46 replies to this topic

[freetoroam]

Geographic profiling is now widely used to try and track a serial killer.
In the USA it can be quite difficult if the killer moves to another state, but since the Ted Bundy case which changed the way states communicate with each other, this has become easier.
There are many books on geographical profiling and they are truly an interesting read.

[regi]

regi, on 18 May 2013 - 03:15 PM, said:

As I recall, those last four known victims were discovered by happenstance, in that what led to those discoveries began with the search of another missing person (whose body wasn't found until some time later in another location in Long Island).
Experts disagree about whether or not that victim was of the same perp as the most recent four. I don't believe she was (to start with, I don't think she was murdered, but there's a lot of circumstances surrounding just that one case.)

I want to clarify that- if I'm recalling correctly- there were a total of 9 victims (and/or remains of 9 victims) eventually discovered on Gilgo Beach, and only five of those victims have been identified.

I wasn't recalling correctly! Apparently, there are a total of 10 victims. Apart from the 5 identified, there's 2 females, a female toddler, and an Asian man, all unidentified.

Also, investigators don't believe that Shannen Gilbert's death (the missing person case which led to the other discoveries) is connected to the murders, but her family believes she was murdered.
It's the unidentified victims- including Jessica Taylor (Manorville, '03) that experts disagree about whether or not they're of the same perp.
Interestingly, remains found in Manorville in '00 also matched remains on Ocean Parkway...

Detective Mystery 2013, on 19 May 2013 - 02:49 AM, said:

It could be that the person changed their older dumping grounds to a newer dumping ground, which seemed like a safer place for hiding victims. The investigators probably looked at a radius that included all of these locations. Perhaps the perp' moved closer to the newer dumping ground. Maybe the move can be matched to the change in dumping grounds.

Oh, yes! Experts have said that the perp's MO could have changed for some reason or another, and those are possible reasons.
It's evident is that if it hadn't been for the search for Gilbert, it's highly doubtful that any of the victims along Ocean Parkway would have been discovered to this day.
The vegetation is very dense in those locations, and they're nowhere that anyone would have occasion to be.

Intriguing, it was determined that the last two victims left their cell phones behind. One left from a motel room, and the other left from her home.
The '09 victim's family was contacted multiple times- it's believed by the perp, using the victim's cell phone. The calls originated in Manhattan, which is where at least 2 of the victims (including Taylor) were missing from.


There was a documentary-style presentation of the case on A&E which I remember was very thorough. 48 Hours (which I'm not crazy about) also profiled the case.

Edited by regi, 20 May 2013 - 02:13 PM.