The story that kept South Shore Long Islanders riveted in the final weeks of 2024 continues to get more sordid as arrests continue to mount in connection to the mysterious disappearance of a female minor who went missing for 25 days before being found by her father through a tip on January 3rd.
Apprehended individuals include:
- Francis Buckheit: The 64-year-old East Islip resident is the owner of the yacht docked at White Cap Marina on which the 14-year-old teen was ultimately found on January 3. He is charged with first-degree kidnapping.
- Bunice Knight, age 47, of Copiague, was the next man arrested in this case. He is charged with second-degree rape, endangering the welfare of a child, as well as three counts of the criminal sale of crack cocaine. Knight is accused of engaging in sex with the minor inside his Jervis Avenue residence on January 2, the day before she was found on the boat.
- Alton Harrell, age 35, of Bellport, is the third arrest made on January 24. He is charged with being inside the vehicle the teen was seen entering on a neighbor’s video surveillance footage on the December 9 evening when she disappeared in front of her home. Harrell also stands charged with rape and keeping the girl in an abandoned house on Doane Avenue for two days.
- Robert Eccleston, 61, of Islip, was arrested on January 24, charged with second-degree rape, kidnapping, and child endangerment. He stands accused of holding the girl inside a detached garage unit behind his house on Monell Avenue over three days and engaging in intercourse with her during that period.
- Daniel Burke, 63, of Bohemia, was also arrested on January 24 and charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree rape, and child endangerment. He purportedly kept the teen at his home on Valley Forge Drive.
- Two females were arrested on Jan. 28, both charged with promoting sexual acts by a child and child welfare endangerment: Jacquelyn Comiskey, age 52, of Bellport, has been charged with transporting the minor to the residence of Bunice Knight on January 2 in exchange for drugs. Elizabeth Hunter, age 34, of Islip, has been additionally charged with promoting an obscene sex act with a child under 17 years of age.
- Kevin McDonald, age 20, of Medford, was arrested and charged with sex crimes on Jan. 29.
- DeShaun McClean, age 42, was added to this list on Feb. 4, and charged with two counts of sexual contact with a minor. He was a mental health worker at the facility the teen was staying at since her ordeal.
- Ralph Knowles, age 63, and Rebecca Browell, age 46, both of Brentwood, were arrested on Feb. 6. Knowles charged with attempted rape, and Browell with giving drugs to a minor.
- Daniel Soto, resident of Bay Shore, age 36 was arrested on Feb. 8. He is charged with having sex with the minor several times between the dates of Dec. 13-20, aboard the boat docked in While Cap Marina, where she was ultimately found two weeks later.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty to their respective charges.
This article is an updated version of the one published in the February, 2025 edition of Great South Bay News.
