Long Island Press Long Island Press
Serving the opinion leaders of Long Island
Long Island Press Long Island Press
Long Island Press Long Island Press
  • Home
  • Long Island News
  • Columns
  • Entertainment News
  • Living
  • Special Series
  • CURRENT LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
  • SECTIONS
    • Home
    • Long Island News
    • Columns
    • Entertainment News
    • Living
    • Special Series
    • CURRENT LONGISLANDPRESS.COM

Long Island’s Other Serial Killer

by Jaclyn Gallucci on March 24, 2011

Girls Disappearing

The torso of a black or Hispanic woman, also with her head and hands cut off, was found by a hiker in Hempstead Lake State Park on June 28, 1997.

Nassau County Medical Examiner Eric Smith, who worked on the case, which is still active—cold cases are never closed in New York State until they are solved—says she is known among law enforcement as “Peaches” due to a tattoo of a peach above her left breast.

“Cut the fingers out, decapitate the head,” says Smith. “Those are two ways of preventing people from tracing that person.”

Her fingerprints and dental history gone, “Peaches” was wrapped in black plastic garbage bags and stuffed into a large green Rubbermaid container, along with a red towel and floral pillow sham.

On March 3, 2007, another woman’s torso, stabbed and stuffed inside a suitcase, washed ashore in Mamaroneck. One of her leg bones and her right foot with her toe nails half polished washed up from the Long Island Sound later on March 27 among the rocks in Cold Spring Harbor. On March 28, her severed leg bone washed up in a plastic bag a short distance away at the estate of Cablevision billionaire James Dolan. The rest of her has never been found.

A tattoo on a torso found in a suitcase in Mamaroneck in 2007. One leg was later found on the LI property of James Dolan. Below, A blood-soaked camisole found with the torso.

Medical examiner records show this woman was either black or Hispanic, 5’10”, 180-200 pounds and had a tattoo of two cherries above her right breast.

The only clues are what was found with the body: a black Protégé suitcase manufactured by InGear—sold exclusively at Wal-Mart—a red, blood-soaked camisole with a Spanish brand label, lavender Champion sweatpants, a blue bra and a tan long-sleeved t-shirt, manufactured by Voice, and ripped up scraps of paper, possibly a page from a calendar, reading “cinco” and “begin to live.”

Police remain tight-lipped on these cases, partly because of a lack of information and partly, especially in the recent cases of the Gilgo Beach victims found in December 2010, to not compromise the investigation. How Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, were killed—and the condition of their bodies when they were found—has not been made public, only the fact that they had each advertised their sexual services on Craigslist and other websites. And another missing prostitute, Shannan Gilbert, 24, whom police were originally looking for when they found these four women, still has yet to be found.

On June 27, 2008, another dismembered woman was found stuffed in a suitcase near Newbridge Road in Bellmore off the Southern State Parkway. The woman was identified as Tanya Rush, a 39-year-old mother of three from Brooklyn, because her fingerprints were on file from a previous arrest, and because her hands were with her body.

“We’re working that case trying to find the person who put her out there and the person who murdered her,” says Hughes. “If she did not have a prior record, it would have been very difficult to figure out who she was.”

“You have to hope that somebody sees on the news that we found a body, and then has the wherewithal to say, ‘Could that be my mother, my sister?,’” continues Hughes. “But the problem is people in Brooklyn—are they really watching the LI news? From our investigations these people in the city, if they go two blocks, that’s far for them. They don’t even put two and two together that it could be a family member because in their head [Long Island] is just too far away.”

And not everyone has family advocating for them. For those who are alone, there is a whole other set of problems to contend with.

PAGES
1 2 3 4 5 6
Your reaction
LOL
10%
Cool
2%
What!?
5%
Meh...
3%
Sad
73%
RAGE!
8%
Long Island News, News
Amber Lynn CostelloAmerica’s Most WantedBellmoreBilly’s LawBrooklynButcher of ManorvilleChad Johnsoncold spring harborColleen McNameeCover StoryDenice FoxDoe NetworkEast MeadowEric SmithEvan Marshallfeaturedfeatured-scrollGail BelfieldGilgo BeachGilgo Beach BodiesHalsey Manor RoadHelp Find the Missing ActHempstead Lake State ParkJames DolanJanice Smolinskijennifer papainJennifer ShafiqJessica TaylorJoel RifkinKhairual AbdulLong Island Central Pine BarrensLong Island crimeLong Island ExpresswayLong Island Rail RoadLong Island Serial KillerLong Island SoundMamaroneckManorvilleMaureen Brainard-Barnesmegan watermanMelissa BarthelemymissedNational Crime Information CenterNational Missing and Unidentified Persons SystemNewbridge RoadNorth PatchogueParmjit SinghPort Authority Bus TerminalRita Tangredi-BeinlichShannan Gilbertsouthern state parkwayStony BrookThe DictatorsThe Minnesota StripThomas HughesTony EvelinaUnidentified Persons System
Amber Lynn Costello, America’s Most Wanted, Bellmore, Billy’s Law, Brooklyn, Butcher of Manorville, Chad Johnson, cold spring harbor, Colleen McNamee, Cover Story, Denice Fox, Doe Network, East Meadow, Eric Smith, Evan Marshall, featured, featured-scroll, Gail Belfield, Gilgo Beach, Gilgo Beach Bodies, Halsey Manor Road, Help Find the Missing Act, Hempstead Lake State Park, James Dolan, Janice Smolinski, jennifer papain, Jennifer Shafiq, Jessica Taylor, Joel Rifkin, Khairual Abdul, Long Island Central Pine Barrens, Long Island crime, Long Island Expressway, Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Serial Killer, Long Island Sound, Mamaroneck, Manorville, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, megan waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, missed, National Crime Information Center, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Newbridge Road, North Patchogue, Parmjit Singh, Port Authority Bus Terminal, Rita Tangredi-Beinlich, Shannan Gilbert, southern state parkway, Stony Brook, The Dictators, The Minnesota Strip, Thomas Hughes, Tony Evelina, Unidentified Persons System
About the Author
Jaclyn Gallucci
You might also dig
 

Questions Remain in Long Island Serial Killer Case Two Years Later

by Long Island Press on December 6, 2012
By Timothy Bolger and Jaclyn Gallucci When Superstorm Sandy washed out a five-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway in October, questions arose whether more human remains were unearthed to add to the 11 found in the brush near the Long Island Serial Killer’s [...]
 

Gilgo Victims’ Families Say Shannan Gilbert Was Murdered

by Jaclyn Gallucci on December 14, 2011
Family members of two murdered women found near Gilgo Beach last December held on to each other as Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer announced that human remains, most likely those of missing New Jersey woman Shannan Gilbert, were found [...]
 

Victims’ Families: Shannan Gilbert Was Murdered

by Jaclyn Gallucci on December 13, 2011
FULL STORY: Victims’ Families Say Shannan Gilbert Was Murdered
Long Island Press is a registered trademark of Schneps Communications. © 2017. All rights reserved.