Victims' families to hold memorial in June

Relatives and friends of women whose remains have been found along a South Shore beach will hold a memorial in June, the mother of one of the victims said Thursday.

When asked how many total will attend, Lynn Barthelemy said, "It all depends on the body count."

The loved ones will gather June 11 near Gilgo Beach, where police searching for a missing Jersey City woman have discovered the remains of eight people. Four of them have been identified: Amber Lynn Costello, 27, of North Babylon; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, of Norwich, Conn.; Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of the Bronx; and Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine. All worked as prostitutes.

Lynn Barthelemy, Melissa Barthelemy's mother, said family members of three of the victims have said they will attend. She said about a dozen of her family members are planning to go.

Barthelemy, 42, who lives in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, said relatives will read poems during the memorial. "We're just going to kind of wing it, I guess," she said.

Relatives of the victims are also having T-shirts made with images of the four women on them, Barthelemy said.

She said her family will also celebrate Melissa's birthday this month. She would have turned 26 on April 14.