In a significant development, the police in New York have apprehended an individual believed to be connected to the long-standing unsolved murders of at least 10 women whose bodies were discovered on Gilgo Beach in Long Island over a decade ago. Two reliable sources in law enforcement confirmed on Friday morning that the Suffolk County Police Department had taken a suspect into custody in relation to the infamous killings.
Although specific details regarding the location of the arrest remain scarce, a substantial police presence was observed in Massapequa Park on Friday morning, as reported by CBS New York.
This potential breakthrough comes more than a year after the authorities released a chilling audio recording of a 911 call made by Shannan Gilbert shortly before her disappearance in 2010. The search for Gilbert led investigators to uncover additional human remains on Gilgo Beach in December of that year. These remains belonged to young women in their twenties, their bodies wrapped in burlap sacks. Identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was abducted in 2007, Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, who went missing in 2010, they were collectively referred to as the “Gilgo Four.” Subsequently, six more sets of remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway the following spring.
In 2022, the Suffolk County Police Department released the complete audio recording of Gilbert’s 911 call, along with maps and other visuals depicting the authorities’ understanding of the events that transpired on May 1, 2010, the night of her disappearance. However, the police stated that based on the evidence, facts, and circumstances surrounding the case, the prevailing belief was that Gilbert’s death, while tragic, was unlikely to be a murder or a criminal act.
Nonetheless, investigators expressed hope that the release of the 911 audio would yield valuable information in the broader search for the perpetrator behind the Gilgo Beach murders. Consequently, officials increased the reward for any information leading to a resolution in the case to $50,000.
“We are making genuine progress,” declared Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison in May 2022, expressing his optimism that the newly disclosed information would generate fresh leads in the perplexing crime spree that had confounded the police for over a decade.
