Gilgo Beach investigation push for new forensic technologies gains support

In an effort to help the long-running Gilgo Beach investigation, State Sen. Phil Boyle has told Suffolk County police that he will back efforts to help them use emerging forensic technologies in the hunt for the killer or killers of the 10 victims.

Boyle, whose district includes Gilgo Beach, said in a letter to Police Chief Stuart Cameron he would fight for changes in state law to allow the technologies to be used in the cases, particularly with the four sets of remains that are still unidentified.

Boyle (R-Bay Shore) said he was also willing to secure grant money to obtain new scientific devices to help conduct analysis of DNA found with the remains.

Cameron said Friday he hadn’t received the letter but that he welcomed any help from Boyle, who has taken an interest in forensic technology and pushed for the ability of law enforcement to use familial DNA analysis after the murder of Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano in 2016.

“Any technology that can help us solve crimes I am on board with,” said Cameron, adding that he planned to confer with Boyle on the issue soon.

Boyle’s letter was prompted by a recent Newsday story about the Gilgo Beach investigation describing how new forensic advances — stable isotope analysis, DNA phenotyping and genetic genealogy — could help identify the unnamed Gilgo victims and possibly lead to the killer or killers. But still-unresolved issues of state regulation have kept the new technologies from being used, officials said.

Experts have noted that the three methods have been successfully used to identify crime victims and lead to prosecutions in a number of other states and countries, notably Joseph James DeAngelo, California’s suspected Golden State Killer.

The remains of 10 suspected Gilgo murder victims were discovered off Ocean Parkway more than eight years ago. Initial police investigation and DNA analysis led to the identification of six women. But the remains of four, including a toddler and an adult male, are still unidentified.

Forensic experts point to the fact that the technological advances could help with identifications, if only state regulations were changed. State officials say current regulations don’t readily permit local crime labs to use the new technologies but that New York should try to use the methods.

“It is good news for families looking for closure and great news for victims that might be ... if this monster is caught,” attorney Steven M. Cohen of the upstate firm of HoganWillig said about Boyle’s offer to help.

Cohen represents a number of the families of the identified Gilgo victims, including Melissa Barthelemy. Cohen said he believed wider use of the forensic methods in New York could also help exonerate people wrongfully convicted.

State officials have indicated that growing interest in the forensic methods could lead to their use in a matter of months. Cameron agrees with that assessment.

“It is only a matter of time,” he said.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.com

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.