Here's something, another sex worker murdered in Hempstead, body found
Aug 6, 1986 at Hempstead Golf Club:
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 8/8/1986. Valerie Cleveland
newsday.newspapers.com
View attachment 516904
So that blue dot is near where this victim's residence was located. Pretty much due north is Old Westbury, where RH attended New York Institute of Technology.
Her case is one of many unsolved murders of SWs in LI between 1984 and 1989.
Im currently working on WS threads for a ton of them.
Heres a summary tho
Several unsolved Murders of women in Long Island 1984-1989
On August 24th 1984. The body of 20 year old Deborah Lee Smith was found wrapped in a blanket in Valley Stream NY. She had been shot in the head and chest with a high caliber weapon. Smith was a known sex worker who apparently mostly worked in the Manhattan area. I cant find much else on her unfortunately.
On Feb 18th 1985. the decomposing body of 27 year old Jonie Jackson was found under a plastic bag in a parking lot in Hempstead. She was beaten to death. She was reported missing months earlier. Jonie had prior sex work related arrests.
On Sept 13th 1985 the body of 26 year old Gwendolyn “Gwen” Lukes was found strangled in a cemetery in Upper Brooksville. Gwen had prior sex work related arrests in the Hempstead area.
On August 6h 1986 the body of 21 year old Valerie Cleveland was found under brush on a Hempstead golf course. She was nude apart from her jacket. She had likely been dead for less than a week. She had prior sex work related arrests.
On June 27th 1989, the body of 22 year old Genise Wilder was found near a factory area in Hempstead. It was determined that she was stabbed to death. Her clothes were described as disheveled. Genise apparently had prior sex work related arrests.
On Dec 13th 1989, the body of 23 year old Christine Warner was found in a wooded area of the Meadowbrook Polo club. She was completely nude and wrapped in plastic bags. It was determined she was beaten to death. Christine was a known sex worker based out of Manhattan, She often went by the name Tina Clark.
In August 1986 an article was published in Newsday, claiming that Law Enforcement was looking into the possibility of a connection between the murders of Jonie Jackson, Gwen Lukes, Valerie Cleveland, along with a forth victim I haven't mentioned yet
on the night of February 19th 1984, 30 year old Christina Clarkson was walking home after visiting a tavern in West Hempstead. She decided to take a short cut across some railroad tracks. Unfortunately, Someone grabbed her and dragged her behind a factory. Christine was beaten to death, her body was found on top of a pile of wood in cardboard, near a railroad siding, located between 2 factories. She was fully dressed and there were no signs of sexual assault
Law Enforcement stated that they were all Hempstead village residents, and that 3 of 4 them were involved in sex work.
On February 10th 1990. the body of Stephanie Krut was found in a laundry bag on East Penn Street in Long Beach NY. She had been strangled and was wearing only a T-Shirt. Stephanie had prior sex work related arrests.
On November 8th 1990 the body of Mayra Eusebio was found in a garment bag, roughly a block away from Stephanie. She was also strangled and was also involved in Sex work.
Law Enforcement found a name written in the bag Mayra was found in. This name lead them to man, who they were able to determine was the cousin of the killer. Less than a week after Mayra was found, Allen Gormely of Long Beach New York was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in connection with Stephanie and Mayra’s murders.
A Newsday article from Nov 1990 stated that they were looking at the possibility of Gormely being involved with the murders of Debra, Jonie, Gwen Genise and Christine Warner. Law Enforcement seemed to think that Gwen and Genise’s murders bared the strongest resemblance to the killings Gormely was charged with.
However, a little over a week later Law Enforcement appeared to changedirections, stating that Gormely’s killings were “dissimilar” to the 5 unsolved cases and announcing that he was “apparently not involved”
Gormely was found guilty of both murders and was sentenced to 50 years to life. He died in prison in 2014
It appears that the possibility of Joel Rifkin being connected to Gwen was looked into, but I cant find anything indicating anything came of it. Rifkin’s first known murder occurred in 1989.
Of the 7 unsolved murder victims I’ve listed, 6 out of 7 were involved in sex work. They were all found in Nassau county. 3 were beaten, one was strangled, one was stabbed, one was shot, I am unsure on Valerie Cleveland’s cause of death. I am unsure if Law Enforcement believes there is a connection between any of these women.
Many of these victims were found to each other. Many of them lived near each other too. Using the addresses listed I’ve created a graphic to help demonstrate this
Another victim I want to mention, despite her name not showing up in any of these articles, is Carmen Vargas. Carmen left her family home in the summer of 1989, never to return. After 3 weeks of agonizing uncertainty, Carmen’s remains were found off the side of Meadowbrook Parkway. Her ankles and wrist were bound with cord. She had a rope tied around her neck and a towel over her face. She was also missing 3 front teeth. The Vargas family believes she was strangled, due to the info they've received from Law Enforcement. Law Enforcement is/was looking into the possibility of Rex Heuermann being involved.
To this date, no one seems to have been charged with any of the eight murders mentioned in this write up. The last mention of these women's murders in the press was seemingly in the early 90s. Feb 2024 marked 40 years since Christina Clarkson’s life was brutally stolen from her. August 2024 will mark 40 years since Deborah was murdered, these other women will reach that chilling milestone in the coming years.
These girls were more than sex workers, they were more than their murders, they were daughters, sisters and friends. These girls had whole entire lives in front of them, until their killer(s) cut them short.
If you have any information on any of these cases, please contact the Nassau County Sherriffs department at (516) 572-4100.
Crime Stoppers Contact
Submit an anonymous tip online.
www.p3tips.com
Sources
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 2/20/1984. Christine Clarkson
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 6/28/1989. Genise Wilder
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 9/18/1985. Gwendolyn "Gwen" Lukes,
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 7/13/1993. Gwen Lukes and Rifkin
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Nassau Edition) published in Hempstead, New York on 11/10/1990. 5
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 8/8/1986. Valerie Cleveland
www.newspapers.com
Carmen Vargas was last seen getting into a truck outside her East Harlem apartment building in 1989.
abc7ny.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Nassau Edition) published in Hempstead, New York on 5/1/1992. Allen Gormely Jr
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Nassau Edition) published in Hempstead, New York on 11/20/1990. Allen Gormely Jr
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 12/20/1989. Christina Warner
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 8/9/1986. Christina Clarkson, Jonie Jackson, Gwen Lukes, Valerie Cleveland
www.newspapers.com
Clipping found in Newsday (Suffolk Edition) published in Melville, New York on 8/31/1984. Deborah Lee Smith
www.newspapers.com
www.reviewjournal.com
nypost.com
pix11.com
www.missingkids.org
