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It has all the hallmarks of a Liam Neeson action film.
An innocent teenage daughter vanishing into thin air. A vengeful father, frustrated with police, taking matters into his own hands.
A scenario reminiscent of a Hollywood movie ending, which fulfills every parent’s deepest dreams – the daughter was discovered alive, albeit traumatized but safe, hiding in a small vessel at an icy marina on Long Island.
Presently, Frank Gervasi shares with DailyMail.com the heartfelt account of the moment he was reunited with his 14-year-old daughter, Emmarae, almost a month subsequent to her sudden disappearance from their residence.
Emmarae has disappeared barefoot and without a cell phone in the rain after going to retrieve something from her father’s car.
It had been a normal school night. Before going outside, Emmarae had asked her dad what he was making for dinner.
What followed was an agonizing month for Frank and his wife, who instantly knew something was amiss.
CCTV footage from the night Emmarae went missing recorded her getting into a dark vehicle and vanishing into the night. The following day, she was seen knocking on a motel room door before vanishing once again.
Emmarae had been missing since December 9 and disappeared without wearing a coat or shoes
Frank Gervasi, Emmarae’s father, took matters into his own hands to find her
The case wasn’t treated seriously at first by police. Emmarae, who’d previously run away, had been in trouble with the law herself.
It wasn’t until January 3 when Frank received an anonymous tip that his daughter was on a boat in Whitecap Marina, near a fish market just 13 miles from his home.
Gervasi shared the tip with police then promptly jumped in his pickup truck headed to the boatyard to rescue his daughter.
‘I didn’t want to wait for the police because I didn’t want to lose my daughter. I busted onto the boat…kicked the door in… and she was there.’
‘The information I was given was very specific and very accurate,’ Gervasi told Daily Mail.com. ‘They told my daughter was with very dangerous men who could possibly still be on the boat.’
He shared the chilling ordeal that ‘there were rumors that they were going to move the boat down south soon.’
‘They could have left the state easily, and no one would have been able to trace it through the waterway,’ he said.
An emotional Gervasi said it was ‘pure elation… joy, happiness’ after 26 agonizing days of hell not knowing if she was dead or alive.
Pictured: The ship Buckheit alleged held Emmarae captive in
Pictured: Alleged kidnapper Francis Buckhiet
‘We had five minutes of clarity before the police showed up. I was able to hug and kiss her and talk to her, and that’s pretty much how it went.’
Much remains unknown about exactly what happened to her.
Police arrested Francis Buckhiet, 64, at the scene on charges of kidnapping. He recalled his daughter asking her, ‘Dad, how did you find me? How did you know I was here?’
He said if Buckheit was on the boat when he got there, he said ‘this would be a very different situation.’
According to a criminal complaint, the 64-year-old Buckheit of East Islip abducted Emmarae and had been keeping her on his boat.
He is now charged with first degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child, among other charges.
Emmarae is seen being held by her father, Frank, in a photo from when she was younger
Pictured: Liam Neeson in his starring role in the hit 2008 movie Taken
Emmarae Gervasi, 14, vanished without a trace on December 9 from her home in East Patchogue on Long Island. She was found on Friday in a boat in Islip, Long Island
Pictured: Cops investigate Whitecap Marina
Buckheit denies the charges. He pleaded not guilty during a court appearance this week.
The indictment – though sealed – will be unsealed in next week’s arraignment in relation to the most recent charges.
Though Gervasi was unable to share too much due to the investigation, he told DailyMail.com that Buckheit is not the only one involved.
‘I know she’s safe, and I know she’s recovering. To me, that is inner peace.’
The case is being handled by the Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney office and will be presented to a grand jury.