Jones Island beachgoers unfazed by search

The search for bodies dumped on Jones Island by a suspected serial killer has had little impact on recreational visitors to the area, other than occasional closures of Ocean Parkway.

The main reason for that, officials say, is that all 10 sets of remains found to date were on the north side of the parkway, so the police searches have focused mostly on the bay side. Surf fishing and surfing, meanwhile, are done on the ocean side.

Moreover, the bodies have been found in desolate and overgrown areas, while the surfers and fishermen use areas near access roads and parking lots such as those at Babylon's Gilgo and Cedar beaches.

A Suffolk County police spokeswoman said Ocean Parkway will continue to be closed as necessary and "access will be limited in the case of searching. But the search is focused primarily on the bay side."

Ronald Foley, regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said police have searched within the boundaries of Jones Beach and undeveloped Gilgo State Park. But "with the search activity on the north side of the parkway, it doesn't impact public recreational use and we don't think it will."

Beachgoers at Jones Beach said they didn't think the morbid notoriety would hurt tourism.

"If there were bodies lying on the beach, I wouldn't want to go on it," said Herb Verbeck, 72, of Floral Park.

Jenny Urfer, 24, of Danbury, Conn., took a fatalistic view. "There's a lot of bodies buried here," she said. "There's a lot of bodies everywhere. Crime's everywhere."