At 7 AM on a glittering July morning in 1996, I lay nude and face down on an expensive sheet in the sands of Tobay Beach, a sugary-sanded stretch of barrier island off Long Island’s South Shore. Terns circled overhead and the scent of beach roses was intoxicating. Nudity is allowed on this particular beach, and although I’m shy, I took note of the fact that I was very much alone.
My huge, blond, Nordic boyfriend had gone for a walk – probably to explore his other options, and this made me sad. My annoyance was compounded when a Coast Guard Officer approached. I looked around for my swimsuit, certain he was going to tell me to put it back on.
He did not.
He squatted down and engaged me in charming conversation. He was handsome and lean, about 40 or so, and had delightful, kind, vibrantly green eyes. He gently ran a hand over my ass, and without a lot of heat I told him that my boyfriend would kill him. He patted his gun and told me he’d take his chances. We had a very in-depth conversation without a lot of words.
Hindsight is 20/20. I shouldn’t have let him depart while casting wistful gazes at my derriere. The Nordic boyfriend was short-lived, and the idea of canoodling in a cabin with a Swarthy Sea Dog has crossed my mind more than once since then. Yes, I have my beloved Cap’n, but haven’t all of you wondered what might have been?
Back to being alone. For all their natural beauty, the barrier islands are isolated and feel like the last place on earth. You can drive 90 minutes and be in Times Square, but here, it’s Nowheresville.
This is probably why a serial killer chose to dump 8 of his victims on the bay side of Ocean Parkway. No one except for avid fishermen go in those dunes. The sands there are covered with scrub oaks, Japanese Black Pine trees, and are home to bunnies, hawks and sea birds. And now, the remains of young women.
Most of the victims seem to be prostitutes, which to me is just tragic. It’s bad enough that they felt they had to make a living in a dangerous, degrading profession, but to be murdered and left in the dunes is just a terrible fate which no one deserves. The three latest victims have not been identified yet.
One of the victims met a wealthy man for a “date”, and he was the last to see her alive. He’s been interviewed extensively, and I’m quite sure he didn’t kill her. I think it’s just a wrong-place-wrong-time thing for him, and he’s probably mortified that all his neighbors in his tony hamlet know he trolls Craigslist for hookers.
So who did kill these women?
Well, FBI profiling would indicate a white man in his 30s or 40s, isolated and normal-looking, with few friends and nobody close. The 8 victims found are probably only a few of his. And law enforcement will have a hard time catching him unless he screws up. Nassau County Police and the NYPD barely speak to each other about missing persons and murder victims. In fact, one victim reported missing in the city sat in a Nassau morgue for over a month before someone thought to check.
The killer is probably local – I’m guessing from Suffolk County. He’s probably geeky and wears outdated clothes – all serial killers who have been caught fit this mold. Definitely not a corporate type, and probably not well-off. He probably plans his killings meticulously, but “goes somewhere else” in his head during the actual murders.
I just described the entire populace of the towns of Mastic and Shirley. The cops have a lot of work to do. Stay tuned.