(DCWatchdog.com) – According to AP News, police have arrested a person on New York’s Long Island who may be involved in a series of unsolved murders known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
This case has been in the spotlight for over a decade since human remains were discovered on a beach highway in New York. The unsolved murders were the subject of a 2020 Netflix movie, “Lost Girls.”
The person suspected of the crimes was arrested in Massapequa late Thursday. On Friday, investigators were at a house related to the case. The suspect’s identity has not yet been revealed.
Since 2010 and 2011, when the remains of 11 people were found, investigators have been trying to solve these murders. Most victims were young women involved in sex work, and several bodies were found near Gilgo Beach.
Even experienced homicide detectives struggled to figure out who the killer was and why they committed these crimes. In response, an interagency task force was created last year. This group, including FBI agents, state police, and local police, was formed to solve this case.
The creation of this Gilgo Beach task force shows a renewed effort to solve the murders. The victims were primarily young women whose bones were found along a highway on Long Island. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison confirmed this commitment.
John Ray, a lawyer representing the families of two victims, expressed optimism about the police’s progress but remained cautious about the results.
The discovery of these murders began with the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker, in 2010. She disappeared after leaving a client’s house in the Oak Beach area. While looking for Gilbert’s body, a police officer and his cadaver dog found the remains of another woman nearby. Shortly after, three more bodies were found in the area.
By spring 2011, ten sets of human remains had been discovered, including eight women, one man, and one toddler. Some of these remains were connected to other body parts found on Long Island. Gilbert’s body was eventually found in December 2011, about 3 miles east of where the other remains were found.
Investigators have often suggested that it’s unlikely one person committed all these murders. This announcement of an arrest comes a day after state police reported finding more skeletal remains in a wooded area off the Southern State Parkway in Islip. Police are expected to give more information near the site on Friday afternoon. Whether these new remains are connected to the Gilgo Beach case is unclear.
For more from AP News, click HERE.
