Kathleen Harrison Trent was stabbed and left in woods in Manorville after disappearing in late January, say prosecutors.

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A 36-year-old Long Island man is accused of killing his mother, wrapping her body in a blanket and leaving it in a wooded area in Manorville after she disappeared from her Riverhead home in late January, authorities said.

The case has drawn intense attention in eastern Suffolk County because it began as a missing person search and later grew into a homicide prosecution involving a well-known local woman. Police say Kathleen Harrison Trent, 63, was last seen at her home on Forge Road. Prosecutors later told a judge that her son, Curtis Trent Jr., stabbed her repeatedly, moved her body and tried to conceal evidence. He has pleaded not guilty, and the case now sits at a crucial early stage as court proceedings continue.

Police said Kathleen Harrison Trent was last seen or heard from on Jan. 27 at her residence in Riverhead. Her other son reported her missing on Jan. 29 after he could not find her and became alarmed by what appeared to be blood in and around the home, according to prosecutors. Authorities said several of her belongings, including her phone, wallet and medication, were still there, a detail that deepened concern from the start. Officers also could not locate Kathleen Trent or her 2017 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck. Early the next morning, prosecutors said, Curtis Trent Jr. returned to the home in that truck. When officers asked where his mother was, Assistant District Attorney Keri Wasson later said in court that he claimed he had been looking for her and said he would harm himself if something happened to her. Prosecutors said he then tried to flee before being taken for psychiatric evaluation.

The search ended on Feb. 11, when Seventh Precinct patrol officers found a woman’s body in a wooded area off Connecticut Avenue, south of River Road in Manorville, at about 3:21 p.m. Police later identified the body as Kathleen Harrison Trent, who lived at the same Forge Road address as the defendant. At first, police publicly said only that detectives believed the death was criminal in nature and that the cause of death was under investigation. Court documents and later court statements added more detail. News reports that cited those records said Curtis Trent Jr. was accused of stabbing his mother in the face, chest and abdomen sometime between Jan. 27 and Jan. 29. Prosecutors later said an autopsy found stab wounds to her torso, face and neck, and they alleged she was stabbed additional times after death. Those allegations have not yet been tested at trial, and many investigative records remain sealed or undisclosed.

The killing stunned a community that knew Kathleen Harrison Trent as a longtime employee at Riverhead Raceway. Friends and relatives described her as deeply rooted in the area and devoted to her family. Raceway officials said she had worked there for about 40 years and called her part of the fabric of the track. Family members also said she had worked other jobs over the years, including as a Head Start teacher and an in-home caretaker. In public tributes after her death, relatives and friends described a woman who knew local families across generations and took special pride in being a grandmother to five grandchildren. That local standing made the missing person search unusually visible in Riverhead and nearby Manorville. It also meant the criminal case landed not only as a homicide prosecution, but as the loss of someone many residents said they recognized by name, by voice or by the bright yellow raceway shirt she often wore.

The legal case has advanced quickly. Police announced in late February that Curtis Trent Jr., of Forge Road in Riverhead, had been charged with second-degree murder. He was first arraigned in Riverhead Town Justice Court. Prosecutors later brought the case to Suffolk County criminal court, where he was arraigned on an indictment that included not only second-degree murder but also concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence. During that later appearance, defense attorney Tara Laterza entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and asked for a forensic psychiatric exam, often called a 730 examination, to evaluate whether he is fit to stand trial. Judge Richard Horowitz granted that request, ordered that the defendant be held without bail and cited what he described in court as a risk of flight and a clear danger to life. The next court appearance was scheduled for April 22.

The courtroom proceedings laid bare the emotional cost of the case. Riverhead News-Review reported that cries from Robert Trent, the defendant’s brother, could be heard as prosecutors described the allegations. Outside court, family members gathered quietly and declined to speak at length, saying they needed time to collect themselves. Some relatives and supporters have also raised concerns on social media about mental illness, though those claims have not been proven in court filings and have not changed the charges now pending. Prosecutors have said forensic testing was conducted on items recovered from the home, on clothing found in Manorville and on blood found on the pickup truck’s tailgate. That evidence, along with the autopsy findings, is likely to shape the next phase of the prosecution. For now, the case remains in pretrial proceedings, with the defendant jailed and the community still reckoning with a killing that began with a missing person report and ended in a murder indictment.

As of March 25, the defendant remains charged and the case is awaiting its next court milestone, including review of the ordered psychiatric evaluation and the scheduled April 22 appearance in Suffolk County court.

Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.