Officials Say Long Island Has At Least Two Serial Killers

At a news conference today authorities identified another body found along Long Island’s Ocean Parkway, and revealed that the 10 sets of human remains discovered since December were likely dumped by at least two killers, and probably more.

The press conference was held in Suffolk County, where 8 sets of remains were found. No new information was released on the two bodies found in neighboring Nassau County. Four of the victims were previously identified as women who worked as prostitutes and booked clients online. It appears that they were all murdered by the same person.

Today authorities identified another victim as 20-year-old Jessica Taylor, Newsday reports. She also worked as a prostitute in D.C. and New York, but her death seems to be unconnected. Her headless and handless body was found in July 2003 in Manorville, which is on the eastern end of Long Island, about 45 miles from where the rest of her body was found in March.

The body of another woman, who is being referred to as Jane Doe No. 6, according to the New York Times, was disposed of in a similar way. Most of her body was found in 2000 in a wooded area of Manorville near where Taylor’s torso was found three years later. Other parts of her body were found along Ocean Parkway in April.

There are two other victims whose deaths seem unrelated to the others. The body of an Asian man in his late teen or early 20s has been ruled a homicide. Police also found a female toddler between 18 and 24 months old. It’s still unclear how she died.

While previously it seemed police had found one of Long Island’s most prolific serial killers, now it looks like they’ve just stumbled onto one of the area’s most popular disposal sites. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said:

“It is clear that the area in and around Gilgo Beach has been used to discard human remains for some period of time … As distasteful and disturbing as that is, there is no evidence that all of these remains are the work of a single killer.”

And it’s likely that authorities will still find more remains along Long Island’s coast. Police found the first victims while searching for Shannan Gilbert, who was last spotted in the area about a year ago, but they still haven’t turned up any clues about what happened to her.

DA: At Least 2 Killers Behind NY Beach Victims [Newsday]
Second Killer Suspected In Long Island Attacks [NYT]