Woman, Child Murdered; Bodies Dumped in Woods

Henry Tucker shook his head as he looked at a police car parked just down the street from his Central Islip home, near the entrace to a path leading through the woods.

"I come through that place all the time and see people going back and forth, but never found dead bodies," Tucker said. "It's sad."

Two bodies were found along that path early Friday by an unidentified worker heading to his job in a nearby industrial park.

Suffolk County police say the victims -- a Hispanic woman and a baby boy -- were both shot to death. Neither carried identification so investigators are asking for the public's help to identify them.

"We're obviously looking for someone to tell us who they are," said Det. Lt. Gerald Pelkofsky, who commands the homicide squad.

The woman was in her late teens to early twenties, wearing a red hoodie, with the words "Apple Bottom" written on it. In her ears she wore silver, heart-shaped earrings -- on her feet, silver shoes and a silver belt around her waist.

The baby boy was between the ages of 1 and 2 years old. He was found wearing Sesame Street jeans, a red and black hooded Timberland jacket and white Jordan high top sneakers.

It's unclear if the victims were related.

Also unclear, investigators said, is whether they were killed elsewhere then brought to Central Islip or just shot along the path.

"When you hear news like this, it's scary, especially for your kids," said Sally Thomas, who lives nearby and said many kids use the same wooded path.

"I don't know why a woman and child would be walking through there," said industrial park worker Mike Carney. "It's not safe in those woods."

Carney cited what he called "gang activity" in the area.

But police aren't saying if the murders were gang-related and right now, know of no possible motive.

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