Discovery of 3 More Sets of Remains Adds to L.I. Mystery
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Investigators sought evidence at the scene where the remains of three people were discovered off Ocean Parkway between Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach.
By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN and TIM STELLOH
Published: April 4, 2011
Investigators on Long Island discovered the remains of three more people on a barrier beach on Monday, bringing the number of remains found nearby to eight since the police began searching for a missing prostitute late last year.
The grim discoveries began in December, when the police found the bodies of four female prostitutes near one another close to a highway on Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County, leading the police to believe that a serial killer had dumped them there.
After a search throughout the winter, complete with dogs trained to sniff out cadavers, the police turned up a fifth set of remains last Tuesday near Oak Beach, about a mile east of where the first four bodies were found.
The authorities have not yet identified the fifth set of remains, and would not speculate about the identities of the three discovered Monday, in the brush off the north side of Ocean Parkway between Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach. It was not clear how long the remains had been there or if there was any connection between the most recent discoveries and the first four.
The first four women, all in their 20s, had advertised their services on Craigslist, the authorities have said. Phone records and eyewitnesses have placed at least two of the women at budget hotels on Long Island in recent years, just before they went missing.
The police began combing the beach last year as part of the search for Shannan Gilbert, 24, a prostitute from Jersey City who went missing in May. None of the four bodies discovered in December were hers. A law enforcement official said the fifth set of remains were not Ms. Gilbert’s either.
On Monday, investigators could be seen combing through several areas of brush about 50 yards from the road on the west side of a quiet stretch of Ocean Parkway.
Twenty-five new recruits aided in the search; the police used fire-truck ladders, which were laid over the bramble so they could see into the brush, and a chain saw. The police said investigators would remain in the area overnight.
Melanie Englert, 34, was driving from work in New Hyde Park to see a friend in Bayshore when she saw the investigators and pulled into a small parking lot on the side of the road. “I saw them unloading big cardboard boxes and going into the brush and I said, ‘Oh boy,’ ” said Ms. Englert, who had just heard that three bodies had been found. “It’s super shocking. I can’t believe it.”
Brendan Byrne, 36, who lives near the scene, said the police had searched the backyards of homes in his neighborhood earlier in the day.
“My fiancée sent me a text that said: ‘They’re in our backyard. Literally.’ ”
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