Long Island Killer Targeting Craigslist Escorts, Cops Fear

Four bodies identified by Long Island police as prostitutes

By Mark Russell, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 25, 2011 4:07 AM CST
Updated Jan 25, 2011 7:06 AM CST

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Police Fear Killer Targeting Craigslist Escorts — The victims of a possible Craigslist killer. From left, Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello. (AP Photo/Suffolk County Police Department)

Long Island police fear they are facing a Craigslist killer, after identifying the skeletal remains of three women found dumped on a local beach last month—all were prostitutes, less than 5 feet tall, and about 100 pounds, and all three advertised on the popular classifieds site. One of the women had been missing since 2007. A fourth body found nearby was identified last week as a prostitute who had been missing since last summer.

All four were killed and dumped in a similar way, reports the New York Daily News. "I think it fits within the known definition of what a serial killer would be," says a local DA. Friends of one woman talked about how she was a kind, "beautiful-natured person," but had turned to prostitution to feed a drug habit. "That's why she probably ended up the way she did. She had no fear," a friend said. "This is really sad." (Read more Craigslist killer stories.)