News: Victims of the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer
(Long Island, N.Y.) Last night’s TV special has dubbed the Long Island serial killer case as the biggest and most extensive homicide investigation Long Island has ever had. The mother of the twenty-four-year-old victim, Melissa Barthelemy, claimed that she had a feeling Melissa was among the four victims. The remains were discovered after missing person Shannan Gilbert’s investigation led police to the Gilgo Beach dumping ground.
Barthelemy’s mother knew she was among the victims before receiving a phone call from Suffolk County police officials. Barthelemy came to New York City after graduating beauty school in her native Buffalo. Her family was concerned about how she would fare in the big city, and her mother feared it would eat her alive. Barthelemy’s loved ones tried to file a missing persons report with police, but claimed to have been ignored for three days after her disappearance.
Barthelemy’s then fifteen-year-old sister received a call from the killer while he had been using Barthelemy’s cell phone. Reports stated that he spoke softly, comfortably, and in a controlled manner. He made eight phone calls in total, one of which was to Barthelemy’s mother when he asked if she had filed a missing persons report.
The phones were tapped after the third call to places near Times Square, Port Authority, and the Empire State building. The last call was received on August 26, 2009 when the killer asked Barthelemy’s sister if she knew what he did to her. The killer then admitted that he killed Melissa and threatened her sister by saying he knew where she lived and would come after her.
The TV special also examined the final hours of Amber Lynn Costello and interviewed her roommate. Costello was not reported missing and allegedly lived like she didn’t care about herself. According to her roommate, Costello hated parts of herself and the killer acted like a “lioness preying on a weak gazelle.” The killer promised Costello $1,500 that evening, which was almost six times her going rate.
The killer convinced Costello to meet him alone and without her purse or cell phone. Like some of the other victims, Costello was coerced by the killer into letting down her guard. She was twenty-seven at the time of her murder, living just a short distance away from the killer’s dumping ground. The program also revealed that the twenty-two-year-old victim, Megan Waterman, spent some of her final hours at the same Holiday Inn Express where Costello allegedly rejected a potential client.
The sister of victim Maureen Brainard-Barnes claimed that she needed a voice and to get her pride back. She stated that Brainard-Barnes was faced with getting evicted from her home and turned to Craigslist as a last resort. She showed the list of job postings that her sister pursued in hopes of curing her financial stresses. After being turned down repeatedly by job offers, the mother of two made the trip from Norwich, Connecticut to New York City.
Brainard-Barnes checked into a Super 8 and was never heard from again. Her siblings headed to New York City to search for her but were met with a lack of compassion and concern. The television special showed a tender moment during the first-time meeting of Brainard-Barnes’s sister and the mother of one of the other victims.
