Residents play down talk of a 'Bundy in their backyard'

Despite the grisly find of eight decaying bodies in dense scrubland, residents of a remote coastal community refuse to believe a killer walks among them.

Along a seven-mile stretch of Long Island beaches, locals continue to go about their business while police scour undergrowth for more remains.

Investigators came across the bodies of four missing prostitutes in December, with a further four corpses discovered over the past two weeks. Armed with cadaver dogs, officers are expanding the search.

Authorities have identified the four victims found in December as Amber Lynn Costello, 27, originally of Wilmington, North Carolina; Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 28, of Norwich, Connecticut; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Buffalo, New York.

Detectives are also looking at the possibility that the killer struck elsewhere, with four prostitute murders in the New Jersey gambling resort of Atlantic City being reinvestigated for links. But for now the focus remains on Gilgo and Oak beaches, an isolated stretch that is home to just a few hundred people.

Attached to the mainland by two bridges it stands remote, but is a popular destination for New Yorkers escaping the city heat during the summer months.

To residents of the island, the presence of police search teams is unnerving. Most appear keen to distance the well-off community from the crimes, refusing to believe that the killer is local.

Pat Walsh, 68, has lived in the area for 43 years: "It is a desolate place. That person could have come from anywhere. We feel pretty secure here. We are a close-knit community. We are all friends. People are just friendly and we all talk to one another. We just can't figure it out - we don't think he has anything to do with this place."

Speaking from the porch of her beachfront home, fellow long-term resident Peggy agreed. Pointing towards an area of roadside scrubland being investigated by police, the 62-year-old said: "I think it is just a dump site down there. It has anything to do with this community.

But back on the mainland, people aren't so sure. The town of Babylon sits just across the causeway to Oak Beach. At its local bar, the Twisted Shamrock, staff and patrons alike said the killer must have known the area.

"He is picking up prostitutes, taking them over there and they are not making it back across the bridge, barmaid Mary-Anne Rosati said. She likened the killer to Ted Bundy, the American serial killer who used his good looks and charm to lure at least 30 women to their deaths.

Ms Rosati said: "It is happening in our own backyard. For all we know it could be someone we know. We have a Bundy in our backyard.A lot of people will know him, live near him."

Looking up from his beer, regular patron Wayne agreed: "He lived there all right. The cops sit on the bridge looking for drunk drivers most night. He wouldn't have driven across to dump the bodies with them sitting there."