Of the other six victims found, only Jessica Taylor has been identified. The unidentified bodies included three women, a man dressed in women’s clothing, and a baby who was the child of one of the unidentified women. The women, including Jessica, were dismembered (unlike the GB4) prompting some to theorise that Long Island was dealing with not just one serial killer but two.
The very different MOs, according to some, suggest two different personality types. Theories of ‘The Trophy Killer’ and ‘The Torso Killer’ are rife on the internet (and various podcasts, check out our recommendations for the best ones to listen to covering the case).
The way the bodies of the GB4 were treated, apparently, suggests it’s a ‘trophy garden’ – a place the killer could return to visit his victims, with their bodies intact and their identities not concealed. The dismembered victims weren’t so carefully hidden with Jessica’s torso found atop a pile of wood at the end of an access road in Manorville, but their identities were disguised by the dismemberment and mutilation.
The official line back in November 2011 from police was that they were searching for a single killer responsible for all ten of these deaths. Shannan’s death however, was ruled ‘misadventure’ with police concluding that she drowned or died of exposure, even though a missing bone in her neck could have indicated strangulation, which is how the Gilgo Beach Four were all killed.
The latest update to the case was in January 2020 when police released pictures of a belt they believe belonged to, or was handled by, The Long Island Serial Killer, carrying the initials WH or HM, depending which way up you read the letters. It’s evidence they’d had for nine years and it’s not clear why they chose to release it now. They also announced the launch of a site gilgonews.com which would be used to gather tips and post updates (but the site doesn’t currently work).
