Police are investigating whether a body discovered in a storage facility Thursday morning is a Staten Island teacher and mother of three who went missing over the weekend.
Jeanine Cammarata, 37, was last seen around 9 p.m. Saturday at a house on McVeigh Avenue in New Springville. Cammarata, who lives near Randall Manor, was reported missing on Tuesday, according to police.
The remains discovered inside a bag in a unit at Extra Space Storage on Arden Avenue were "charred and unidentifiable," NYPD Assistant Chief of Detectives William Aubry said during a briefing Thursday afternoon. The medical examiner’s office is conducting an autopsy to determine the indentity and cause of death.
"The human remains are unrecognizable," he added.
The investigation has now taken a turn from a missing persons case to a murder probe, Aubry said. Cammarata’s estranged husband, Michael Cammarata, is the "primary suspect" in her disappearance, he added.
Michael Cammarata was taken into custody Wednesday and is being held on charges related to an assault that predates his wife’s disappearance, police said. He was still in custody Thursday evening.
"We’re working with the Staten Island district attorney to establish probable cause and justification to charge him with murder," Aubry said.
Friends and family first became worried about Cammarata on Monday when she didn’t show up for work and missed a court appearance related to her ongoing divorce, according to Aubry. She initiated the divorce in February, but the couple separated two years ago because of domestic violence, The New York Times reported.
Cammarata and her husband have a history of disputes reported to the NYPD dating to 2016, but Aubry said there was no active order of protection at the time of her disappearance.
She was last seen leaving Staten Island for Queens, where Michael Cammarata lives with their children. With their father in police custody and their mother missing, the children have been placed with the Administration for Children’s Services.
Aubry would not comment on what led police to discover the human remains at Extra Space Storage, which is just over 4 miles away from where Cammarata was last seen, or who owns the unit where the body was found. Police were searching the facility Thursday afternoon for additional evidence and the investigation is still active.
“We have search warrants to continue to execute, forensic evidence to examine, witnesses to speak to, video and electronic evidence to review and we’re still looking for Ms. Cammarata’s 2017 white Chevy Cruze,” Aubry said.
