Some of the human remains looked to be much older than 2010 or 2011. In 2011, the police found more bodies close to Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach on Long Island.
Long island serial killer victims serial#
Authorities concluded that they had a serial killer on the loose in Long Island. As the investigation continued into other missing people from the area, the bodies of three more victims were discovered within close proximity to Gilbert’s remains. Fast forward to 2010, and the skeletal remains of an escort named Shannan Gilbert were discovered in a burlap sack on the northern region of Ocean Parkway. Fortunately, he was caught in 1993 and eventually prosecuted and sentenced to 203 years in prison. In the early 1990s, a self-employed landscaper and serial killer named Joel Rifkin had murdered between 9 and 17 sex workers in the Long Island area. Long Island has dealt with serial killers before. That is how the serial killer got his nickname “Long Island Serial Killer.” He placed the victims’ bodies in different areas of a 15.59-mile stretch of road next to the ocean called Ocean Parkway, which is along the South Shore of Long Island. The police know that most of the victims were prostitutes, whose bodies were all discovered in Long Island, New York. But there are five credible suspects and persons of interest: James Burke, John Bittrolff, Joseph Brewer, Dr. There are still many unanswered questions surrounding this serial killer, including the questions of his identity and the exact number of victims. “We will continue to use every investigative tool available to aggressively investigate these murders,” Hart said.Īssociated Press reporter Frank Eltman contributed to this report.įollow Michael Sisak at twitter.The Long Island Serial Killer allegedly killed between 10 and 16 people throughout a 20-year period, from 1996 to 2010 or 2013. Using DNA, investigators created a genealogy profile for the remains, leading them to possible relatives who provided DNA samples, which allowed for a positive identification, police said. It’s that technology that led to Mack's identification, police said. Last fall, state officials gave investigators the green light to ask the FBI to deploy genetic genealogy, a technique in which genetic profiles are run though databases to find potential relatives of a homicide victim or suspect. In January, police revealed a previously unreleased photograph of initials on a black leather belt - either an HM or WH, depending on the angle - that they say was handled by an unknown suspect. Over the years, they’ve said it is unlikely one person killed all the victims. Investigators have been unable to determine who is responsible for all of the deaths, or whether a lone serial killer or several suspects were involved. Within days, three other bodies were found, all within a short walk of one another.īy spring 2011, that number had climbed to 10 sets of human remains - eight women, a man and a toddler. Months later, a police officer and his cadaver dog were looking for her body in the thicket along Ocean Parkway when they happened upon the remains of a different woman. The 2010 disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker who vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot in the seafront community of Oak Beach, triggered the hunt that exposed the larger mystery. There is no familial relationship between Mack and Jessica Taylor, despite Mack’s Melissa Taylor pseudonym, police said. Police found the skull of Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old prostitute who disappeared in 2003, near Gilgo Beach and most of the rest of her body in a wooded area of Manorville. Mack is at least the second person whose remains were found at the beach and also in Manorville. Most of them were young women who worked as prostitutes. Her remains were found in two places more than 40 miles (65 kilometers) and a decade apart: in 2000 in Manorville, near where Long Island splits into its two forks, and in 2011 near Gilgo Beach, where the remains of the others were found. She was never reported as a missing person, police said. bicentennial, was 24 years old when she disappeared. Mack, born in 1976 two days shy of the U.S. “For two decades, Valerie Mack’s family and friends were left searching for answers and while this is not the outcome they wanted, we hope this brings some sense of peace and closure,” Hart said in a statement.