New Suffolk Police Department Leadership Asks FBI to Take Prominent Role in Fresh Look at Gilgo Beach Bodies Investigation
By Darren Price ••
Nearly five years to the day the first of 10 sets of human remains believed to be linked to at least one serial killer were unearthed in the dunes along the Long Island shore, local authorities say they have asked federal investigators to take an increased role in the probe.
The decision to take a fresh look at the investigation comes amid administrative upheaval at the Suffolk County Police Department, which has been the lead agency in the case for five years.
The 10 sets of remains were discovered while police were combing the beaches for Shannan Gilbert, a New Jersey escort who went missing while on a call in May 2010. No arrests have been made and authorities have never identified any potential suspects.
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A top-to-bottom assessment followed the introduction of new police department leadership, Suffolk authorities said, and that included evaluating the unsolved Gilgo murders. Police said Thursday they believed it was time to take a fresh look at the complex investigation, and they asked the FBI to take a more prominent role.
Suffolk officials did not comment on any new potential developments in the case, nor did they comment on any specific resources or steps the FBI or local authorities would take in the investigation. Authorities reiterated federal and local authorities would be collaborating.
Police were combing Gilgo Beach on Dec. 11, 2010, in connection with the search for Gilbert when they found the first set of remains, those of Melissa Barthelemy, a call girl who had vanished in 2007.
Over the next several weeks, they discovered the remains of Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, an unidentified Asian man, three unidentified women and an unidentified toddler. No arrests have been made in any of the slayings.
Police on Dec. 9, 2011, search the marshy area where Shannan Gilbert is believed to have disappeared in May 2010. Remains were found on Dec. 13, 2011 that were believed to be hers.
On Dec. 9, 2011, police comb through the marshy area where they found Shannan Gilbert's belongings.
Police use an amphibious vehicle to search the marsh where Shannan Gilbert disappeared in May 2010.
Police on an amphibious vehicle search the ground as it moves through the marsh where Shannan Gilbert disappeared in May 2010.
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Suffolk County police searched through the marsh on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, in the Oak Beach community of Babylon, N.Y, after clothing and other items were found belonging to Shannan Gilbert.
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Suffolk County police conduct a search through the marsh on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, in the Oak Beach community.
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Police cars block an access road near the search site.
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An officer from the Suffolk County Police Department's K-9 Unit uses a dog to search through the brush along the median of Ocean Parkway, near Oak Beach in Long Island, N.Y., on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.
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An officer from the Suffolk County Police Department's K-9 Unit uses a dog to search through the brush along the median of Ocean Parkway, near Oak Beach in Long Island, N.Y., on Monday Dec. 5, 2011.
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Investigators and members from the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner emerge from the brush along Ocean Parkway on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Under dense fog, officers continued the search for missing 24-year-old Jersey City sex-worker Shannan Gilbert, focusing along Ocean Parkway, from the Robert Moses Causeway to Tobay Beach, state police said.
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Federal, state and Suffolk police teams returned to a barrier island south of New York's Long Island on June 7 in their search for more bodies in a possible serial killer case. They planned to search 11 specific sites pinpointed in high-tech FBI aerial images captured earlier this year.
Suffolk police released this sketch of one of the unidentified females found near Gilgo Beach. Authorities used the bones to create an image of what the woman might look like.
Suffolk police also released this sketch of what the unidentified male found near Gilgo beach might look like.
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Suffolk County PD
Suffolk County police released this map documenting where the eight sets of remains were found along a remote stretch of Long Island beach.
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A sign notifies drivers of the search for human remains in an ongoing investigation of a possible serial killer, near Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y., Tuesday, April 12, 2011.
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Suffolk County dive team police officers search for possible victims of a suspected serial killer in Hemlock Cove along Ocean Parkway near Cedar Beach, N.Y., Thursday, April 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Mecea)
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Suffolk County dive team police officers search for possible victims of a suspected serial killer in Hemlock Cove along Ocean Parkway near Cedar Beach, N.Y., Thursday, April 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Mecea)
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Authorities aboard a Nassau County police helicopter search for possible victims of a suspected serial killer along Ocean Parkway at Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y., Thursday, April 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Mecea)
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Police officers search for possible victims of a suspected serial killer along Ocean Parkway near Cedar Beach, N.Y., Thursday, April 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Mecea)
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Jones Beach Theater is seen in the background as authorities in a Nassau County police helicopter search for possible victims of a suspected serial killer along Ocean Parkway at Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y., Thursday, April 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert Mecea)
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Police divers prepare to enter an inlet along a New York beach highway in search of more potential victims April 13 after 10 sets of human remains were found nearby.
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Police wade into the waters near Hemlock Cove to begin dredging the water for more victims of a possible serial killer.
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Police stand at a crime scene where they found additional remains remains that have yet to be identified as human during a search on Jones Beach Island.
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A searcher opens a plastic bag in the hunt for evidence near Jones Beach as a cadaver dog and other officials stand by.
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Emergency personnel search the dunes and scrub near the ocean, across the road from where eight bodies where found, near Oak Beach, N.Y., Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Investigators have expanded their search of a remote, densely overgrown stretch of a New York barrier island as they hunt for more victims of a possible serial killer.
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A policeman and a cadaver dog search the thick brush on the side of the road near Oak Beach, N.Y., Monday, April 4, 2011. The number of victims of a suspected serial killer on New York's Long Island has doubled to eight in the past week following the discovery of three more corpses. More remains were found at nearby Jones Beach.
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Police sit on motorcycles near a crime scene where they found additional remains that have yet to be identified as human during a search on Jones Beach Island on April 11, 2011 in Nassau County, New York. It has been reported that police have two new bodies, bringing the total to 10 bodies found on Long Island, with police working on the theory that a single serial killer may be in the New York area.
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It has been reported that police have two new bodies, bringing the total to 10 bodies found on Long Island, with police working on the theory that a single serial killer may be in the New York area.
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Emergency personnel search in the brush with the help of a ladder on a fire truck near Oak Beach.
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Emergency personnel examine an object on the side of the road, center, near Jones Beach in Wantagh, Monday, April 11.
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Police have not determined whether the search will include sending divers into a 40-acre pond that's part of a wildlife refuge.
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A policeman searches the thick brush on the side of the road near Oak Beach. Police launched the initial search to find a 24-year-old woman from Jersey City. She is still missing.
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Police had to contend with thick underbrush as they expanded their search for remains.
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A police officer searches an area near a crime scene where they found additional remains that have yet to be identified as human.
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A remote roadway passes through dense brush on Jones Beach Island, which was searched for remains.
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Police believe a serial killer is responsible for the deaths of four women whose bodies were found in December, but the other remains have not been linked to the original four.
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Police use a bucket lift near a crime scene where they found additional remains.
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Authorities conducted an exhaustive search of the area after warmer temperatures melted winter snow and ice.
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A Nassau County Police helicopter participates in the search on Jones Beach Island.
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The FBI's serial killer profiling unit has been assisting on the case, preparing character studies of potential suspects. Cops ask anyone with information related to the case to call the tip line.
Remains belonging to Gilbert -- who was last seen screaming and running away from a home in the Oak Beach complex where she met a client -- were found in December 2011.
Authorities have said that Gilbert likely drowned in the salt marsh where her body was later found; her family says they believe she is the victim of a serial killer.
The Suffolk County Police Department has been turned on its head over the last several months. Longtime Police Chief James Burke resigned his post in October and was indicted earlier this week on civil rights and conspiracy charges after he allegedly handcuffed and beat a man who broke into his department -issued SUV. Burke is likely to be succeeded by Timothy Sini, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in cold case killings, according to Newsday.
Police Commissioner Edward Webber has announced his retirement effective Jan. 23, and Chief of Detectives William Madigan also announced he'll be retiring.
At a news briefing Thursday, Suffolk authorities said they were committed to solving the Gilgo case and pledged to the victims' families they were doing everything possible to solve the murders.
The FBI has previously provided technical and other support in the investigation, but the case has been cold for some time.
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