Sources: Police search property of man who found body of missing woman in 1987
According to Orange County property records, the property in question is owned by Michael Moraczewski. Moraczewski owns about 150 acres on the east and west sides of Little York Road.
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New York State Police are keeping quiet about a multi-agency investigation that's been blocking a road in Orange County for two days.
Police have had the same 1-mile stretch of Little York Road in Warwick’s Pine Island section blocked to foot and vehicle traffic since early Thursday morning.
News 12 confirmed late Friday through a local source familiar with the investigation that state police have been executing a search warrant at a large property on Little York Road.
Heavy-duty digging equipment and all-terrain vehicles have been in and out of the scene the last two days.
According to Orange County property records, the property in question is owned by Michael Moraczewski.
Moraczewski owns at least 150 acres on the east and west sides of Little York Road.
According to numerous past news reports, Moraczewski found the body of Dawn Marino in 1987 in a cement water tank in the woods close to his property.
Marino was reported missing in 1981, last seen outside a bar in Pine Island. She was 20 years old.
State police have never charged anyone in connection to Marino's death.
Just recently, they started a public campaign to drum up tips from the community about the 44-year-old case.
Police have not confirmed if their investigation is related to Dawn Marino.
A source told News 12 police are searching the property based on a tip, and that this is not the first time police have executed search warrants at the property.
Local court officials told News 12 they have not had any arraignments on Thursday or Friday of anyone on violent crime charges from the Pine Island area.
State police, Warwick police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office are partnering on the investigation.
State police’s only comments regarding the investigation confirmed the existence of an investigation and stated that it does not pose a threat to the public.
This investigation has left the public with many questions."I just think there should be more transparency," said James, a New Hampton resident. "If it's nothing let us know it's nothing. If it's something, let us know so we can be aware.""Well, we'll find out, hopefully," says Caroline Urbanski, a Pine Island resident. "I'm just surprised after all these years, they're maybe, hopefully, finding something about it."
News 12 also talked with a John Jay College professor and former NYPD detective about investigations like these.
"They're probably not releasing a lot of information because they want to protect the crime scene," says Michael Alcazar, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Alcazar says scenes aren't always processed quickly and it could take days to do it thoroughly.
"It's not television. It's not done in 20 minutes, and we catch the bad guy in the same half hour. So, it's a lot of moving parts, it's intricate," says Alcazar.
