Major update in ‘Taken’ kidnapping where dad saved daughter, 14, from ‘26 days of hell’ as SECOND suspect arrested
A SECOND suspect has been arrested in the heroic tale of a ‘Taken’ style abduction that saw a father rescue his kidnapped daughter from a boat.
Bunice Knight, 47, of Copiague, has been charged endangering the welfare of a child among other alleged crimes.
Emmarae Gervasi, 14, vanished after getting in a car outside her home in East Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York.
She would be missing for a harrowing 26 days before her father came to her rescue.
Knight’s arrest into the kidnapping comes more than week after Francis Buckheit, 64, was taken in custody where he was charged with first degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child.
Knight was arrested based on statements from Emmarae and security footage from neighbouring homes in the Long Island area.
Both Knight and Buckheit have pleaded not guilty.
It is not yet known if the two men know each other.
Knight’s attorney, Glenn Obedin, told NBC New York they “look forward to rigorously defending this case.”
The suspect has previously spent five years in federal prison on narcotics trafficking charges in 2004.
Court records show that Knight successfully posted his $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
Buckheit remains behind bars.
The girl was seen on security footage less than 24 hours after her shock disappearance knocking on doors and helplessly wandering around Bohemia.
The daring mission saw Frank Gervasi launch his own investigation into the disappearance of his daughter.
She was miraculously saved from a large boat near the White Cap Fish Market and Seafood Restaurant in Islip, Long Island on January 3 after Frank received an anonymous tip.
HERO DAD
Emmarae was allegdly being held hostage on a boat docked at the Whitecap Marina in Islip.
She was found nearly a month after she mysteriously disappeared on December 9.
Frank found his daughter barefoot wearing no jacket and without a cell phone at the time of her disappearance.
He had no idea if she was alive.
Frank pulled off the miraculous rescue by following up his own leads.
He said at the time: “I fear that she is being held against her will.
“I know she is with somebody and they are either convincing her to stay or won’t let her leave or worse she may be dead by now.
“The lady who gave me the tip was afraid to go in the boat.”
Hero Frank confirmed he arrived at the crime scene before the police, in a real-life Taken movie-style hunt , according to News 12.
In the blockbuster Hollywood movie, an American father tracks down and saves his daughter after she was kidnapped by criminals while on vacation in Paris.
After the rescue, Frank said: “It was 26 days of hell seeing her alive in my arms.
“It was a gift from God. I can’t describe the feeling I had when I grabbed her.”