In the last two months, eight bodies have been found in New Haven, Norwalk, Groton, and Killingly, Connecticut; Foster, Rhode Island; and Framingham, Plymouth, and Springfield, Massachusetts. Amateur detectives on social media claim that these discoveries of human remains, particularly of women, could indicate the presence of a serial killer. Police, however, have made no indication of that being the case. Police are saying that the people making these claims on social media are making connections between cases that are not related. Still, rumors of a serial killer are spreading like wildfire. So far, state and local police have not linked any of the deaths. They also say that it’s unclear how many of the victims, if any, died by homicide. Narragansett police were recently made aware of a Facebook group called “New England Serial Killer.” Living up to its reputation, social media has been responsible for wild rumor and speculation regarding the cases. Tip lines for the police have been flooded in much the same way, which makes the investigations that much more difficult. Each tip has to be investigated, no matter how ludicrous they may seem. This in turn wastes police resources, and prevents them from spending more time chasing down actual leads. This one Facebook group alone has over 65,000 members all trying to be super-sleuths.
Due to Facebook policies, the group has since lost its name. One particular post in the group claimed that there were literally dozens of bodies buried in the Black Point area of Scarborough Beach. The Narragansett police have posted online that only the administrator of the group knows the actual name of the individual who made the posts. This eerie confession about clandestine graves caused the police to investigate. The person in question called their posts “prose” and at one point even said that they were “Rickrolling” the page. One detective made a statement saying that in one of the poems posted on the page, if you took the first letter of the first word in each paragraph, it spelled out the word HOAX. The same detective stated that they were pretty sure that it was nonsense, but all leads had to be followed. He claimed it was similar to a stupid kid in school pulling a fire alarm. You know it’s probably nothing, but the fire department still has to come down and make sure everything is safe. So, to be on the safe side, detectives, along with two State Police cadaver K9s conducted an extensive search of the area and came away with nothing. Detectives have been working in conjunction with the FBI in the hopes that state and local police in all three states combined with federal law enforcement can make some sense out of these cases. Still, groups on Facebook, TikTok, and others continue to run with wild conjecture. If there is a serial killer at work in the area, they would be sure to check out these social media pages to fan the flames of their own ego. Plus, if someone did come within a hair’s breadth of the truth by accident, it would give said killer the heads up that he should change his M.O. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; we have the collected knowledge of mankind’s history in our pockets, and we use these devices to act like idiots.
As bad as these social media users are, another significant problem is that many people simply do not trust the police anymore. From corruption to abuse of power, the public by and large are fed up. When the police say that they don’t see any connection between the deaths, there is a large percentage of the public that assume they are lying. And you can’t really blame them. If the police started to believe there was a serial killer, they wouldn’t relate that information to the public until they were absolutely sure, so as not to cause a panic, or even worse, have some half-drunk vigilantes roaming around the state trying to find the killer themselves. I am no fan of the police, but I completely understand the dilemma they are facing right now. In the meantime, we should take anything we read on social media with a grain of salt and use our common sense. In closing, there are certain things that people, particularly women, can do to stay safe. If you have to be out at night, stay in well-lit areas and travel in groups or at least pairs. If you’re getting into your car alone at night, have your keys out and ready and check your backseat before getting in the car. If you have to be out alone at night, carry pepper spray or some other small (legal) weapon for protection. And if the unthinkable happens, and you are assaulted, do what you can to stun or distract the assailant and get away as quickly as you can, making as much noise as possible. Don’t try to fight them and be a hero. That last part goes especially for the men reading this. The finding of these human remains in these three states is a tragedy. It’s a tragedy that this article even needs to be written. And the biggest tragedy of all is that this is what the world has come to, and we’ve allowed it to happen. Neighbors used to look out for each other. There used to be a sense of community. Now out of fear, people keep to themselves for the most part and everyone is fending for themselves. And this is exactly what these predators are counting on. •