A Staten Island doctor and former competitive figure skater has been missing since November 18, and police remain tight-lipped about the investigation.
As previously reported, Dr. Tamara Saukin, 44, went missing on November 18 after an early morning walk with her mother at Staten Island’s Clove Lakes Park. According to SILive.com, Saukin’s mother told police that she and her daughter had separated when the mother decided to return to the car but Tamara chose to stay in the park and continue walking. It remains unclear if the missing woman and her mother had traveled together to the park, or had separate vehicles. It is also unknown who reported the doctor missing, and when.
Police say Tamara Saukin went missing last Wednesday after a morning walk with her mother at a Staten Island park. https://t.co/EepdCOOSeP
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) November 28, 2020
As SILive.com reported, police searched the park extensively in the immediate days following the disappearance, and dive teams searched the lake last Monday. The NYPD has so far said very little about the investigation, and has not held a press conference about the case in the 12 days since Saukin vanished.
#SRG #ESU #K9 & #SCUBA continue to assist @NYPDDetectives in the ongoing search for a missing female in the vicinity of Clove Lakes Park @NYPDstatenIslnd
The female, in her 40s, went missing early Wednesday morning
We will continue our focused efforts pic.twitter.com/4mzLRWsrL8
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) November 24, 2020
CrimeOnline spoke to two witnesses who say they saw police activity in the park on Saturday afternoon, near Victory Boulevard not far from the ice skating rink. Diana Glinskaya and Kristina Minaichenko, both Staten Island residents, said they saw multiple police vehicles and uniformed officers, along with what looked like search dogs. One officer was seen carrying an item or items away from the apparent search area, the witnesses said.
CrimeOnline cannot confirm if the reported police activity on Saturday was in connection to Saukin’s disappearance. The NYPD declined to answer our questions about the case and the witness accounts.
“There are no updates and the investigation remains ongoing,” an NYPD spokesperson wrote in an email.
A law enforcement official from NYPD’s 120th precinct, on Staten Island, confirmed earlier reports that police have not found any evidence of foul play, adding that nothing has been ruled out. The official said the missing persons investigation remains very active with ongoing daily searches, but declined to provide any information about the searches or their location.
According to her bio, Saukin was formerly a competitive figure skater and went to an accelerated medical school program just out of high school. In 2015, she was seriously hurt in a freak accident just outside her Staten Island home. According to a report in SILive.com, her Mercedes had been parked in her driveway with the engine on, and somehow rolled away though no one was in the car. Saukin reportedly chased after the car, trying to stop it, but the car ran over her leg before it crashed into a neighbor’s house, severely injuring her.
In October, Dr. Saukin announced, apparently abruptly, that she was taking temporary leave from the practice of medicine. She also surrendered her medical license; according to online records, this was voluntary and not a result of any disciplinary action.
Saukin’s family has not yet publicly commented on her disappearance.
Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). For Spanish, call 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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