FBI identifies 2 victims of suspected MS-13 gang violence

<p>The FBI confirmed to News 12 Tuesday that it identified two men who were victims of suspected MS-13 gang violence on Long Island.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 7, 2017, 7:13 PM

Updated 2,369 days ago

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The FBI confirmed to News 12 Tuesday that it identified two men who were victims of suspected MS-13 gang violence on Long Island. 
Officials said the body of 19-year-old Kerin Pineda was found on Commercial Street in Freeport on Oct. 27. Pineda went missing in May of 2016.
News 12 spoke exclusively to Pineda's mother, who says he was a good boy and respectful. Pineda's mother says her son left their Freeport home after getting a message on Facebook to meet a girl in a Freeport park. She says she believes the message was from MS-13 gang members.
"I think she was part of the gang and that's how they got him," she says. 
The FBI also confirmed the identity of the other body found last month in Cow Meadow Park in Freeport as 15-year-old Javier Castillo.
Castillo was last seen in Central Islip in October of 2016. It is not clear why he ended up 30 miles away, buried in Freeport.
An attorney for Castillo's family tells News 12 he had been bullied by gang members in Central Islip High School before he disappeared.
Pineda's mother also says that her son was assaulted by MS-13 members for wearing black and white Nike sneakers to Freeport High School.
The findings come as a third suspected gang victim was also found last month in Nassau County. The body of 16-year-old Angel Soler was discovered buried in the woods in Roosevelt.


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