Skeletal Remains Wash Up Near Hermon A. MacNeil Park - Police Investigate Possible Missing Autistic Boy Link

Divers investigate a scene where a severed arm and a body were found on the banks near Powell Cove in Queens on Thursday, Jan. 16 near near Hermon A. MacNeil Park.

Queens

A skeletal human body part was discovered washed up on a beach in northern Queens Thursday night — and police are looking into whether articles of clothing also found can link it to missing autistic boy Avonte Oquendo, sources said, according to the New York Post.

The skeletal remains of a left arm were found by a teen girl on the waterfront near Hermon A. MacNeil Park in College Point at around 7:30 p.m., cops said. 

“We found the arm and it’s been here a while because it’s skeletal,” a police source said. “But where there’s an arm, there’s a body.” 

Also found was a dark-colored pair of size-5½ sneakers, according to law-enforcement sources. The sneakers match the description of the ones that Avonte, 14, was wearing when he went missing on Oct. 4 from a school in Long Island City.


Missing Poster of 14-year-old missing autistic teen Avonte Oquendo.

The 14-year-old girl who initially discovered the arm wrote about the discovery on social media before alerting authorities, a police source said. 

“Instead of calling 911 right away, she got on Twitter and talked about it,” the source said. “Then she finally told her mom and they called 911.” 

An investigation was ongoing. 

Avonte was seen on surveillance video leaving the Center Boulevard School at about 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 4. Police and volunteers searched the city for months, including in subway tunnels, because Avonte’s family said the boy is fascinated by the subway system.

A $95,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the whereabouts of the teen, who cannot speak.


The Queens Medical Examiner's staff removes the human remains from College Point Thursday night. Police are probing a possible link to autistic teen Avonte Oquendo, who went missing from his Queens school Oct. 4. (Photo: Joseph Stepansky/New York Daily News)

Read More:

Cops investigate remains for link to missing autistic boy

New York Post - January 17,  2014 -  By Frank Rosario and Larry Celona

Cops investigate human arm, legs found near Queens shoreline for link to missing teen Avonte Oquendo 

New York Daily News - January 17,  2014 - BY Rocco Parascandola,  Joseph Stepansky  and Mark Morales 

Human remains found in Queens; Avonte Oquendo family notified
WABC - January 16, 2014