Police Commish Believes Burke/Gilgo Tie A Disservice: Report

LONG ISLAND, NY — Suffolk's Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison believes speculation that disgraced former chief of department James Burke is linked to the Gilgo murder investigation is a disservice to the 11-year-old serial murder investigation, according to a report by Pix 11 News.

“I can reassure everybody that there’s no coverup in this case,” Harrison told the outlet.

Burke went to federal prison after roughing up a suspect taken into custody who had stolen his duffle bag containing sex toys and porn tapes. His boss, Thomas Spota, former Suffolk District Attorney also went to prison for obstructing justice by trying to cover the case up.

In 2016, an escort claimed that she had come in contact with Burke at sex parties in Oak Beach near where the Gilgo murder vicitms had been found, according to a report in The New York Post.

The 2010 Gilgo Beach investigation began with the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a Craigslist escort who was reported missing after going to a client's house in Oak Beach on May 1, 2010. During a canine search of the area on Dec. 11, a set of skeletal remains was discovered in an area near Gilgo Beach off of Ocean Parkway, but those remains were not those of Gilbert's and were later identified as belonging to Melissa Barthelemy.

Two days after that, the remains of three other Craigslist escorts — Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello — were located close to Barthelemy's remains. All four of the women were reported missing between July 2007 and September 2010. A set of partial skeletal remains belonging to Jessica Taylor, another known escort, whose remains were found on March 29, 2011.

Taylor's partial remains were previously discovered on July 26, 2003, just off of Halsey Manor Road in Manorville.

Days after Taylor's partial remains were found in 2011, three additional sets of remains were discovered on April 4, 2011. They included those of Valerie Mack, whose partial remains were discovered by hunters in a wooded area, like Taylor's just off of Halsey Manor Road in Manorville, but about three years earlier on Nov. 19, 2000. The second set of skeletal remains was discovered near Mack's and were those of an unidentified little girl.

Mack's remains were identified in 2020.

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Just west of Mack's remains and those of the toddler, was the skeletal remains of an unidentified Asian male. Two additional sets of skeletal remains were found about seven miles away from the discovery on April 4, and one set is believed to be the mother of the toddler found a week earlier, while the other set of partial remains was linked through DNA analysis to remains found in Davis Park on Fire Island in 1996.

Harrison went on to say that a ring of people could be possibly connected to the unsolved Gilgo murders.

“I’m feeling confident that we’re getting closer to making an arrest. I will say there’s been a lot of turns in different directions,” he told Pix 11 News.

Harrison also told the outlet that he used to work on New York Police Department gang cases with Suffolk's new District Attorney Ray Tierney, who was once a prosecutor in Brooklyn.

“I think my partnership with Ray Tierney, as well as bringing the [Federal Bureau of Investigation] on board, is going to bring closure to these incidents,” Harrison told the outlet.

Harrison also said he and Tierney are going to be tackling the county's gang problem, by "coming after them with precision policing" and “coming after the right individuals.”

To see his interview with Pix 11 News, click here.

After taking over Suffolk's helm, Harrison said he would consider releasing the 911 tapes related to Gilbert's dissapearance.

Harrison started off his tenure in Suffolk pledging a new look at the cold case, telling reporters about his walkthrough of the site, saying it's something that NYPD investigators have always done to get a better idea of what might need to happen in an investigation, and it's something he believed was "very important" for him to do early on.

"I like to bring a fresh set of eyes from my experiences being an investigator in the NYPD, just to make sure that all of the investigative leads are/were being done appropriately," he said at a news briefing following his tour with investigators.

Harrison said he also had the opportunity to speak to the former police commissioner, outgoing District Attorney Tim Sini, and former commissioner Geraldine Hart "regarding their thoughts on what needs to be done or what was done in the investigation."

He thanked them for being able to "pick their brains" adding, "regarding what needs to be done going forward."

Harrison said he is committed to Suffolk residents and the family members of the victims.

"We will not rest until we bring those accountable to justice," he said. "I stated this when I was nominated as the commissioner for Suffolk County, that solving this surreal case is going to be very, very important."

Suffolk Police have a website called GilgoNews.com featuring updates on the investigation. Tips can be submitted by clicking here.