A Long Island man has been charged with dismembering a woman’s body and abandoning the body in three locations throughout Patchogue.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Monday that Gary Cowell, 72, of Patchogue, has been charged with unlawful concealment of a body and tampering with physical evidence for allegedly dismembering the body of a 56-year-old Patchogue woman.
“This defendant has been charged with dismembering the body of a deceased person,” District Attorney Tierney said. “I commend Suffolk County Police detectives for quickly locating the victim’s body. The investigation into the cause of death is ongoing. We want to assure the victim’s family and the public that we are committed to pursuing justice through the proper legal process.”
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Body parts were discovered on Long Island, New York, on Thursday. (Fox 5 New York)
According to the investigation, on June 18, 2024, police received a report that a female was missing and had not been seen since June 13, 2024.
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“We’re not going to let anyone in the state know that they’re going to be arrested,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters during a news conference Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Riverhead, New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Detectives interviewed Cowell, who reportedly was the last person to see the woman alive.
After the interview, Cowell accompanied detectives to the scene where they found the dismembered body.
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Detectives allegedly recovered the axe used to dismember the victim, along with other evidence, at Cowell’s Patchogue residence.
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The investigation is ongoing and the coroner has not yet released a cause of death.
Cowell is scheduled to appear in court again on July 25, 2024 and is currently being held on $1 million bail.
