Episcopal Diocese identifies home invasion victim

The victim of a home invasion at his Silver Beach residence who was found tied up has been identified as Reverend Paul Forsyth Wancura.

The 87-year-old retired Episcopal priest, a long-time Island resident, was airlifted from Shelter Island via Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) helicopter around 1 p.m. Monday to Stony Brook Hospital “for injuries sustained during the incident,” according to the SCPD.

The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island told News 12 that Reverend Wancura was the victim.

Detectives from the Major Case Division of the SCPD are investigating the incident in cooperation with the Shelter Island Police Department

Father Charles McCarron, pastor of the Island’s St. Mary’ Episcopal Church, told Newsday that he found Reverend Wancura in his Oak Tree Lane home around midday Monday. Father McCarron reported that the victim told him he had been bound for two days.

According to Newsday, Father McCarron had gone to the residence after Reverend Wancura had failed to attend a service in Central Islip, and Episcopal diocesan leaders asked him to check on the elderly minister.

The Reporter has written about Reverend Wancura, who has preached many times at Union chapel.

A former Rector Emeritus of Caroline Church of Brookhaven in Setauket, Reverend Wancura has taken on many roles throughout the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, including serving at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Greenport for a decade.