Families of the four slain prostitutes whose remains were found on a desolate strip of Gilgo Beach in Long Island gathered at the site yesterday for a vigil to remember the victims and to urge authorities to find their killer. "We won't rest until we have justice," the Daily News quotes Lynn Barthelemy, mother of victim Melissa Berthelemy, "we have to catch this guy before another girl loses her life."
City Room describes the "devastated family members, holding posters and wearing T-shirts in honor of the women…collapsed into a group hug," after reading poems and playing commemorative music. The mother of victim Megan Waterman, Lorraine Ela, came from Oregon and organized the event, said "We want people to see exactly who these girls are because that is the only way we are going to get justice," and called all the relatives of the victims "one big family."
Authorities have identified all four victims as Megan Waterman, 22, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainerd, 25. Stepfather to Melissa Barthelemy told the Daily News that "I hope they catch this sick bastard," while Ela dismissed the women's profession and appealed to a basic sense of human dignity: "No matter what these girls did when they were alive, we're honoring them now. We love them all very much." Police have few leads other than that the serial killer is "most likely a white male in his mid-20s to mid-40s," and that he used the prostitutes' Craigslist postings to contact his victims.
