Jose Pena-Hernandez: Body Of Missing Teenager Found In Gang-Infested Long Island Town

Suffolk County police are currently investigating the rise of teenage deaths. It is being reported that police officials have found the remains of a dead teenager in a suburban Long Island community that is known for gang violence.

According to ABC7, this is the fifth time since September that police have discovered the remains of a dead teenager. The body of Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, who disappeared in June, was discovered on Sunday in a wooded area of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, Suffolk County.

The discovery comes after four Brentwood High School teens were kille dor found dead within the past six weeks, all suspected victims of gang violence.

The site reports that an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, but police said the case was being investigated as a homicide. Police didn't immediately know if Pena-Hernandez attended the high school but is said to be a "known MS-13 gang member."

Corpses were intially discovered on September 13, when the badly beaten body of Nisa Mickens was found on a tree-lined street in brentwood, a day before her 16 birthday. A day later, the beaten body of her friend, 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, was discovered in the wooded backyard of a nearby home.

"Two girls brutally murdered on the streets of Brentwood, we have three missing boys who we know were victims of murder, we have the additional murder of Mr. Stacks," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini. "We have a lot of cases that we need to get to the bottom of, and we will."

Days later, police discovered a third and fourth body, the skeletal remains of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta and 15 year-old Miguel Garcia-Moran, in a remote industrial area of the twon. Acosta had been missing since May, Garcia-Moran disappeared in February.

In the wake of the series of deaths, Brentwood High School administrators warned students not to wear clothing that poses a risk to offending street gangs. So far no arrests have been made.

This story is developing.