A girl walking to school on Thursday morning on Long Island found a severed arm on the side of the road. Police searching the area then discovered another arm and a disembodied leg nearby, authorities in New York said.

Suffolk County Police said the girl spotted the severed left arm along a road near the popular Southards Pond Park in Babylon and called her father, who then dialled 911.

A police dog eventually found a right arm close to where the other arm was located and went to the other side of the park where it uncovered a severed leg sticking out of a pile of leaves.

The two arms appear to have belonged to a male, police said.

Officials told CBS New York the case is being treated as a homicide. Caution tape was strung up all around the neighbourhood. There are still more questions than answers.

The discovery happened close to two schools. Neighbours were in disbelief.

“It’s very scary. It’s very close to home. All of my children go to school here,” Nicole Bonsignore told CBS.

“For a child or an adult to find body parts, it’s very disturbing,” another person said.

The superintendent of the Babylon School District sent an email to local parents saying breaks would be held indoors to avoid interfering with the investigation, and dismissal procedures were modified.

“The safety and mental health of our students is our number one priority, and we know this incident may be causing some extreme anxiety among our students, particularly the high school students who were directly affected by this situation on their way to school this morning.

“We applaud them for their diligence in reporting their disturbing discovery to our building administration and law enforcement.”