New England Serial Killer Speculation Thread

[Gummyshoe]

Another body has been found and the mainstream media is tying it to the suspected serial killer.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A death investigation is underway after the body of a woman was found near a bike path in a Massachusetts city on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of March, several bodies have turned up across New England, fueling online chatter that a serial killer could be on the prowl.

Death investigation underway after body of woman found near Mass. bike path

A death investigation is underway after the body of a woman was found near a bike path in a Massachusetts city on Tuesday.

www.boston25news.com

To me this one does seem to at least kinda fit the MO that is suspected to fit the supposed killer, having been found on a bike path, but I’m not sure the cause of death yet. Homicide detectives are investigating it but it hasn’t even been confirmed a homicide yet, so the media is kinda quick to link this to an SK.

 

[Gummyshoe]

<modsnip - Fox News is not an approved source>

Another body has been found and the mainstream media is tying it to the suspected serial killer.

Death investigation underway after body of woman found near Mass. bike path

A death investigation is underway after the body of a woman was found near a bike path in a Massachusetts city on Tuesday.

www.boston25news.com

To me this one does seem to at least kinda fit the MO that is suspected to fit the supposed killer, having been found on a bike path, but I’m not sure the cause of death yet. Homicide detectives are investigating it but it hasn’t even been confirmed a homicide yet, so the media is kinda quick to link this to an SK.

Most likely isn’t connected, in my opinion

"If someone is in full rigor mortis, there is no need to try to find a pulse because the presence of rigor mortis means they are unequivocally dead. So this is a very recent death, unlike the others that are being attributed to the [New England serial killer," Valentin said.

Valentin noted that Springfield police have not yet determined whether the woman's death was a homicide.

 

[liona]

Update
Investigation stepping up, serial killer speculation still in the news cycle despite police claiming it’s not connected. What do you guys think?

Intense investigation at Groton apartment not far from human remains discovery

A heightened police presence and ongoing investigation in Groton raised questions and concerns, just weeks after human remains were found in the same area.

www.wfsb.com

(Archive)

---

Facial similarities?


Comparison found in People article.
View attachment 579835

Dead Women Are Turning Up in New England Beach Towns. Police Deny a Pattern, But Locals Fear a Serial Killer

Dead Women Are Turning Up in New England Beach Towns. Police Deny a Pattern, But Locals Fear a Serial Killer.

people.com

(Archive)

I’m a few days late but I see something in common with these women as well. They all look very kind and easily approachable. Their eyes are calming. Those qualities glow out of people just like bad qualities radiate off of others and it shows in the face. They are very beautiful women may they Rest in Peace and find justice if it’s out there to be found.
My opinion is that some but not all are connected. I know there is timeline of at least last September but it seems high even though so I’m not inclined to think they are.
I am also wondering about truckers with dedicated northeast runs and I’d like to l
know if there is say a family dollar or Walmart (just throwing them out there) near these town roads where these beautiful ladies have been found. When I drove there was a highly coveted dedicated dollar general run in the NE and it was a set schedule but home for your 36 hour reset. Walmart also has a similar run for their long term drivers as do many other big businesses. That’s what I first thought when I saw a map out there, I saw a dedicated run, which one idk. These runs do require stopping and sleeping at truck stops, you aren’t home every night but they get you back home for the reset as a perk for driving a long time with the company accident free. So somebody very careful, with good reflexes, calm, calculated and experienced would get a run like this.

I hope we find out some more information very soon. I remember the Connecticut River killer when I was a child and I always worried about my mother working 2nd shift as a nurse even though we were west a good distance. It was in the news and i thought for sure my mom was going to be a victim. I was 6,7, just a kid, but that fear is being felt now by these communities as well without the answers.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1915281568731382138

"In total,
eight bodies have now been discovered across the idyllic region,
sparking community groups and rumors online about whether they're connected."

 

[bugenjoyer]

September disappearance of Connecticut woman Denise Leary leaves family baffled

sorry if this isn't the right place for this but i thought I'd post this article about Denise Leary, one of the women found deceased. It seems she may have had mental health troubles, and may have exited her home through her bedroom window before her disappearance.

I think it's way too early to say there's a serial killer on the loose, and this might just be a series of sad coincidences.

just my opinion

 

[Gummyshoe]

I think it's way too early to say there's a serial killer on the loose, and this might just be a series of sad coincidences.

Yeah I agree, a lot of these cases haven’t even been confirmed homicides yet. While a couple may be connected I don’t believe every single one of these belong to the same killer

 

[weepingangel]

Is there a serial killer in New England? Authorities pump the brakes on rumors

Social media speculation has followed several deaths across New England, but authorities have not suggested any connection between them.

www.nbcboston.com

 

[Gummyshoe]

Photos: Death investigation in New England

www.boston25news.com

 

[StarryStarryNight]

So much is not known here.
We know pretty much nothing about the named victims, the circumstances around their disappearances, their cause of death, even if they were reported missing at some moment. All we’ve got is plotted points on a map where bodies were found.
The lack of urgency by LE concerning not just the deaths as a group but the individual deaths is weird to me.
Anyway, LE needs to provide some details showing they are actually investigating these deaths and that they actually care about each of them. Generic statements that the cases aren’t related without some explanation as to why LE thinks that only perpetuates the story.

Just my thoughts

 

[Gummyshoe]

Generic statements that the cases aren’t related without some explanation as to why LE thinks that only perpetuates the story.

The generic statements are really off putting imo

 

[bugenjoyer]

The generic statements are really off putting imo

to be fair, it's pretty early in these investigations so LE probably doesn't wanna give too much away, and they probably wouldn't wanna voice any speculations that might not be true. imo

 

[mysterytosolve]

Denise Leary,
~ On Sept 29th, 2024. The night she went missing they thought she climbed out her window with a cable cord. Clearly she was doing something she didn't want her family to know about, especially since a few nights before that she was picked up by an unknown stranger and she told her son to turn off her phone tracker.

Here's what is interesting to me.

~They later found her phone behind a neighborhood house and her make-up palette in the neighborhood behind a vacant house. To me these locations are possible crimes scenes.
~When her family saw she was missing the next day, they tracked her phone and said it pinged first in Westport, and then 30 minutes later in pinged again in New Haven.
~Westport and New Haven are exactly a 25-35 minute drive by vehicle. Did the phone receive notification it was being tracked when they pinged it? Is that why it move immediately back from Westport to New Haven? I feel someone was trying to get that phone out of Westport immediately for some reason due to timing.
~ This means the next day that Denise or Denise's phone was still on and was 30 minutes away in Westport, it was pinged and then the phone came back to new Haven if it was 30 minutes later. Her phone was later found in her neighborhood close to the house she disappeared from.
~ As we now know she was found recently on March 26th. about 6 months later and very close to her last location

This leaves 2 possibilities.
~ 1. Either Denise still alive the next day in Westport (perhaps spent the night with someone secret there) and then they drove her back to new Haven and dropped her off down the road to sneak back in, but she mysteriously died in her neighborhood behind a vacant house before she could sneak back in...
~2.) Or someone killed her right there in that neighborhood that night behind the vacant house. Then they took her phone to Westport but then decided to bring the phone back and ditch it at another house in the neighborhood.. Why would you do this? Take the phone and then bring it back to dump in the same neighborhood?

If the answer is 1. She could have been seeing someone in secret like the kids were suspicious of, and when the person brought her back they could have dropped her off down the road and something happened to her while heading home on foot behind the house.

If the answer is #2, Again she could have been seeing someone secretly. perhaps she wanted to blow this persons cover so they killed her there and left the neighborhood with her phone, went to Westport and tried to erase the phone of anything in it that may be in it, like their text messages or pictures that proved who she was talking with. The brought the phone back and ditched it after they erased everything and went through it..... They may have also noticed a ping to it and immediately jumped in the car, drove 30 minutes back to her neighborhood and threw it in a different yard not wanting to return to the vacant house where the body was.

I feel the phone is the answers, and the answers may lay in Westport.

 

[Curiousgal1203]

I’m a few days late but I see something in common with these women as well. They all look very kind and easily approachable. Their eyes are calming. Those qualities glow out of people just like bad qualities radiate off of others and it shows in the face. They are very beautiful women may they Rest in Peace and find justice if it’s out there to be found.
My opinion is that some but not all are connected. I know there is timeline of at least last September but it seems high even though so I’m not inclined to think they are.
I am also wondering about truckers with dedicated northeast runs and I’d like to l
know if there is say a family dollar or Walmart (just throwing them out there) near these town roads where these beautiful ladies have been found. When I drove there was a highly coveted dedicated dollar general run in the NE and it was a set schedule but home for your 36 hour reset. Walmart also has a similar run for their long term drivers as do many other big businesses. That’s what I first thought when I saw a map out there, I saw a dedicated run, which one idk. These runs do require stopping and sleeping at truck stops, you aren’t home every night but they get you back home for the reset as a perk for driving a long time with the company accident free. So somebody very careful, with good reflexes, calm, calculated and experienced would get a run like this.

I hope we find out some more information very soon. I remember the Connecticut River killer when I was a child and I always worried about my mother working 2nd shift as a nurse even though we were west a good distance. It was in the news and i thought for sure my mom was going to be a victim. I was 6,7, just a kid, but that fear is being felt now by these communities as well without the answers.

I really think it is either a short hall trucker or a long-haul trucker they are all found right off of HWY 95 and then over to Plymouth then up HWY 3 and 93 up to Framingham and down HWY 395. Truckers know all of these roads inside and out

 

[mysterytosolve]

Paige Fannon

1.) She was last seen at Schenck's Island, 202 Old Ridgefield Rd, Wilton, CT according to last witness. before she went missing

2.) 2 days later her phone and clothing were found near the bank of the Norwalk River, in the same area of Schenck's Island. While they were searching the area. So whatever initiated the incident started here.
~Again phone found in area of last seen like the case I commented on above. but I find it interesting clothing were also found on the bank. Which clothing? All of it like she was naked, or did she lay down 1 item like a jacket and fall in the creek? Clothing specifics would help here.

3.) They decided to use a drone to scout the river- which was a good call because her body was found 2 miles away down the Norwalk River, which is very close to dumping out into the ocean where she may have never been found.

4.) She was only missing for less than 2 days. from the spot she was last seen and her phone & clothes were found, to 2 miles down river and this river takes some twist and turns with smaller rivers connected to it. She moved fast, but it is possible with the noted "deluge of rain" they had recently so if levels of water are up they are lucky she didn't get to the bay.
............................

But here's where I Start to questions things,

1, what clothes? did she removed one item and her phone to not get wet, and then accidentally fall in the river? Would she remove her clothing and phone to jump into the river to commit suicide? I hope they find DNA on the clothing.

2.) I am suspicious of how far she traveled in the water because of the road way constantly meeting up near the Norwalk River as it twists and turns.
If you start on the map at Schnecks Island where she was seen and clothes were found, then follow the river down to the body location things jumped out at me. Again "Westport" comes into view. In fact the river runs along a road that connects to "Westport Rd" that takes you right into Westport where the phone pinged in Denise's case. If I were a bad guy, I could have taken her from the Island Park in Wilton (10 minutes north of Westport), and then dropped her off in many places along the route closer to the ocean hoping she would make it down the river faster and not be found.
If the bad guy lives in Westport, he could dropped her off multiple times in the river on his way back to Westport- the same Westport where the phone of Denise pinged, before the phone ended up back in New Haven?

 

[mysterytosolve]

I really think it is either a short hall trucker or a long-haul trucker they are all found right off of HWY 95 and then over to Plymouth then up HWY 3 and 93 up to Framingham and down HWY 395. Truckers know all of these roads inside and out

HWY 95 does connect through 4 areas connected to the 3 women who have been identified.
~
Denise Leary of New Haven, (95 runs right through New Haven), also her phone pinged 30 minutes down 95 in Westport (95 connects there too).

Paige Fannon, while her clothes and phone were found up north 15 minutes near Wilton, her body was located down by 95 almost to the ocean outlet closer to Norwalk.. and Westport happens to connect right there near the river bend (I think she may have been dumped further down river if she didn't travel the whole way down as well.)

Michele Romano, may have been a little way off 95 in the area of 88 Plainfield Pike, but this is West of Warwick where she lived, And Warwick has 95 running straight through.

All 3 women who are identified and died mysteriously are either found by or taken from right off 95 it seems.

Something I noticed this morning, Searching missing person reports lately, I find the the leading states for the last couple months for missing people have been in CT & FL . Most of the missing in Connecticut look to be teen age run a ways, but I hope they don't meet the same fate as these women.

 

[bugenjoyer]

Paige Fannon

1.) She was last seen at Schenck's Island, 202 Old Ridgefield Rd, Wilton, CT according to last witness. before she went missing

2.) 2 days later her phone and clothing were found near the bank of the Norwalk River, in the same area of Schenck's Island. While they were searching the area. So whatever initiated the incident started here.
~Again phone found in area of last seen like the case I commented on above. but I find it interesting clothing were also found on the bank. Which clothing? All of it like she was naked, or did she lay down 1 item like a jacket and fall in the creek? Clothing specifics would help here.

3.) They decided to use a drone to scout the river- which was a good call because her body was found 2 miles away down the Norwalk River, which is very close to dumping out into the ocean where she may have never been found.

4.) She was only missing for less than 2 days. from the spot she was last seen and her phone & clothes were found, to 2 miles down river and this river takes some twist and turns with smaller rivers connected to it. She moved fast, but it is possible with the noted "deluge of rain" they had recently so if levels of water are up they are lucky she didn't get to the bay.
............................

But here's where I Start to questions things,

1, what clothes? did she removed one item and her phone to not get wet, and then accidentally fall in the river? Would she remove her clothing and phone to jump into the river to commit suicide? I hope they find DNA on the clothing.

IMO this sounds like suicide to me. i don't know why, but removing clothes and phone and leaving them by the river seems like the kind of solemn thing someone might do before taking their own life.

plus, if this was foul play, i would think the perpetrator would either throw the clothes and phone into the river as well, or take them, either to keep or dispose of elsewhere. imo

 

[sunshineray]

I live in CT and this is what I've been able to piece together about the recoveries in my neck of the woods. Idk, some of these may just be stand alones...or not. Very curious all these bodies are being found so close together in time. There was really no significant snowfall this year for a Spring melt to uncover missing bodies all at once, IMO I don't know why some of my typing bolded (and won't unbold), no significance intended, it's a mystery

Denise Leary
In brush in back yard on Rock Creek Road. That's about 3 1/2 miles away from downtown New Haven and many of the backyards on it directly abut West Rock Ridge State Park. Denise had some known mental health issues and her disappearance in Sept 2024 was full of odd details ( 2nd link below)...her phone tracked first in Westport then 30 mins later in New Haven. Then a family friend reported seeing her in Hamden, at what point idk.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/new-haven-body-denise-leary-missing-20239995.php

Redirect Notice

Paige Fannon
Her body was found in Norwalk River by Main Avenue and Grist Mill Road in Norwalk but she was reported missing in Wilton and her clothes found there. Heavy rainfall could have carried her down to Norwalk from more rural and forested areas the river flows through up there. The victim went missing from West Islip, LI in New York.

https://www.thehour.com/news/article/norwalk-river-body-paige-fannon-west-islip-20208348.php

Killingly (Danielson), CT remains
A man's skeletal remains found down the dead end of Woodward St by Davis Brook which flows right there, into a very wooded area.

Human remains found just over Rhode Island line in Killingly | ABC6

Friday morning Connecticut State Police confirmed human remains were discovered in Killingly right over the Rhode Island state line.

www.abc6.com

Michele Romano
Her body was found near 88 Plainfield Pike in Foster, RI (about 10 minutes away from the Killingly, CT remains). Where the Plainfield Pike runs through that area is an extremely rural and very wooded. There is a brook (no name) nearby that 88 address.
The victim was from Warwick, RI.

RISP: Remains Found In Foster ID'd As Missing Warwick Woman - WarwickPost.com

WARWICK, RI — RI State Police identified remains found in Foster Wednesday as Michele Romano, 56, a missing Warwick woman last seen July 22, near Oa

warwickpost.com

Groton, CT remains (a woman)
Found near the corner of Mitchell Street and Ledyard Avenue in Groton, CT. by the entrance to the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery by a bus stop there (I looked at Google street view and see not even a bus stop sign there). Her remains were left there in mid-February, police say, but it is possible she was missing prior to that. The victim may have had Turners Syndrome. This location is not very secluded at all so how she wasn't seen right away is a mystery. There does look to be a wooded area off to the left side of the cemetery's entance.

Redirect Notice

 

[mysterytosolve]

I live in CT and this is what I've been able to piece together about the recoveries in my neck of the woods. Idk, some of these may just be stand alones...or not. Very curious all these bodies are being found so close together in time. There was really no significant snowfall this year for a Spring melt to uncover missing bodies all at once, IMO I don't know why some of my typing bolded (and won't unbold), no significance intended, it's a mystery

Denise Leary
In brush in back yard on Rock Creek Road. That's about 3 1/2 miles away from downtown New Haven and many of the backyards on it directly abut West Rock Ridge State Park. Denise had some known mental health issues and her disappearance in Sept 2024 was full of odd details ( 2nd link below)...her phone tracked first in Westport then 30 mins later in New Haven. Then a family friend reported seeing her in Hamden, at what point idk.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/new-haven-body-denise-leary-missing-20239995.php

Redirect Notice

Paige Fannon
Her body was found in Norwalk River by Main Avenue and Grist Mill Road in Norwalk but she was reported missing in Wilton and her clothes found there. Heavy rainfall could have carried her down to Norwalk from more rural and forested areas the river flows through up there. The victim went missing from West Islip, LI in New York.

https://www.thehour.com/news/article/norwalk-river-body-paige-fannon-west-islip-20208348.php

Killingly (Danielson), CT remains
A man's skeletal remains found down the dead end of Woodward St by Davis Brook which flows right there, into a very wooded area.

Human remains found just over Rhode Island line in Killingly | ABC6

Friday morning Connecticut State Police confirmed human remains were discovered in Killingly right over the Rhode Island state line.

www.abc6.com

Michele Romano
Her body was found near 88 Plainfield Pike in Foster, RI (about 10 minutes away from the Killingly, CT remains). Where the Plainfield Pike runs through that area is an extremely rural and very wooded. There is a brook (no name) nearby that 88 address.
The victim was from Warwick, RI.

RISP: Remains Found In Foster ID'd As Missing Warwick Woman - WarwickPost.com

WARWICK, RI — RI State Police identified remains found in Foster Wednesday as Michele Romano, 56, a missing Warwick woman last seen July 22, near Oa

warwickpost.com

Groton, CT remains (a woman)
Found near the corner of Mitchell Street and Ledyard Avenue in Groton, CT. by the entrance to the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery by a bus stop there (I looked at Google street view and see not even a bus stop sign there). Her remains were left there in mid-February, police say, but it is possible she was missing prior to that. The victim may have had Turners Syndrome. This location is not very secluded at all so how she wasn't seen right away is a mystery. There does look to be a wooded area off to the left side of the cemetery's entance.

Redirect Notice

The body in Killingsly has been reported as a woman, I see you have man there.

 

[mysterytosolve]

Of the 3 women found recently and identified, all 3 were found close to where they disappeared. (regardless of how they died)
This leads me to believe that the other 5 if connected, also disappeared from close to the areas the bodies were found. Several of these are expected to be foul play so there is still a chance that maybe half of them are connected, while the others might just be coincidental. These women and unidentified bodies are that of middle aged and not very young like runaways so that is interesting.

 

[Gummyshoe]

by the entrance to the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery by a bus stop there (I looked at Google street view and see not even a bus stop sign there). Her remains were left there in mid-February, police say, but it is possible she was missing prior to that. The victim may have had Turners Syndrome. This location is not very secluded at all so how she wasn't seen right away is a mystery. There does look to be a wooded area off to the left side of the cemetery's entance.

The body was first seen as just a suitcase since mid-February, no one thought it was suspicious because it was left next to a garbage can. The bus stop is unmarked.

More info here:

On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, the Groton Police Department responded to a 911 call for a suspicious suitcase. This was located adjacent to the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery on Mitchell Street. Upon a search of the area, officers located human remains inside of the suitcase. It was left next to a trash can at an unmarked Southeast Area Transit (SEAT) route 11 bus stop. Residents claim that it had been there for weeks before the call was made, since about mid-February.

Here is what is currently known about the victim.

• The remains belong to a woman between the ages of 40 and 60
• She had light pigmented skin
• Police believe she may have had Turner syndrome