Police now know that a serial killer was hard at work dumping bodies in Long Island, NY since December, 2006 — they just don’t know who he is, or how many bodies they will ultimately find.
Yesterday, police unearthed a 9th set of bones that might belong to a woman who went missing after advertising her escort services online. 4 of the 9 women found so far along a quarter-mile strip of beachfront property, were prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist.com or other similar websites.
The woman who sparked the search was Shannon Gilbert, 24, a prostitute who went missing after she ran screaming from the home of a wealthy client in the gated millionaires’ community of Oak Beach.
Neighbors alerted the police when she knocked on a door screaming, “they’re trying to kill me,” before running off. She was never seen again. Police don’t believe he client was responsible for her disappearance.
The peaceful serenity of the quiet retirement community has been shattered. Homes that once listed for $1 million are now going for $600,000 or less.
Authorities are working on the assumption that the dead bodies buried in shallow graves in NY and NJ are the work of a lone serial killer. Police have dubbed him ‘The Craigslist Ripper’ after Jack The Ripper, who terrorized London in the late 1800s. Jack The Ripper was never caught.
But just like Jack The Ripper, the Craigslist Ripper enjoys taunting his victim’s families. The killer placed six phone calls to the teenage sister of one of his victims, Melissa Barthelemy, 24. “Did you know your sister was a whore?” he said in one of the calls.
“He is a guy aware of how we utilise technology,” an unidentified police source told The NY Times. “Frankly, people are thinking maybe he could be a cop – either one still in law enforcement or one who has moved on.”
He used untraceable disposable cell phones to contact the Craigslist victims. Made calls in crowded locations and never stayed on the line longer than three minutes. (link)
“Collectively, we want to bring to justice this animal who has obviously taken the lives of a number of people,” Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said on Monday.
