Police block Warwick road for fifth straight day as residents seek answers
New York State Police are leading an investigation at a property on Little York Road in Warwick's Pine Island section, which also involves Warwick Police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
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A police barricade prohibiting access to traffic in a Warwick neighborhood for the last five days has residents talking - especially since it is in the same area where a local woman's body was found in 1987.
New York State Police are leading an investigation at a property on Little York Road in Warwick's Pine Island section, which also involves Warwick police and the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
A source told News 12 this weekend that police were executing a search warrant at the property, and that this is not the first time the property has been searched.
Pine Island residents have also been especially curious because — according to county property records — the property being searched belongs to the man who reportedly discovered that woman's body 38 years ago.
Dawn Marino was 20 years old when she was last seen alive outside a local bar in 1981.
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Six years later, Little York Road resident Michael Moraczewski found Marino's body in a nearby cement water tank, according to past news reports.
With a new search along Little York Road, people who are most familiar with Marino's case are hoping for a break, though police have not said whether the search has anything to do with Marino.
"It's right on the edge of the iceberg," said Bob Schmick, a longtime friend of both Marino and Moraczewski, adding that Marino's family is struggling with not knowing whether the current investigation is related to Marino's case. "I loved Dawn."
No one has ever been charged in connection to Marino's death.
State police have not shared exactly why they are searching the property and why the 1-mile stretch of Little York Road remains closed to traffic for the fifth straight day.
A source told News 12 that a tip led police to search the home.
State police recently started a campaign to drum up tips in the 44-year-old unsolved murder case.
"It's a big deal for a little town like this," Jenn Ellis, a Pine Island liquor store clerk, said. "Customers come in and they're like, 'It's about time.' Hopefully, there will be some kind of movement on the case, because it's been a mystery."
The agency has only said there is an ongoing investigation at the scene, and there is no threat to the public.
Moraczewski declined to comment for News 12's story when reached by phone Monday afternoon.
