Fresh fears of serial killer on the loose as 13th body is found in small New England town

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

The discovery of a 21-year-old woman's body in the woods outside Boston has reignited fears that a serial killer could be stalking New England after the grim find marked the 13th unexplained death in the region.
Adriana Suazo was found dead around 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 1, in a wooded area of Milton, Massachusetts, about eight miles from the city, according to the Norfolk District Attorney's Office.
There were no visible signs of trauma, and the cause of death is under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Her death is the 13th suspicious fatality across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maine since early March, many of which involve female victims discovered in wooded or remote areas.
While police have repeatedly denied any connection, speculation about a potential serial killer has exploded across social media.
The death of murder suspect Donald Coffel has reignited much of the chatter. Coffel was accused of brutally killing his roommate and living with her corpse for more than a week before dumping her remains.
Coffel, 68, died last month while being held at the Corrigan Correctional Center in Connecticut, according to the state's Department of Correction. His death is not considered suspicious.
Police said he acted alone when he murdered roommate Suzanne Wormser and that there was no threat to the public.
However Wormser's slaying quickly became central to online theories tying together more than a dozen deaths across New England.
Those fears took hold in March when members of a true crime Facebook group noticed multiple bodies or sets of human remains had been discovered across the region in a matter of weeks, some just minutes from one another by car.
On March 6, 35-year-old Paige Fannon was found in the Norwalk River in Connecticut, the same day a human skull was discovered near Route 3 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Two weeks later on March 19, Wormser's remains were located in Groton, Connecticut.
The next day, 59-year-old Denise Leary's body was found near her home in New Haven, Connecticut, months after she was last seen.
On March 26, the remains of 56-year-old Michele Romano were found in a wooded area in Foster, Rhode Island.
As the weeks went on, more bodies surfaced.
On April 9, unidentified remains were found in Killingly, Connecticut.
The following day, another unidentified body was discovered in Framingham, Massachusetts.
On April 20, a body was pulled from the Seekonk River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Two days later, the body 45-year-old Meggan Meredith was found near a bike path in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The bodies of Samuel Stovall, 51, Mary Colasanto, 72, and Jasmine Wilkes, 34, all surfaced across New England in the following weeks.
The discovery of Suazo marks the 13th body found since March.
Her sister, Melanie Pizarro, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral costs and wrote: 'Adriana wasn't just my sister - she was a firecracker, full of life, laughter, and fierce love. She loved hard, laughed loud, and made sure the people around her felt it.'
A vigil was held near the wooded area where Suazo's body was found.
Meanwhile, online theories have continued to spiral.
A Facebook group titled New England Serial Killer exploded to over 68,000 members, and TikTok videos by amateur sleuths have garnered millions of views.
Police have pushed back hard. New Haven authorities said there is 'no sign of foul play' in Leary's death, and Romano's family has publicly denied the serial killer rumors.
'Take my sister Michele's name and pictures off of this effing website right now,' Romano's sister Valerie posted in a Facebook group. 'She was not killed by a serial killer.'
Top serial killer experts say the current evidence doesn't support the theory, but they aren't dismissing concerns entirely.
'Right now, there isn't enough information to say yay or nay,' said Dr. Ann Burgess, a pioneer in FBI serial killer profiling.
'You almost have to go case by case, then take a look at it.'
Dr. Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychology professor who studied BTK killer Dennis Rader and co-wrote his book, added: 'You can't just assume all of them were murdered, and they're all murdered by one person. That's just silly.'
Still, Burgess admitted: 'I think what's impressive is how many bodies they had that nobody can account for — I think that's a little alarming that these bodies are just showing up. So where they had been or how well they had been hidden is always quite interesting.'
To determine whether the deaths are linked, Ramsland said investigators would need information on cause of death, types of wounds, victim profiles, crime scene patterns, and more.
But in many cases, decomposition has made even basic identification difficult.
She also pointed to growing public distrust in law enforcement following the Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation on Long Island, where corruption and incompetence delayed the arrest of suspect Rex Heuermann for more than a decade.
'I think people are highly influenced by the LISK [Long Island serial killer] situation where remains were found all over the place and now they're beginning to be connected to one individual,' Ramsland said.
'Because of the way that investigation was poorly handled… I think people are very suspicious of police handling these investigations.
'I don't blame them because I think that one was so egregious and embarrassing for that area, that I can understand people saying, 'Well, why would we wait on the police?'
While experts caution against jumping to conclusions, they agree on one thing: authorities - and the public - should keep watching.