Missing Manorville teens found unharmed in Manhattan, police say
Vincent Abolafia and Kaileigh Catalano, 15, both of Manorville, were last seen on Dec. 9. Credit: SCPD
Two Manorville teenagers, last seen Dec. 9 at the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station, were located unharmed in a Manhattan subway station on Tuesday, Suffolk County police and family members said.
Vincent Abolafia and Kaileigh Catalano, both 15, had been missing since Thursday afternoon, sparking a citywide search, police said.
Ehrin Catalano, 46, Kaileigh's mother, told Newsday Tuesday that the teens had been staying and sleeping in the city's subway tunnels.
"The EMTs checked them over and they're OK," Catalano said.
The two, who attend Eastport-South Manor Junior-Senior High School, were last spotted as they were about to board the 3:11 p.m. train into Manhattan, according to detectives from the Seventh Squad. The teens may have been seen together in Times Square, police said.
A Suffolk police spokeswoman said the teens left home on their own and there is no criminal investigation. The case, officials said, is now closed.
They were located by one of the teens' parents on a subway platform on the 42nd Street line and it is unknown if they ever left New York City, authorities said.
The teens left their cellphones at home and had financial means to maintain themselves, police said.
The NYPD and MTA Police Department assisted in the investigation.
James Bonasia, 48, Vincent Abolafia’s stepfather, was on his way into Manhattan Tuesday afternoon to pick up his stepson.
"It appears they are healthy and unharmed," Bonasia said, who saw the teens on a FaceTime video Tuesday.
Bonasia said his stepson wakes up early for school, so the last time anyone in the family saw him was Wednesday night.
The family, he said Monday, had gone into Manhattan on Dec. 5 to see the Radio City Rockettes and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree because Vincent enjoys the "atmosphere" and "everybody moving" in Manhattan.
With Keldy Ortiz
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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