Detective in murder probe owns E. Shoreham home with body in pool, report says

A Suffolk County detective involved in the manhunt for a fugitive wanted in his father’s murder in Rocky Point six months ago owns the East Shoreham home where a body was found in the backyard pool Sunday, according to Newsday, citing law enforcement sources.

The stunning detail surfaced Tuesday, as authorities continued working to identify the remains, which were discovered by the off-duty officer and his teenage son as they were opening their pool for the summer at their home on Pal Court, Newsday reported.

The officer, a veteran Suffolk County Police detective, is a member of the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force — the same task force that searched for 21-year-old Matthew Zoll, who has been missing since his father, Joseph Zoll, 54, was fatally stabbed in their Rocky Point home last year.

The Suffolk County Police Department has not publicly confirmed the identity of the homeowner — a police spokesperson said the department is not commenting on the report — but Commissioner Kevin Catalina acknowledged during a Tuesday press conference that the investigation is focused on the “strong possibility” that the body is Matthew Zoll’s.

After fleeing the scene of the alleged killing on Nov. 9, Zoll, who is reportedly schizophrenic, crashed a black GMC Yukon at the intersection of Route 25A and William Floyd Parkway about 1:35 a.m., police said in November. The home where the body was found is about a half-mile away (through a wooded area) from where the wreck occurred.

“Based on the location that the body was found, proximity to what we believe was the crash site of Matthew Zoll, the clothing, the fact that there were no shoes on the individual, we are investigating the possibility, the strong possibility, that it would be Matthew Zoll,” Catalina said.

The body was found beneath a Loop Loc pool cover that was partially unsecured. “It appears that one portion of the Loop Loc was undone, and somehow the body became secreted under that portion of the pool cover,” the commissioner explained at the press conference.

DNA testing is underway to confirm the identity of the body. The cause of death also has not yet been determined.

Greater Long Island previously reported that investigators have long believed Zoll fled on foot into the woods near the crash site of his vehicle after his father’s death.

Prior coverage

Body in pool may be fugitive Rocky Point man wanted for killing his dad: report

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