Lone killer suspected in New York serial killings

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Suffolk County police now believe that one person, rather than multiple killers, is responsible for leaving up to 10 bodies along barrier beaches in Long Island, N.Y.

In a series of interviews timed to the anniversary of the discovery of the first body on Dec. 11, 2010, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said detectives no longer think that several killers were involved. Previously, officials had indicated that as many as three killers may have been responsible.

Dormer outlined officials’ latest thinking in interviews with Newsday, ABC News and the Associated Press.

The bodies of young women, a male transvestite and a toddler were dumped along Long Island’s South Shore from 1996 to 2010, officials have said. All of the bodies were wrapped in burlap.

Most of the victims are believed to be prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist. But one victim was a girl, between 18 and 24 months old, who has been linked to one of the adult victims by genetic testing.

The investigation began as a hunt for a New Jersey prostitute, Shannan Gilbert. She is still missing and presumed dead.

Gilbert’s DNA does not match any of the recovered remains of the 10 bodies.

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