New England authorities are not “ruling out anything” after 11 bodies were found in the region since the beginning of March, a former homicide detective said.
Since March 1, a total of 11 bodies have been found in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, fueling fears online that there could be a serial killer in the area.
So far, law enforcement officials in New England have denied the presence of a serial killer.
Detectives found the body of Paige Fannon, 35, in the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Connecticut, in early March.
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Norwalk police also identified the remains of 35-year-old Paige Fannon of West Islip, New York, on March 6. Her remains were found in the swiftly moving Norwalk River after heavy rainfall the night before. (iStock)
The body of Meggan Meridith, 45, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was found last Tuesday and identified earlier this week.
On March 6, a human skull was discovered in a wooded area off of Route 3 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Authorities have not released any further details.
When speaking to reporters, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni downplayed concerns that there might be a serial killer.
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“While online conversations around these incidents continue to grow, we urge the public to be mindful of the role that social media can play in spreading fear or misinformation,” Gulluni said. “Unverified claims can compromise active investigations and contribute to a sense of chaos that does not reflect the full picture.”
Former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News Digital he believes detectives in New England are not ruling anything out.
“The investigators who are conducting these investigations are not ruling out anything whatsoever at this stage of the investigation,” Williams said. “They are primarily at the preliminary stages of gathering evidence at each one of these death scenes to try to establish a nexus between those scenes and a single individual or individuals.”
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A map showing the locations of where bodies in the New England area have been found. (Fox News)
“I don’t think at this stage they’re waving off a serial killer,” Williams said.
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Williams added that he believes authorities are trying to “connect the dots, if the dots connect” between the locations where the individuals were found.
“Some of these deaths may very well be of not a crime situation. They’re trying to make a connection. And the information that they’re providing the public is information that they believe the public more or less may need,” Williams said.
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Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. (Getty Images)
Fox News contributor and forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden told Fox News Digital, however, that he does not see a pattern between the deaths or where the body was found.
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“There really is no quite distinct, clear pattern of all of this,” Baden said.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
