With questions yet to be answered about where Greenport’s Iona Costello and her daughter Emily were, during the period of time when they were reported missing by their frantic family, police have said they “were not being held against their will”.
Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said this morning that while police were not releasing the exact location where they were found in New York City, he added, “They are in good health, which is the important news.”
According to court documents, Costello is engaged in a family dispute over her late husband George’s will; George Costello, co-owner of Costello Marine with his brother John, died of a heart attack in 2012. Flatley confirmed that the family had mentioned that the matter was before the court.
The police chief could not shed light on why Costello had not called her family to disclose her whereabouts but said the police department embarked upon a full investigation.
“There is a certain amount of frustration with the amount of time and resources that are expended on cases of this nature, but as long as the outcome is a good one, we are happy,” he said.
Family at Costello Marine had no comment this morning. No one answered Costello’s door this morning and man on the property said Costello was not home.
Costello and her daughter were located in New York City”in good health,” Southold Town Police said in a press release issued at 4 a.m. today.
NYPD reported finding the 51-year-old Greenport woman and her 14-year-old daughter “at an undisclosed location,” Southold Police said in the release.
“No further investigation is needed at this time,” police said. They provided no details about where the mother and daughter were or why they had not been in touch with family members.
The pair headed into New York on March 30 to see some shows and had not been seen or heard from since. Family members told SoutholdLOCAL last week that there had been no activity on either of their phones since the day they left the North Fork.
Family members filed a missing persons report April 15, when the pair did not return home in time for Emily to resume classes at the Ross School in East Hampton, which had spring break until April 14.
Her family told SoutholdLOCAL that while it was not unusual for the pair to spend time in New York City seeing shows and visiting museums, it was unlike Costello not to call to check on her animals, whom she adored.
The missing persons case is not the first to garner widespread attention. Missing Greenport man Mike O’Brien remains gone without a trace since his disappearance in December, according to his wife Mary.
