NY BEACH CORPSE MYSTERY

By Frank Eltman
Associated Press

BABYLON, NY -- A week after police accidentally discovered the bodies of four women strewn over a quarter-mile stretch of marshy grasslands, overgrown shrubbery, and sea grass on a barrier island, mere paces from an oceanfront parkway, investigators are vexed by the basic questions: Who are they and how did they get there?

By week's end, police brass appeared to concede they were stumped, even backing away from earlier notions that a serial killer may be responsible.

"We have no idea whatsoever whether we're dealing with a serial killer," Deputy Inspector William Neubauer told reporters Friday. "Anything is possible at this point because there's so many unanswered questions.

Early suspicions were that the bodies may have been two escorts who booked clients via Craigslist -- one from New Jersey and one from Maine -- who disappeared in May and June on Long Island, across Great South Bay from Jones Island, where the remains were found.

Police found the first body December 11 while investigating the disappearance of the New Jersey woman; the other three were found two days later.

Detectives believe the four women probably died elsewhere and were dumped just off the highway, but they remain open to any scenario. Could a lazy funeral director have left them there? Could the bodies have been stolen from a cemetery? Or is it a serial killer after all?

"We're looking at every possibility," Neubauer said.


--The St. Augustine Record, Dec. 20, 2010, p. 7A; www.staugustine.com