Update, Jan. 8, 8:35 a.m.: A 56-year-old Riverside man last seen on Oct. 11 and reported missing on Nov. 3 was found dead in the woods off Route 114 in East Hampton on Monday morning.
A hunter contacted police after coming across the body of Luis Vargas- Arias in the 119-acre Buckskill Preserve. On the scene Monday afternoon before Southampton Town police identified the man, Detective Sgt. Ryan Hogan of the East Hampton Town police characterized the death as “non-suspicious.”
“We’re looking into the possibility that it might be a missing person from Southampton Town,” he said. “There’s no need for concern. It was an isolated situation. We let Ross School know early on that there was nothing for the kids to be concerned with.” It was too soon to “make the decision about what took place,” he said; the Suffolk County Medical Examiner would make that determination.
In early November, when Southampton Town police issued a missing person report for Mr. Vargas-Arias, it described him as “a Hispanic male, approximately 5’5 ft, 170 lbs., with short gray hair and brown eyes.” He had last been seen on Oct. 11 in New York City and was thought to have taken a train there. In a Monday evening update identifying the body, they wrote that “No criminality is suspected at this time.”
The Buckskill Preserve is a densely wooded triangle bounded on two sides by Stephen Hand’s Path and Route 114. Big-game shotgun and bow hunting is permitted there for town residents by lottery in January.
Original, Jan. 6, 5:46 p.m.: Police are investigating the death of a person in the Buckskill Preserve in East Hampton after a hunter found a body in the woods there Monday morning.
Detective Sgt. Ryan Hogan of the East Hampton Town Police Department said Southampton Town police are investigating the incident, which he characterized as "non-suspicious."
"We're looking into the possibility that it might be a missing person from Southampton Town," he said on the scene Monday afternoon after the body was taken away by Suffolk County Medical Examiner personnel.
"There's no need for concern. It was an isolated situation. We let Ross School know early on that there was nothing for the kids to be concerned with."
Sergeant Hogan wouldn't identify the gender of the deceased or discuss a possible cause. "The Suffolk County Examiner will make that determination," he said. "At this point, it's early on to make the decision about what took place."
The Buckskill Preserve is a densely wooded, 119-acre triangle bound on two sides by Stephen Hand's Path and Route 114. Big-game shotgun and bow hunting is permitted there for town residents by lottery in January.
