Four of the murdered victims were using craigslist, backpage and other online classified to advertise their services. There is no indication they shared the same pimp, driver, or for that matter, met the same john.
Geographically however, their cell phone pings and/or the last seen location puts them within 25 miles of Gilgo beach. That is the cell phone pings of Melissa (
link ) & Maureen (
link ) were in the Massapequa area, Amber lived and was last seen in West Babylon (
link ), and Megan was last seen at a Hauppauge hotel (
link). Amber's & Melissa's last known appointments were for USD$1500 (
link ) and USD$1000 (
link ), respectively. Their ads indicate that these amounts were for over-night services.
The killer attempted to check Maureen's voicemail, at the very least, six months after she went missing. (
link ) and he called Melissa's little sister over the period of several months. (
link ) Noteably, that he taunted Melissa's little sister certainly indicates a sadistic mentality. That, in conjunction with the timing of the calls, raises the distinct possibility that he kept the victims alive for some period of time before murdering them. It would, after all, appeal to his sadistic nature.
As for the human trafficking scenarios that I posited and to which you are responding? Human trafficking is indeed offensive. As is the fact that society rarely acknowledges the exploitation and murder of women in the sex trade industry unless a serial killer angle is raised. Regardless and imnsho, the earmarks of human trafficking are all over these murders.
For starters, 3 of the 4 murdered women's boyfriends appear to double as pimps. Amber's sister not only brought her into the sex trade, but brought her to the NY area (
link ) to turn tricks with her, while allegedly running a scam with their housemates. (
link ) Megan's "boyfriend" was pimping her out and transporting her across state lines. Shannan's driver was convicted & served time in a Texas jail in 2004 for attempting to traffick an Asian woman into the country. (
link ) Moreover, the retired NYPD homicide detective has stated that the Holiday Inn in the Hauppauge area is known to be frequented by sex rings. (
link )... you know... the last place Megan was seen alive (
link ) and where Amber was alleged to have previously met clients (
link )? Add to this that you're looking at 4 victims, possibly 5, from 5 different states (
i.e., Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, & New York), and well?
Whatever the case, human trafficking, while horribly offensive, is unfortunately as common if not moreso to the sex trade industry as is serial killers murdering prostitutes. What role and to what degree said trafficking plays remains to be seen.
