Growing speculation that a serial killer is on the loose in New England — triggered by the recent discoveries of 12 human remains in three states — appears to be driven by rumors spread via social media. James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist, is skeptical of the speculation. He says the known evidence fails to suggest the presence of a serial killer.
Police have also dismissed the likelihood that a lone perpetrator is responsible for the deaths. And yet rumors of a serial killer persist — driven in no small part by more than 70,000 users in a private Facebook group who have been offering conjecture and theories about the mysterious deaths. An anonymous confession on the group page resulted in a futile search for bodies by police in Rhode Island.
