Bookal

NEWBURGH – Test results have confirmed that the remains found under a small wood pile in a wooded area of Newburgh are that Marc Bookal, the four-year-old Newburgh boy who went missing last December.

“Results from those tests have confirmed the remains to be that of missing four-year-old Marc Bookal,” said Deputy Police Chief Michael Ferrara.

Orange County Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Catanese, who conducted an autopsy on March 25, ruled the boy’s death a homicide.

Police said the investigation into the boy’s death is ongoing with police awaiting the results of further tests on additional evidence seized from the crime scene on South Colden Street, as well as items seized from the mother’s residence on Benkard Avenue.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Newburgh Police at 845-569-7509 or Lt. Patrick Arnold at 845-569-7508.

Memorial where Marc's body was found

The boy’s body was found stuffed in a school type book bag in a wooded area that police had searched extensively right after he went missing. That led the police to say the body had been hidden there sometime after.

Mayor Nicholas Valentine said the identification brings to a close one part of the investigation.

“Just to know that this is the young boy and there is now proof of that, I think for both family and law enforcement and city government, we have closure to that particular chapter,” he said.

Meanwhile, the boyfriend of Marc’s mother, Cory Byrd, is a person of interest in the boy’s death, according to police.