Investigators expanded their search Tuesday of a remote, densely overgrown stretch of a New York barrier island as they hunt for more victims of a possible serial killer.Eight bodies have been found in the last few months — four in the past week alone — on the north side of Ocean Parkway, a highway leading to Long Island's popular Jones Beach, about 45 miles east of New York City.All of the remains were discovered just steps from Ocean Parkway, a highway leading to Long Island's popular Jones Beach, about 45 miles east of New York City.
Investigators faced rainy, windy and foggy conditions as they resumed their search Tuesday.The bodies of four missing prostitutes were found in December while investigators were searching for another missing woman who worked as an escort and was last seen in the area nearly a year ago.
The disappearance of that woman, Shannan Gilbert of Jersey City, N.J.,remains a mystery, although Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said Monday that because detectives have been conducting an ongoing search for her, they already have her DNA and other forensic information, which should accelerate the identification process.
Last week, investigators found a fifth body about a mile east of where the first four were located. That discovery prompted police to resume a widespread search of a seven-mile stretch of the north side of the highway on Monday, a search that yielded the remains of three additional victims.The four dead prostitutes were found amid a 4-foot-tall tangle of sea grass punctuated by scrubby pine trees.
Authorities have identified them as Amber Lynn Costello, 27, originally of Wilmington, N.C.; Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 28, of Norwich, Conn.; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y.Although officers have searched the area several times since December, they intensified a search of the 7.5-mile area on Monday.
After searching almost exclusively on the north side of Ocean Parkway, which leads to the popular Jones Beach, police academy cadets, K-9 units and other investigators moved to the south side of the roadway on Tuesday, searching a wide swath of sandy beach down to the ocean.
The north side of the highway has proved a challenging search for investigators, who have had to contend with a thicket of underbrush and evergreens, peppered with a variety of trash, from helium balloons to car tires to beer cans and bottles.According to WCBS, police searching on foot and from above in helicopters and fire truck buckets found the latest three sets of remains as they scoured tick-infested underbrush and evergreens on the barrier island south of Long Island, Dormer said.
Investigators have searched the area, roughly 7.5 miles, several times since December.
