Boston Globe, June 2025
In early March, the body of a missing New York woman was pulled from the Norwalk River in Connecticut.Two weeks later, the remains of a woman were found in a suitcase near a cemetery, up the Connecticut coast in Groton. A grim succession of deaths across southern New England was only beginning. Week after week for the next three months, human remains were found in rivers and wooded areas across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The discoveries touched off fears of a serial killer,despite authorities’ insistence that the deaths are unconnected and, in several cases, not considered suspicious. In at least five deaths since March, police said that initial investigations found no foul play, or that foul play is not suspected. In two of the most recent cases, there were no obvious signs of trauma, although autopsy results are pending.
Online sleuths focused on the cases joined Facebook groups that mushroomed in recent months, with one amassing more than 32,000 followers. Experts say several factors make it unlikely a serial killer is behind the deaths. Details in the cases vary widely, as do the victims. Even the geography, across three states, would seem to preclude a single perpetrator.
