Cops have actually released new information about a group they have actually called the “Gilgo 4,” the 4 ladies in their 20s who were discovered dead, covered in burlap sacks, along a remote stretch of Long Island highway– within a quarter of a mile from one another– near the now well-known beach in 2010.
The so-called “Gilgo 4”– Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costella– were found throughout the search for Shannan Gilbert, an escort, like the others, from Jersey City who disappeared after satisfying a customer on neighboring Oak Beach that spring. Her remains were discovered in a swampy marsh not far from away in 2011, 19 months after she vanished.
Gilbert’s cause of death has actually been challenged. However the Gilgo 4, authorities state, were all killed, potentially the work of a serial killer. No arrests have actually been made and no suspects have actually been determined. The new information release comes as new Suffolk County Cops Commissioner Rodney Harrison looks for to bring back public faith in the long-unsolved examination, which has actually been skewered over doing not have openness.
” As the Murder Team continues its determined work on this examination, our company believe now is the correct time to share this formerly unreleased information in hopes of generating suggestions from the general public and supplying higher openness about the victims,” Harrison stated in sharing the information Thursday.
While none of the information are especially informing from an investigative point of view, they shed more light on the ladies behind Long Island’s notorious case. Here are the current information on the Gilgo 4 as supplied by Suffolk County:
Maureen Brainard-Barnes
Suffolk cops stated that Brainard-Barnes, thought to be the very first victim amongst the “Gilgo 4,” was a 25-year-old living in Norwich, Connecticut, when she went missing out on. They stated it is thought she took an Amtrak train from New London to New York City on July, 6, 2007
She invested her time in the city working as a woman of the street, marketing on Craigslist, Backpage and other websites under names like Juliana or Marie as she remained at a Super 8 Motel on West 46th Street, in between 5th and sixth opportunities. Brainard-Barnes, who stood simply under 5 feet high, would take a trip to Manhattan to work for a couple of nights prior to returning house to Connecticut, according to detectives.
While in the city, she likewise remained at a Red Roofing Inn on West 32nd Street, the Carter Hotel on West 43rd Street and the Manhattan Hotel on 8th Opportunity. Often she would be with another lady– a buddy who exercised of a various hotel space– and a male, who both ladies referred to as their cousin, cops stated. That male would provide a level of security for the 2 sex employees.
Brainard-Barnes took a trip with the other lady to the city the weekend she went missing out on, however the lady returned home early. On July 9, she called a buddy back in Connecticut simply minutes prior to midnight, informing them she was going to satisfy somebody outdoors of the motel, which was not what her common operating treatment, according to Suffolk cops.
5 days later on, a buddy reported Brainard-Barnes missing out on to cops in Connecticut, and quickly the NYPD took control of the examination. More than 3 years later on, on Dec. 13, 2010, her body was discovered on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, throughout cops’s search for Gilbert, who had actually gone missing out on from Oak Beach.
Melissa Barthelemy
Barthelemy, 24, went missing out on on July 12, 2009 after she was last seen at her basement apartment or condo on Underhill Opportunity in the Unionport area of the Bronx, detectives stated.
The 4-foot-10-inch high escort promoted on Adult Buddy Finder and other websites, frequently utilizing aliases Chloe and “VerySexyChloe,” and had the words “Blaze” and “Focus” on her back, along with letters on her chest, according to cops.
Barthelemy, who was stated to satisfy her customers at bars, dining establishments and hotels on Manhattan’s West Side, informed a buddy the night she went missing out on that she was going to satisfy a male and would be back in the early morning. The buddy understood Barthelemy was an escort, however didn’t understand any other information about the meetup that night.
Handout Melissa Barthelemy
After not speaking with her or being able to reach her for a couple of days, Barthelemy’s mom reported her missing to the NYPD on July 18.
Mobile Phone records reveal that Barthelemy went from the Bronx to Manhattan, most likely in a taxi, on the night of July 12. An examination then exposed that her mobile phone signal was gotten in the Long Island towns of Freeport, Massapequa and Lindenhurst.
Suffolk cops stated that Barthelemy’s sibling got a series of ridiculing telephone call from an individual utilizing her cell after she went missing out on, and the calls are thought to have actually originated from the killer. The calls were made from an location near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, and near Penn Station.
Authorities checked out the locations, however were not able to develop any leads due to heavy vehicle and foot traffic close by.
Barthelemy’s body was discovered practically a year and a half later on, on Dec. 11, 2010. While she was the very first victim discovered, cops think she was really the 2nd one eliminated, after Brainard-Barnes.
Cops are looking for help determining a lady whose upper body cleaned up on a Mamaroneck beach in 2007, and legs cleaned up on the north coast of Long Island not long after. The only determining function: a tattoo of cherries on her chest– an idea that might possibly connect her to the Gilgo BeachKiller NBC New York’s Ida Siegal reports.
Megan Waterman
The 22-year-old Waterman, a citizen of Scarborough, Maine, was a sex employee who likewise used the exact same sites as the other victims, according to cops, utilizing the names “Lexxy “and “Sexy Lexi.” Her family enjoyed her board a New York- bound bus in Maine, not understanding that would be the last time they would see her, with a male who might have been her pimp.
While she was understood to stay at a range of hotels and motels on Long Island, consisting of the Extended Stay America in Bethpage, Waterman was remaining at a Vacation Inn Express in Hauppauge on June 6, 2010, an examination discovered.
She left around 1:30 a.m. that day to satisfy a customer, according to cops– however informed her pimp, who was in Brooklyn at the time, that she was going to a corner store near the hotel.
Family reported her missing to cops in Maine on June 8, after they stated it differed from her to not call and check in on her then-3-year-old child. The Scarborough cops got in touch with the Suffolk Cops Department to help in the examination, and her body was discovered on Dec. 13 later on that year.
Private investigators think she was the 3rd of the “Gilgo 4” victims. Her pimp was later on apprehended and founded guilty on interstate trafficking charges, investing 3 years in federal jail in Jan. 2013. Nevertheless, there is no indicator he had any understanding or in any method took part in Waterman’s death, cops stated.
Suffolk County cops on Tuesday released security video of Gilgo Beach murder victim Megan Waterman’s last minutes at the Vacation Inn Express, Hauppauge in June 2010. Commissioner Rodney Harrison states detectives think Waterman left her hotel space to satisfy her prospective killer.
In April 2022, Harrison released the last recognized security video of Waterman, at the Vacation Inn Express in Happauge. The video reveals numerous angles from the lobby on June 4, 5 and 6 of that year. She was using a yellow sweatshirt and is revealed both getting here and leaving the hotel.
Harrison stated detectives think Waterman left the Vacation Inn the night of June 6, 2010, to satisfy her killer. He likewise shared an image of precious jewelry found on the remains of a young child whose bones were recuperated throughout the examination (see listed below).
Handout On April 4, 2011 a gold pendant and earrings were found on the unknown female young child.
Amber Lynn Costello
The earliest of the “Gilgo 4” victims, Costello was 27 when she went missing out on in September 2010, having actually last been seen by associates, the examination has actually discovered.
She had numerous tattoos, consisting of “Kaos” on her neck, a butterfly on her lower back and the name “Margeret” on her leg.
Costello, a heroin addict at the time, was living in West Babylon on Long Island with another lady and 2 males, each of whom was likewise addictedto drugs In order to support their cumulative addictions, Costello and the other lady promoted as sex employees on Craigslist and Backpage; Costello used the names Carolina or Mia, cops stated.
She had actually moved to New York from Clearwater, Florida, and finished 28-day drug rehab, however cops think she had actually fallen back prior to going missing out on.
Amber Lynn Costello
Sharing a mobile phone with her roomies, Costello and the others would set up dates with customers, doing both “in- calls” at your house and “out-calls” somewhere else. Cops stated that the roomies cooked up a fraud for the customers who came to your house, as after cash had actually currently been paid, one of the male roomies would state that Costello was his sweetheart, and the customer would remove.
She was last seen leaving the house on America Opportunity on Sept. 2, 2010, going to satisfy a customer choosing her up at your house. Costello didn’t have a mobile phone on her at the time, and was never ever reported missing out on.
On Dec. 13, throughout the exact same search for Gilbert, Costello’s body was discovered on the north side of Ocean Parkway.
Cops exposed proof in one of Suffolk County’s many well-known criminal cases that they have actually been keeping for 9 years. Cops think initials were embossed on a black belt discovered at the criminal activity scene, however provided no information on where it was discovered or how it might have beenused NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
The bodies of the “Gilgo 4” had actually been disposed in burlap sacks within a quarter-mile period, about 500 feet apart on a desolate stretch of Ocean Parkway.
It was the disappearance of the 24-year-old Gilbert that led to the discovery of all the bodies, which were discovered in the days after the search for Gilbert released in 2010. An overall of 10 sets of human remains were discovered by spring 2011.
In April 2011, authorities discovered a partly dismembered lady, later on determined as another woman of the street, Jessica Taylor (no relation to the alias used by Valerie Mack), an unknown Asian male, 2 unknown ladies and an unknown female young child. The young child was figured out, through DNA screening, to be the child of a lady found about 7 miles away. They have actually not been determined.
Gilbert’s remains were discovered later on that year, on Dec. 13 2011, in a swampy Oak Beach marsh, about 18 months after she went missing out on. Private investigators found Gilbert’s body about a half-mile from where she was last seen. She was discovered in an overload widespread with tough brush and cops stated at the time they thought Gilbert drowned by mishap.
Later On, an independent autopsy by the popular forensic pathologist Michael Baden discovered Gilbert had actually suffered injuries ” constant with bloodthirsty strangulation.” Cops have actually stated regularly they do not think her death is connected to the others.
Gilbert’s mom, Mari, declined to let the case leave of the general public eye and pushed police for a murder examination that never ever grew. Mari Gilbert passed away in July 2016, apparently stabbed to death by her other child, Sarra, who experiences schizophrenia.
Cops exposed proof in one of Suffolk County’s many well-known criminal cases that they have actually been keeping for 9 years. Cops think initials were embossed on a black belt discovered at the criminal activity scene, however provided no information on where it was discovered or how it might have beenused NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
What have yet to be released are 911 calls linked to Gilbert’s case, which Suffolk County had actually been purchased to release years ago however declined, mentioning the continuous examination.
She had actually called 911 from Oak Beach and stated somebody was attempting to eliminate her; that call lasted about 22 minutes. There were 3 other calls. In spite of efforts from the lawyer of her now-deceased mom Mari Gilbert to have actually the calls released– and a court order to do so– they have actually never ever been revealed.
The hold-up from Suffolk County to launch the calls has actually included previous administrations, however, and Harrison had actually stated previously this year he would launch the tapes if they didn’t interfere with the continuous examination. It stays uncertain when or if the 911 call release will take place.
Harrison, the 5th Suffolk cops commissioner to supervise the case, formerly stated his workplace plans to evaluation every piece of proof in the case and that genuine development was being made, though didn’t sophisticated on the latter point. He likewise promised the release of extra information to come– and more openness.
Suffolk authorities have actually long stated they do not think Gilbert’s case is linked to the others, the households of other victims hope the 911 calls might shed at least some light on their own impressive secrets.
Suffolk County cops on Tuesday released security video of Gilgo Beach murder victim Megan Waterman’s last minutes at the Vacation Inn Express, Hauppauge in June 2010. Commissioner Rodney Harrison states detectives think Waterman left her hotel space to satisfy her prospective killer.
Private investigators have not been able to figure out whether an only serial killer or numerous suspects were included, however they have actually stated for many years they do not think someone is accountable for all the deaths. No arrests have actually been made, and no suspects have actually ever been openly called in any of the cases.
Harrison stated that the benefit in the case is now at $50,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anybody with suggestions about the victims or a possible suspect or presumes is asked to contact Criminal Activity Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS (8477 ).