The FBI confirmed the identities of two teenagers who were among three found dead in a nine-day span in Freeport and Roosevelt, authorities said.
Javier Castillo, who was 15 when reported missing Oct. 13, 2016, was identified as the person found dead at Cow Meadow Park in Freeport on Oct. 24, an FBI spokeswoman said. Kerin Pineda, who was 19 when reported missing May 23, 2016, was identified as the person found dead in a wooded area of Freeport near the Long Island Rail Road tracks on Oct. 27, the spokeswoman added.
The agency did not release their cause of death or any other details. They did not say if the cases were related.
The two were found days after Nassau police, acting a federal law enforcement tip, found the remains of 16-year-old Angel Soler buried in a wooded preserve in his hometown of Roosevelt, police have said. The teen’s family reportedly suspects he was a victim of gang violence.
Nassau police also searched Massapequa Preserve last month, but did not find anything. Several members of the MS-13 street gang have been arrested for killing a 19-year-old victim who was found dead in that preserve in March.
The FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force is continuing the investigation.
