HALF HOLLOW HILLS Copyright © 2013 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC
Online at www.LongIslanderNews.com VOLUME SIXTEEN, ISSUE 17
N E W S P A P E R 20 PAGES
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
DIX HILLS
Search Continues For Missing Dad Family, St. Anthony’s High School alum hunt for clues as police continue investigation By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com
Robert Mayer has been missing since he failed to come home from work on June 14, but Ida Mayer is sure her husband did not run away from his family and life in Dix Hills. She believes a third party is involved. “We’re going crazy just trying to figure it out. It’s clear he didn’t just run off. He didn’t leave us. Whatever it is that’s keeping him away, I don’t think it’s by choice,” she said. Ida previously said he ran out the door to his job as an electrician with JG Electric early Friday. His red 2004 Pontiac GTO pulled away from their Leroy Street home at 4:45 a.m. She spoke to him on the phone around 9 a.m. and his co-workers saw him working shortly after noon. Police were able to go back and track his cell to Route 110 around 1:45 p.m., although his signal disappeared at 2:45 p.m. He usually returns from work around 3-
4 p.m., Ida said, depending on the traffic. By 6 p.m. that evening, she was panicking and calling police. Suffolk County police Det./Sgt. Steven Bluethgen confirmed Friday that Robert was still missing and they still believe the incident is not criminal. “A lot of leads have been generated,” Bluethgen said. Ida spent the weekend with police, she said, going through surveillance footage and working through leads. She added that they’re getting subpoenas and going through phone records. “There are leads but none of them have brought him back,” the wife said. ”Somebody knows something. Somebody saw something.” Family, friends and members of St. Anthony’s High School, from which Robert graduated in 1985, have begun searching near the Deer Park LIRR station. His GTO was found by family near the station, although nobody knows why. The first search took place at Pilgrim
Robert Mayer remains missing and his family is organizing a search of the Edgewood Preserve for this weekend. Psychiatric Center on June 21. They also searched the train station on June 28 and trails across the street on June 30. Yellow
fliers with Robert’s face littered the station, although none of the searches turned up anything. St. Anthony’s Alumni Director Denise Creighton said she reached out to the family to offer her and the Friar community’s support and aid in the searches. “The St. Anthony’s community continues to pray for the strength of the family. We’re being as supportive as we can be. They’re a wonderful family,” Creighton said. Another search has been scheduled for this weekend. Ida posted on a Facebook group – Robert Mayer Search Group – that they will patrol the 600 acres of Edgewood Preserve on July 7. “I kind of feel that Edgewood is the place to look. I don’t think there’s been any formal searches,” she added. Mayer was last seen wearing jeans, work boots and his gold wedding band. He stands at 6’1” and about 200 pounds with hazel eyes. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Second Squad at 631854-8247.
MELVILLE
‘Horrific Accident’ In Melville Claims Teens’ Lives Huntington grad and rising senior die after their car smashes into a tree on Saturday Half Hollow Hills photo/Mike Koehler
Ray Vega, 18, and Carmen Rivera-Gotay, 17, were killed after their car crashed into tree on Walt Whitman Road.
By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com
Ray Vega was to begin studying premed/pre-law this fall and Carmen RiveraGotay had aspirations of becoming a psychologist. Those dreams were snuffed out over the weekend when a Melville crash claimed the lives of two Huntington Blue Devils. Vega, 18, of Huntington Station, was driving northbound on Walt Whitman Road with Rivera-Gotay, 17, of Huntington Station, before dawn on Saturday, Suffolk County police said. Vega was driving a 1996 Honda Accord while older brother Kevin, was driving a 1999 Pontiac on the same road. Det./Lt. William Burke said Vega was speeding as he tried to pass the Pontiac on the right. The two vehicles clipped and Vega lost control of the Honda. His car slammed into a tree on Walt Whitman Road. Both Vega and Rivera-Gotay were trapped in the Honda and had to be freed.
By then, Vega was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician’s assistant from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office. Rivera-Gotay was taken by the Melville Fire Department to Plainview Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Burke said drugs and road conditions were not a factor in the crash. “You have an inexperienced driver driving at a high rate of speed,” he said, calling it a “horrific accident.” Neither Kevin Vega, 19, nor his passenger, Isaias Perez, of Huntington Station, were injured. Both the Vega and Rivera-Gotay families declined to comment on Monday. The scene remained largely unchanged several days after the crash. Bark was ripped off the tree closest to the road and blue chunks of safety glass littered the sidewalk. Flowers and poster board with messages to the deceased laid against the tree. Skid marks on the asphalt, curb and grass lead to the tree. (Continued on page A12)
IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION
Dean Martin’s Daughter To Sing In Dix Hills A13
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