WANTAGH, N.Y. – Suspected human remains were found in two locations along a remote New York beach highway Monday, bringing to 10 the number of potential victims of a possible serial killer.
The discovery came as police expanded a search from Long Island’s Suffolk County westward into the Jones Beach area of Nassau County, just over the border from New York City. The expanded search was prompted by Suffolk County’s discovery in the past two weeks of four sets of unidentified human remains.
The bodies of four women who worked as Craigslist escorts — including Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine — were found in the same area in December, leading authorities to suspect that they may be contending with a serial killer.
The highway runs along a barrier beach island south of Long Island and is home to several county- and state-run parks featuring miles of beaches about 45 minutes from Manhattan.
Detective Lt. Kevin Smith, a Nassau County police spokesman, said the two sets of remains found Monday — separated by several miles along the north side of Ocean Parkway — were sent to the medical examiner’s office to confirm whether they are human. Police also made several discoveries of bones Monday that were quickly determined to be animals.
“It appears to be a skull. Whether it is human or not is unknown at this point,” Smith told reporters of the second discovery of suspected remains Monday. He did not offer any description of the possible remains found earlier in the day.
Nassau County joined the search this week after Suffolk County police found eight victims dumped just steps from Ocean Parkway, a highway leading to the popular Jones Beach State Park.
Earlier Monday, Smith sought to tamp down speculation of who may be responsible for the killings. No suspect has been named.
“For anyone to come out and say a specific person, a specific occupation, or a specific type, I think, is unfair,” he told reporters. “I think it’s mere suspicion, it’s mere speculation. Right now, it could be anybody.”
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