A Georgia man has been charged with murder in the death of former Riverhead councilman and police officer Timothy Buckley.
Buckley, 51, was reported missing Sept. 30 after disappearing from a coastal area resort the night before. Last week, police identified his remains found in a wooded area about nine miles from where he was last seen and said his death appeared to be a homicide.
Horry County Police Department detectives have charged Johnathan Lamar Hillary, 29, of Augusta, Georgia, with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to the Myrtle Beach Online news website.
Bernithia Young, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia, was charged with accessory after the fact to the murder.
Both Hillary and Young were taken into custody in Atlanta and are expected to be extradited back to Horry County, South Carolina, police said.
Buckley had lived in Wading River. He was appointed to the Riverhead Police Department in November 1988. He was the department’s officer of the year in 2005 and retired in August 2007 to run for a seat on the Riverhead Town Board that November. Buckley won the election and took office in January 2008, but resigned from the post in February 2009, citing personal reasons due to his wife’s illness. He relocated with his family to South Carolina.
A wake and funeral service for Buckley are set for Monday. See obituary.
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