Son of Riverhead woman found dead in Manorville charged with her murder

A Riverhead man was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder in the death of his mother, a longtime Riverhead Raceway employee whose body was found in Manorville woods last week, Suffolk County police said.

Curtis Trent Jr., 36, was identified as the suspect in the killing of his mother, Kathleen Harrison Trent, 62, the Suffolk County Police Department said Wednesday.

He was arrested at his mother’s Forge Road home in Riverhead after an investigation by Homicide Squad detectives, officials said.

He was arraigned Wednesday at Riverhead Town Justice Court.

Ms. Trent was first reported missing to the Riverhead Town Police Department on Jan. 29. She was last seen at her residence on Jan. 27, just days before her 63rd birthday on Feb. 1.

Seventh Precinct patrol units discovered her body in a wooded area near Connecticut Avenue, south of River Road, in Manorville on Feb. 11.

Police have not disclosed a motive in the killing.

Following the news of her death, Riverhead Raceway paid tribute on social media to the 40-year employee.

“Kathi was part of the fabric of our beloved track, for generations she knew families from the parents to their children and yes even their grandchildren,” the social media post read. “She’d know them by name, ask how they were doing, how the family was, she genuinely cared, it’s just who she was.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Adrieanna Bulak, the wife of another of Ms. Trent’s sons, Robby Trent, to help the family with funeral expenses.

“She was a loving, caring mother and an amazing friend,” Ms. Bulak wrote. “Her grandchildren meant the world to her, she was the type of person that would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it or find you one.”

The campaign has raised more than $8,000 as of Wednesday evening.