News of the disappearance of an East Patchogue teen kept the attention of South Shore, and Long Island metro region residents riveted until and after she was found alive and healthy 25 days later. Her father, Frank Gervasi, the owner of an auto body shop in Setauket, remained a vocal advocate on behalf of his daughter, both on social media and offering a $15,000 reward for her safe return.
The 14-year-old girl went missing on Monday, December 9, around 5 p.m. after going outside her home to retrieve an item from her stepmother’s truck but did not return. A neighbor’s video surveillance system recorded footage of her entering a vehicle in front of her family home. Her family reported that she left without her cell phone, identification, or shoes. Dressed only in a black T-shirt and leggings, they believed the incident was not planned and were unsure if she willingly entered the vehicle.
As her disappearance neared its third week, dozens of friends, neighbors, and strangers participated in an organized volunteer search party assembled in the Mastic-Shirley area on December 31, 2024. They distributed flyers and searched the area with canine assistance, hoping to bring visibility to a well-publicized case that left a cold trail.
However, facts did begin to emerge during the interim, including video footage of a young woman identified as the missing teen knocking on motel room doors at 2 a.m. near Long Island MacArthur Airport the day after she was reported missing. A family friend also informed media outlets that the girl had been coping with a recent trauma while spending therapeutic time at a nearby horse ranch. Later, it was revealed that she was a witness in two upcoming criminal trials.
On January 3, Frank Gervasi received an anonymous phone tip that led him to find his daughter aboard a large, white boat named “Phoenix,” moored at a marina near the Islip/Bay Shore border, just south of the Montauk Highway. Three days later, 65-year-old Francis Buckheit of East Islip was arrested and appeared at First District Court in Central Islip, where he was charged with rape, kidnapping, and child endangerment. He was remanded to custody without bail and indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on January 9. Buckheit is expected to be arraigned at Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead later this month.
