A Riverhead woman has been arrested in a Suffolk County cold case dating back more than 30 years, in which a newborn was found dead along Route 25 in 1993. Police took 56-year-old Denise Reischman Merker into custody on Feb. 2, and she was arraigned the next day, her attorney confirmed. Merker has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
Attorney Confirms Murder Charge
Defense attorney Edward Burke Jr. told News 12 Long Island that Merker is charged with second-degree murder. According to the outlet, she entered a not-guilty plea and remains jailed without bail. Investigators have not revealed what, if any, new evidence led to the sudden break in a case that had long gone cold.
Newborn Found In Trash Bag Off Route 25
According to contemporary accounts and court records reviewed by Patch, highway workers discovered the infant on Sept. 25, 1993. The baby was found inside a trash bag in a field along Route 25 in Calverton, across from the former Grumman airport. At the time, police described the child as full-term and apparently abandoned at the scene.
Cold Case Pulled Back Off The Shelf
Officials have not said publicly what reopened the file or pointed them to Merker. Retired NYPD detective and John Jay College adjunct professor Michael Alcazar told News 12 Long Island that preserved evidence from old crime scenes can now be reexamined with modern DNA and genealogical tools. “We can compare that information now,” he said, adding that image enhancement and reinterviewing witnesses often help breathe new life into decades-old investigations.
Case Heads Back To Suffolk Court
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office told Patch that court records list Merker’s next appearance before Judge Steven Pilewski in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead. Prosecutors have not made the charging documents or underlying evidence public as the case moves forward. Burke called the matter “an extremely emotional case,” according to the outlet.
The investigation remains active, and authorities have not provided additional details. Anyone with information related to the 1993 case is asked to contact investigators or the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
