Great Neck man's family: Now we can begin mourning

A body found in a wooded area in Riverhead has been identified as that of a 65-year-old Great Neck man who had been missing for nearly two weeks, Riverhead police said yesterday.

Steven Mayer's body was found just before 2 p.m. Saturday by a hunter deep in a wooded area near an open field on private property about half a mile from the nearest road, said Riverhead Det. Robert Haley.

Mayer's son-in-law, Mark Klinger, speaking to the media in the Great Neck Synagogue yesterday, said officials told his family that Mayer's body was in his 2010 Nissan, which was wedged between two trees, its gearshift still in drive.

Haley said he didn't know how long Mayer's body had been there. The Suffolk County medical examiner is investigating the cause of death, he said.

Klinger said no autopsy will be done, in accordance with the family's religious beliefs.

Mayer's Oct. 4 disappearance as he drove to work in Huntington sparked a massive search by thousands of volunteers.

The search for Mayer, a metals trader, focused on the Riverhead area after his cell phone activity led the family there. The phone was used to call the former number of his deceased parents from the area on the day he disappeared.

Klinger said that since the car was found deep in the woods on private property, it was unlikely that the volunteers would have come across it. Still, he said, "it's frustrating for everybody."

Klinger said the family had feared the worst. "All the children had prepared themselves for this," he said. "It's very sad - everybody's breaking down once in a while."

Now the family is waiting for answers, he said. Mayer had been on anti-seizure medication and his family had worried that he had become disoriented and confused.

"We want to know what his condition was, and it would be nice to know what caused it," Klinger said. "The past two weeks have been extremely difficult. At least we all have him back. There is closure. The whole family can mourn him properly."

Mayer's wife, Susan Mayer, wearing dark glasses and supported by her daughter-in-law Aliza Mayer, also spoke briefly at the synagogue, where she and her husband worshipped.

"Now we can begin the mourning and healing process," she said before breaking into sobs.

Mayer was a past president of the synagogue, said Joseph Hecht, the synagogue's current president. "His heart and soul was dedicated to the community and the temple," Hecht said.

Ken Magida, 65, of Port Washington, said he had known Mayer since 1984, when their children were in the same grade. Magida said Mayer's loss is "going to create a void."

"He was certainly a very, very important part of this place, in a quiet way," Magida said.