Katharina Buczek
Then, later that day, her partial remains were discovered by state highway workers who had been picking up trash.
Tina’s remains were scattered along a ramp from the Southern State Parkway to the Sagtikos State Parkway in various plastic bags.
Upon first glance, the workers had suspected the bags contained remains due to their shape. Then, as they got closer, their worst fears were confirmed after spotting human hair.
Authorities later added that Tina’s remains were found only a few miles north of the Robert Moses Causeway– a known route of the unidentified Long Island Serial Killer. There, the killer had dumped the remains of at least four victims– which consisted of dismembered limbs and torsos.
Nonetheless, officials disclosed that they were not actively pursuing a connection between Tina’s murder and the Long Island Serial Killer.
Instead, they shared an image with the press which showed Tina’s suspected murderer’s footprint left behind in the mud. Beside it was a diamond ring, which the nineteen-year-old often wore.
Four days after Tina’s remains were discovered, Suffolk County’s Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Michael Baden also found that she had died via asphyxia from smothering.
In turn, police believe that the killer’s motive was not theft or robbery. Instead, they think the killer’s motive was assault and a subsequent homicide in order to conceal their crime.
And the day after the Medical Examiner’s report was publicly released, an unnamed source close to the investigation told the press that Tina had been dismembered using a “more precise” instrument, such as a butcher’s knife instead of a regular knife or hatchet. Officials and the Medical Examiner denied commenting on that detail, though.
Amy Gagliardi, Tina’s sister, did reveal that Tina had met a doctor at Hammerheads shortly before her death. The two reportedly hit it off, saw each other a few times before her passing, and Tina really liked him.
But, according to Amy, investigators questioned numerous male friends of Tina’s as well as the band members who played the night she was killed.
