Gilgo and Oak Beach: A Community's Reaction

The recent discovery of multiple human remains in Gilgo Beach and Oak Beach in Suffolk County and in Jones Beach State Park in Nassau County, N.Y. has brought national attention to the south shore of Long Island. With this discovery has come the shattering of local communities, leaving beaches quieter than usual at the beginning of the summer season.

Ten bodies have been found so far on the south shore, with the first four being discovered in December 2010. The last six human remains were found during March and April of 2011, and the search continues for more. The killer is still unknown, causing fear and uncertainty of safety for those who visit and live on the beaches.

“When they got the first four I thought it was the end of it,” said Joe Polizotto, a resident of Lindenhurst, N.Y. “But it seemed like they just kept turning up.” Polizotto wasn’t surprised of their discovery though. “It’s the perfect place to dump. You got a lot of land that people don’t walk to for a long time, deep scrubs, people don’t go traipsing through that, we have the parking lots which is a lot of unused open ground. Kinda not surprised that something’s going on.”

The local police, who weren’t allowed to comment, have been combing the brush alongside Ocean Parkway since the December 2010 discovery with the Suffolk and Nassau County Police Departments.

The killer hasn’t been found, but Louis Monahan of East Islip speculated that the culprit wasn’t far. “Most of the locals believe that it’s somebody local,” Monahan said. “They think its somebody from the neighborhood. How true that is, I have no idea.”

“It was a little bit of a dark cloud,” said Polizotto, “Everybody’s getting a little bit down about it. This is like a pristine area.”

Although the finding of human remains has scared off some beachgoers, other locals won’t stop visiting the beach. Ira Levine of Lindenhurst, N.Y. still visits Overlook beach with his family, even though it is located less than a mile to where bodies were discovered. “I can’t say it’s had a huge effect,” said Ira Levine of Lindenhurst, N.Y. “I mean it’s definitely something to be worried, concerned and feel bad about what’s going on around here. But overall we’ve been coming to this beach for twenty-something years and we would never stop.”

The search for additional remains is ongoing, with a search of the Robert Moses Causeway planned for Tuesday, May 3. A search on Monday did not reveal any new remains.