BABYLON, N.Y. (PIX11) — After a series of gruesome discoveries in a forested park in Babylon the last two days, the search for more grisly evidence has ended. Now, the investigation into the appearance of the head of a woman, as well as her limbs, and the limbs of a man, moves to a new phase, as investigators try to figure out who carried out the crimes, and why.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the Suffolk County Police Department moved its Crime Scene Unit and its mobile command post vehicles out of the area where body parts were first found on Thursday morning.

Since then, cadaver dogs and search teams were on a grisly assignment: to see if there were more human remains in Southards Pond Park.

The remains that had been found by Friday evening had been left in the park recently, according to the homicide detectives working the case.

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“Based on the condition” of the remains, said Detective Lt. Kevin Bayrer, “it’s a small amount of days, if not hours, that they were out here.”

Bayrer, the lead homicide detective on the case, confirmed that a woman’s head, her leg and an arm were found by cadaver dogs. The grisly find came after a high school student on her way to school on Thursday saw a man’s arm, that had distinctive tattoos and the fingertips cut off, flung into a tree in Southards Pond Park.

The girl notified her family, who called police. That kicked off the larger search on Thursday, which resulted in the find of another arm and a leg, thought to be from the same man. Police expanded their search area during the day on Friday.

“They’re searching the perimeter,” said Bayrer, the lead detective. “We’re trying to determine when to go into the interior.”

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Ultimately, investigators concluded that they’d thoroughly searched the park’s 19 acres of woods, and trails.

Local residents said that they were anxious until the investigation draws some conclusions.

Joanna Higis and Kaia Millhouse, best friends and lifelong Babylon residents, said that they walk in Southard Pond Park regularly. They vocalized concerns that many people in the area expressed.

“Is it something that was targeted or is it something that we all have to worry about?” she asked. “Is it a gang related thing? It’s something that’s on all of our minds right now.”

Bob Murray, who said he’s lived in the neighborhood next to the park for 40 years, asked another question on residents’ minds.

“How’d they do this without any of us seeing it?” he asked. “I’m here all the time.”

For now, investigators are taking a cautious approach in their public comments.

“Right now we’re focusing on identifying these people,” Bayrer said, “and hopefully when the identifications are made, some answers will be revealed to us.”

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