BY KENNY HERZOG
The New Island Ear

2002

Two bodies. Found two miles away from each other two years ago. No one knows who they were or where they came from.

On November 19th, 2000, hunters came across the decapitated body of a female that had been placed in garbage bags and left in a wooded area near Halsey-Manor Road in Manorville. Four days later and only a couple of miles away, a young male corpse was also discovered by hunters, approximately one-and-a-half miles east of the Shirley exit (68) on the Long Island Expressway. The man’s body, described as white or Hispanic, five-and-a-half to six feet tall, 130-150 pounds, with a surgical staple imbedded in his chin, was disrobed of all clothing save a pair of Gap boxer shorts. He was later revealed to have been a victim of strangulation. Both bodies were likely there for some time, particularly the female, who police believe was murdered as early as that September. Just over two years later, the victims still remain unidentified, and thus, the case has not even come close to being solved.

“Unfortunately, the investigation sort of starts and stops with the discovery of the bodies and the subsequent analysis—if there’s no way of identifying who that individual is,” says Detective/Lieutenant Jack Fitzpatrick, commanding officer for the homicide squad of the Suffolk County Police Department. “Some identification of who these people are will certainly give us an opportunity to backtrack and figure out what happened and why. Without identification, there’s not a lot to go on.”

While murder is not a common occurrence in the primarily tranquil territory surrounding Shirley and Manorville, the heavily wooded area near the highway could have made the ideal dumping grounds for someone who committed the crime outside of the region. “If you looked at this stretch of road, you might say, ‘Nobody will ever go there,’” says Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick and the homicide department are not considering the possibility of a connection between the cases, including the chance of a serial killer roaming the South Shore.

The question then remains: What is being considered? In cases like this, while one would like to cling to the idea that someone out there is missing a loved one who disappeared without a trace, there are many instances of missing runaways, hitchhikers and even prostitutes who have no discernible ties to any families or friends. So when the search for them is silenced amongst possible family and the community, who is going to act as their voice?

At this point, the Suffolk County Police Department has continued to put out “Crimestopper” alerts and is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for any information that leads to an arrest (800-220-TIPS). Beyond that, they have essentially thrown up their hands (although Fitzpatrick is still withholding the image of a tattoo located on the female victim for verification purposes if they ever get a call through Crimestoppers). When asked if they have sought assistance through the Doe Network, a volunteer organization dedicated to unidentified victims’ cases, Fitzpatrick said, “We do that on occasion, but I think there’s less possibility here of success. It’s a time-consuming process. Usually, we just send them to the FBI.”

Todd Matthews, media director for the Doe Network, seemed a bit skeptical of this assertion, stating, “If the police want something left unexplained, then that’s fine. [But] we work with them. We could have it done this afternoon.” As long as the police provide a reconstructed image or picture of the victim, the Network’s Project EDAN (Everyone Deserves a Name) can create free facial reconstructions by professional forensic artists who donate their services to this cause (private investigators, medical examiners, journalists and police officers also donate their time). These images can be found on their website, www.doenetwork.org, which offers a worldwide forum to expand the search for anonymous victims. The Doe Network has had a hand in identifying three previously unidentified victims and has a database of more than 700 potential matches.

Granted, in instances such as the two in question, especially when a decapitation is involved (as with the female), that may be easier said than done. But within the cavalcade of cases that come into any police department, there is bound to be a constant re-prioritizing, with older, yet-unsolved cases probably finding their way to the bottom of the pile quick.

This is fairly alarming, considering that New York has the third-largest number of unidentified remains next to California and Florida. In fact, Matthews admitted that the Doe Network has “really not gotten a good response from New York,” adding that, “they’re telling me these cases are impossible, but they’re not. If they don’t have the resources, we’ll do it out of our pockets.”