A suspected serial killer, who lures his victims to Long Island using the Craigslist website, is believed to have murdered at least eight women after police found three more bodies dumped in scrubland.
The discoveries were made during a methodical search of a strip of land known as Oak Island, about 50 miles east of New York City.
The investigation began a year ago when Shannan Gilbert, 24, made a panicked attempt to escape from an attacker. She banged on doors in the neighbourhood shouting “They’re trying to kill me” and repeatedly called police before falling abruptly silent. She has not been seen since.
The bodies of four missing prostitutes were found in December while investigators were searching for Ms Gilbert. Last week police found a fifth body about a mile from the first four, prompting a thorough search of the area.
The remains of three more victims hidden in canvas sacks were found on Monday a few yards from Ocean Parkway, a scenic road that leads to the stretch of beaches where the Long Island iced tea cocktail was invented.
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Using fire engines with ladders splayed out horizontally, police were able to peer down into the tangled brush while sniffer dogs followed the scent of human decay.
The New York City medical examiner’s office is helping Suffolk County in identifying the latest bodies. “We still believe that Shannan Gilbert is in this area,” said Dominick Varrone, Suffolk’s chief of detectives.
Ms Gilbert, a prostitute, was last seen in Oak Beach on May 1, 2010, after going to meet a client she had met through Craigslist, a popular website that hosts thousands of classified ads. All of the dead women identified have been escorts in their twenties registered on Craigslist.
Ms Gilbert had arranged to meet her client in Oak Beach, a gated oceanfront community. A resident said that a woman came to his door at about 4.45am pleading for help, but she fled when he offered to call the police.
Immediately afterwards, he said, a man in a four-wheel-drive vehicle arrived outside his house saying that he was looking for the woman.
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Authorities have identified the four victims found in December as Amber Lynn Costello, 27, originally of Wilmington, North Carolina; Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 28, of Norwich, Connecticut; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Buffalo, New York.
The search is expected to continue this week. Police say they are looking for a serial killer but have no immediate suspects.