Cops to release additional belt pictures in Gilgo Beach killings probe

The Suffolk County Police Department announced Friday it is planning to release more photos of a belt that was found a decade ago and is believed to have been handled by a potential suspect in the Gilgo Beach killings.

It's the second time this year that authorities have sought to publicly release evidence in the case, in hopes of solving the mystery of who killed 10 women and dumped their bodies along Ocean Parkway 10 years ago this month.

Police in January first released an image of the black belt, the first time the department revealed it had the evidence.

The image was a close-up shot of the letters "WH" or "HM," which were embossed on the belt, police said.

Suffolk police, in a news release Friday, said it would provide "additional photos" of the belt "in the near future" on Gilgonews.com, the website the department launched in January as a platform for updates in the case, and to get potential tips from the public.

In January, Suffolk Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart called the belt "a significant piece of evidence" and said she was optimistic the release of a photo of the belt could help identify a suspect.

The release of the belt photo marked the first time in several years that police had spoken publicly about the investigation into what authorities have described as one or more serial killers disposing of bodies within a 3 1/2 mile radius of Gilgo Beach.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com,michael.okeeffe@newsday.com@NicoleFuller,

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.