OAK BEACH (WABC) -- The grim search for more bodies is expanding on the beaches of Long Island.Police have now found eight bodies along Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach, and officials say there could be more.
The search area is expanding Tuesday beyond the two beaches to the Nassau County line. And the mystery remains, is this the work of one serial killer?
If investigators find more clues in this Jack the Ripper case in Suffolk County, it's going to be very difficult because of the weather conditions. There is fog and rain in the forecast and also high winds. The search all started with Shannan Gilbert's disappearance last May and the first grim discovery of remains back in December.
Gilbert, 24, was a Jersey City prostitute who visited a Craigslist client in Oak Beach and then vanished. The client, Joseph Brewer, has not been named a suspect and is said to be cooperating with police. The initial search turned up four bodies, but no trace of Gilbert. The fifth body found last week was also not Gilbert. The three latest victims have not yet been identified.
Now, many are wondering if the area has turned into a graveyard.
"It's a tough area," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said. "It's very easy to miss something, but that's why we're doing it again."
The new discoveries Monday were due to a new tactic, as fire trucks from three towns used their extension ladders ti put searchers 20 feet over the brambles, high enough to see ground disturbances.
"We found human remains, three human remains so far in the area between Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach," Dormer said.
Searchers will be back at it Tuesday with dozens of police recruits, forensic experts and cadaver dogs. The teams are hard to pick out once they move deeper into the brush, which will soon become a thick cloak of green.
It's the same raw beauty that attracted a small community of homeowners.
"When I heard today three more [remains were found], it really, really scared me," resident Barbara McGinn said. "Because I just want somebody to find out who is doing this and end it all."
Dominick Varrone, Suffolk's chief of detectives, said the dogs were having a difficult time maneuvering through the brush.
"They don't like getting smacked in the face with the bramble," he said.
Police said as many as 20 officers had been infected with poison ivy during recent searches, and there also were concerns about ticks.
Westbound lanes of Ocean Parkway will be closed for the ongoing search. Eastbound lanes will remain open. Residents who live in the area will need show identification. Other people are asked to stay away.
All of the killings are thought to be the work of a serial killer who is targeting prostitutes.
Detectives believe the crimes happened in the middle of the night and that the killer chose the same, desolate location, pulling-onto the shoulder of the westbound lanes, dragging the body out of his vehicle and dumping it no more than 25 feet off the roadside.
Of the four victims identified so far, Maureen Brainard-Barnes was murdered first. She was last seen on July 9, 2007.
Melissa Barthelemy was next, having disappeared almost exactly two years later, in 2009.
Megan Waterman vanished on June 6 of last year, and Amber Lynn Costello disappeared in early September of 2010. Source
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