Facebook/Suffolk County PD These are the women who may have been victims of the Long Island Serial Killer.
One of the most terrifying parts of the Netflix movie Lost Girls is how Shannan Gilbert’s disappearance uncovered a series of deaths in the same region. Officials believe a serial killer was at work in the Gilgo-Oak Beach region of New York. Sometimes named the Long Island serial killer, sometimes called the Gilgo Beach killer, this unknown assailant is thought to have killed a number of women, many of whom were prostitutes. Here’s a look at the victims who may have been connected to the killer.
The Suffolk County Police Department has put together a website specifically geared toward sharing information about the victims who were found. Their website lists nine, including Shannan Gilbert even though police have been reluctant to say that Gilbert’s death was connected to the others. Here’s a look at who the victims are.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes
Suffolk County Police Dept.
Her body was found off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in December 2010. She had last been seen in New York City in June 2007.
Melissa Barthelemy
Suffolk County Police Dept.
Her body was found off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach on December 10, 2011. Barthelemy was the first of the women discovered. According to NBC New York, she had disappeared in 2007 (although her missing poster says she was last seen in 2009.)
Megan Waterman
Suffolk County Police Dept.
Her remains were found December 13, 2010 off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. She advertised escort services on Craigslist and was last seen in early June 2010 in Hauppauge, New York at a Holiday Inn Express.
Amber Lynn Costello
Suffolk County Police Department
Costello’s body was found on December 13, 2010 off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. She was last seen in September 2010 leaving her home in North Babylon.
Shannan Gilbert
FacebookShannan Gilbert in a Facebook photo.
Shannan Gilbert disappeared after leaving a chilling 911 call. You can learn more about her in Heavy’s story here.
Jessica Taylor
Jessica Taylor’s body was found on Halsey Manor Road and the Long Island Expressway in a wooded area on July 26, 2003. Her head and hands were missing. She was identified later as Jessica Taylor, who was working as a prostitute. On March 2011, more of her remains were found along Ocean Parkway after other women’s bodies were found while searching for Shannan Gilbert.
Unidentified Asian Male
An unidentified Asian male’s remains were found on April 4, 2011 along Ocean Parkway, Suffolk County Police Department shared. The man was between 17 and 23, 5’6″, and had poor dental health. They believe he died five to 10 years before his body was found. According to CBS News, the body was dressed in women’s clothes.
Unidentified Manorville Jane Doe
An unidentified body of a woman was found on November 19, 2000 off Halsey Manor Road in Manorville. The body was a white woman between 30 and 40, who possibly had a tattoo on her right ankle or calf and brown hair. Additional remains belonging to the same woman were found on April 4, 2011 along Ocean Parkway near the Oak Beach region, Suffolk County Police Department shared.
Unidentified Toddler
An unidentified toddler’s remains were discovered near the Jane Doe listed above on April 4, 2011. Authorities believe the child was about 2 and not Caucasian. They believe the toddler is a female but this isn’t known for certain.
There are also additional remains, including female skull and a bag of bones belonging to a woman. According to CBS News, eight out of 10 of the bodies were suffocated or strangled. DNA testing later revealed that the toddler was the child of one of the unidentified women also found in the area.