The "Lost Girls" Reader

In the wake of the arrest in the Gilgo Beach murders, here is a selection of online pieces by me about the victims, the investigation, and the issues surrounding the case.

(As always, Lost Girls the book is available for purchase here.)

2011

 A Serial Killer in Common
New York Magazine, June 6, 2011
Five prostitutes disappear. Bodies turn up on a beach. Now the families of the victims have formed a kind of sisterhood. They ask: Who murdered my daughter? Who was my sister—really?

2013

The New Prostitutes
New York Times Op-Ed, June 29, 2013
“In the two years I’ve spent learning about the lives of all five women, I have found that they all defied expectations….”

First Lost, Then Murdered
Slate book excerpt, July 09, 2013
Melissa moved to New York to cut hair. Then she became an escort. Then she was gone.

2020

Two Lost Daughters 
New York Magazine online, March 13, 2020
Mari Gilbert’s life, transformed by the death of one daughter, was ended by another.

The Gilgo Beach Murders Were a Cold Case. Then a New Police Chief Arrived.
New York Times, Sept. 25, 2020
After a decade of little movement in a series of killings on Long Island, a new sense of urgency.

2023

The Gilgo Beach Victims Were Always More Than Escorts
New York Times, July 15, 2023
The families of the Gilgo Beach victims have been in a peculiar position: Caught in a spotlight that wildly distorted the reality about people they loved. (Published the day after the arrest of Rex Heuermann.)

The Botched Hunt for the Gilgo Beach Killer
The New York Times Magazine, Oct. 19, 2023
For 13 years, police failed to scrutinize the man now accused of the infamous murders. Why did it take so long?