Liv Bridge
A missing teenage girl has miraculously been found after she vanished for almost a month, thanks to her dad.
Emmarae Gervasi, from East Patchogue in Suffolk County Long Island, vanished out of thin air on December 9 when she went to retrieve some items from a car outside her home on Tyrell Street.
The 14-year-old was then seen getting into another vehicle, without a jacket or shoes in the pouring rain, while CCTV captured her knocking on doors at a Bohemia motel the next day.
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She then disappeared again and her family became worried sick with her father, Frank Gervasi, taking it upon himself to try and track her down with the help of local police officers and regular search parties.
Suffolk County Police Department conducted widespread searches with police cadaver dogs and helicopters in upstate New York but couldn't find her.
Frank took to social media to search for clues and leads into her disappearance and as well as driving around Long Island in search of her, put up a $10,000 reward for anyone who could help.
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He said he received some unusual phone calls from unknown numbers but miraculously found Emmarae alive on Friday afternoon.
The concerned father said it was one anonymous tip-off that led him to her whereabouts - a large boat docked on Long Island, just off main Street in Islip near the White Cap Fish Market, some 13 miles away from home.
Frank said to News 12: "I did find her myself before police got there. It was the end of 26 days of hell seeing her alive in my arms. It was a gift from God.
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"I can't describe the feeling I had when I grabbed her."
The youngster is now receiving treatment in hospital, while investigators continue to examine the case.
In a Facebook video posted on Saturday morning, Frank thanked all the people who were involved in the search party and explained how he came to find his missing daughter.
He said: "I'd like to thank the community for all the support you gave us. Posting all the videos, pushing all the content, handing out flyers, donating your time to look for my missing girl. It is those things that are going to help bring other kids home.
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"I got an anonymous tip yesterday, and I want to thank that person for coming forward and giving me information about my daughter. The phone call that I received was that she was on a boat in Islip. I followed it up on my own and I went down there to check.
"I bust into the boat and recovered my daughter. She has been saved and is alive.
"I believe it was persistency that helped bring her home."
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Frank said he believes Emmarae initially went off with someone she knew but was too scared to come back home 'because of the consequences'.
He also said he thinks she was picked up by a stranger who took her to a trailer park and then the boat.
The teen had reportedly had a history with drug addiction, according to FOX5NY, and had left home before but never for so long.
Emmarae's court-monitored ankle bracelet was also found cut-off near her address.
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Her mother, Melissa Dervay, told Greater Long Island: "The moment I heard her voice and knew she was OK, I felt a weight lifted off my body.
"I've been so tense for the past four weeks, quietly fighting a battle. Now, I'm elated. I feel light, and I just want to scream, 'She's OK. She's been found.'"