dialoguing. He provided advice on how to circumvent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) triggers when trying to help children confront experiences of theirs that may be too embarrassing, shameful or humiliating to recount.
“It can be cathartic to talk about judgment,” Dr. Phil said. “Children's brains aren’t done growing [until 25 years old]... the last thing that grows is their ability to see around corners.”
Frank Gervasi concluded with one final message to all those who have been following his daughter’s case; they may have caught a break here, but countless others are not as lucky.
“There are predators everywhere,” he said. “You don’t necessarily need a phone to get in trouble these days. Be diligent, and keep an eye on your children.”