New York authorities investigating the kidnapping of missing Long Island teen Emmarae Gervasi have made a staggering 12th arrest in the case.
Bay Shore man Daniel Soto, 36, was arrested Friday morning and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and a separate charge.
The arrest, first reported by the New York Post, comes weeks after Gervasi, 14, was found aboard a yacht at the White Cap Marina by her father Frank in a daring rescue last month.
Gervasi disappeared from her home in Patchogue, Long Island, on December 9, when she was seen getting into a car on her block.
She was allegedly kidnapped by 64-year-old Francis Buckheit, with ten others since charged with an array of crimes in connection with the teen’s kidnapping.
Her father said he agonized over her disappearance and couldn’t leave it up to the police, and began investigating his own leads in hopes of finding his missing daughter.
Frank Gervasi said he received a tip that led him to his daughter on board a 56-foot yacht in the marina on January 3, saying he broke down the boat’s door to find her inside without shoes or a cell phone.
Following his harrowing 26-day search for his daughter, Frank told DailyMail.com that finding his daughter was ‘pure elation’ after fearing she had been killed.
New York authorities investigating the kidnapping of missing Long Island teen Emmarae Gervasi (pictured) have made a staggering twelfth arrest in the case
Emmarae’s father Frank Gervasi (seen together with her mother Melissa Dervay) heroically saved his daughter from a boat 26-days after she vanished after receiving an anonymous tip
Soto’s arrest comes after cops have charged eleven others with various crimes, including aiding the teen’s kidnapping or assaulting her while she was in captivity.
Buckheit, the boat’s owner, was charged with kidnapping among other charges, the same accusations facing Alton Harrell, 35.
Bunice Knight, 47, was arrested soon after Buckheit and charged with child endangerment, three counts of sale of a controlled substance and another crime.
Daniel Burke, 63, and Robert Eccleston, 61, were also charged with kidnapping, child endangerment and a separate allegation soon after as officials said the investigation remains open.
And this week two women, Jacquelyn Comiskey, 52, and Elizabeth Hunter, 34, were also charged with child endangerment.
Kevin McDonald, 20, was also charged in connection to her kidnapping, according to police.
Burkcheit pleaded not guilty, and his attorney Danielle Papa said in court that he was ’emotional and upset’ by his arrest, and ‘maintains his innocence.’
‘There’s a lot more to this story than what’s been presented in the papers at this time, which we are in the process of investigating,’ Papa added in an appearance at Suffolk County District Court.
Pictured: Alleged kidnapper Francis Buckhiet, who denied the allegations against him
A total of 12 people have now been charged with an array of crimes related to the 14-year-old’s kidnapping
Frank Gervasi told DailyMail.com that he feared his daughter may have been killed, and described the moment of finding her alive as ‘pure elation’
Frank Gervasi said he feared his daughter had been killed after she was missing for almost a month, and said when he received a tip about her whereabouts, she was told ‘my daughter was with very dangerous men.’
‘The information I was given was very specific and very accurate,’ Gervasi told the DailyMail.com.
The day of the rescue was like a scene out of the Liam Neeson action film Taken, as Frank reportedly kicked down a door of the boat to find his stricken daughter.
He recalled his daughter asking her, ‘Dad, how did you find me? How did you know I was here?’
Though much remains unknown about exactly what happened when Gervasi was reunited with his daughter, he shared that ‘there were rumors that they were going to move the boat down south soon.’
‘They could have left the state easily, and no one would have been able to trace it through the waterway,’ he said.
Frank Gervasi, Emmarae’s father, took matters into his own hands to find her and said he tracked her down to a yacht after receiving a ‘specific and accurate’ anonymous tip
Pictured: The ship Buckheit allegedly held Emmarae captive in
An emotional Gervasi told the DailyMail.com that the moment he rescued her was ‘pure elation… joy, happiness’ after 26 agonizing days of hell.
‘We had five minutes of clarity before the police showed up. I was able to hug and kiss her and talk to her, and that’s pretty much how it went.’
Emmarae’s mother Melissa Dervay said a weight was ‘lifted’ when the intense search ended.
‘The moment I heard her voice and knew she was OK, I felt a weight lifted off my body,’ Dervay told Greater Long Island.
‘I’ve been so tense for the past four weeks, quietly fighting a battle. Now, I’m elated. I feel light, and I just want to scream, ‘She’s OK. She’s been found.”
