A Rhode Island beach town police department searched for clandestine graves following rumors of a New England serial killer spreading like wildfire on social media.
The rumors stem from the discoveries of eight bodies across Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts between March and April, fueling hysteria of a potential New England serial killer on Facebook, TikTok and other social media. So far, however, local and state police have not linked any of the eight deaths, and it is unclear how many of the victims, if any, died by homicide.
“During the past week, the Narragansett Police were made aware of concerning posts circulating online where the author posted anonymously in a Facebook group dedicated to New England Serial Killers,” Narragansett police wrote on Facebook on Thursday. “Only the group administrator could see the actual user name of the individual. The post alluded to the possibility that multiple bodies were buried in Black Point area of Scarborough Beach.”
A private Facebook group previously dubbed “New England Serial Killer,” which has since lost its name due to Facebook policies, has more than 65,300 members. Last week, an anonymous member of the group made an eerie confession that prompted the Narragansett police to investigate.
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Narragansett police say they are searching for clandestine graves near Scarborough Beach “with negative results” following social media rumors about a New England serial killer. (Getty Images)
“It looked like someone was trying to get a rise. I mean, he referenced Rick Rolling the group, he referenced this being prose. One of his poems actually spelled out the word ‘hoax’ if you spelled out the first letter of the paragraphs,” Det. Sgt. Brent Kuzman told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “So, it seemed pretty obvious that this was kind of a nothing thing, but I never want to be the person that didn’t do something.”
“I never want to be the person that didn’t do something.”
His fellow officers agreed, and they expensed some resources for searches on Monday and again on Tuesday with cadaver dogs.
Narragansett PD expensed some resources for searches on Monday and again on Tuesday with cadaver dogs. (John Greim/Loop Images/Universal Images Group)
“It was negative,” Kuzman said of the post.
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The Narragansett PD said in its Facebook post that “detectives, along with two RISP cadaver K9s conducted an extensive search of the area with negative results for any clandestine graves. Narragansett Detectives have also been in communication with the FBI regarding this matter.”
“Obviously, you can look at it as a waste of resources, but we were making sure it was completely not true. So, it’s that double-edged sword. It’s like responding to a fire alarm at a high school,” Kuzman said. “You always gotta do it, and you don’t want to make it a reaction where it’s a benefit to the person doing it, but you also want to do your due diligence and make sure there is nothing to worry about.”
“As we know…a nosy neighbor has solved multiple crimes,” Kuzman said.
Over the last two months, eight bodies or sets of human remains have been located in New Haven, Norwalk, Groton and Killingly, Connecticut; Foster, Rhode Island; and Framingham, Plymouth, and now Springfield, Massachusetts. Some social media sleuths say these discoveries of human remains — particularly, female remains — across the three neighboring states may indicate a serial killer, but police have made no indication of that being the case.
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Narragansett police say “detectives have also been in communication with the FBI regarding this matter.” ( John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe)
The Facebook group has garnered more than 15,000 new members over a few weeks.
Kuzman noted that within the Facebook group, “there must be some sort of confirmation bias, because you’re in the group for that reason,” and members may be making connections between cases that are not relevant.
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Searches for “New England serial killer” on Google spiked around April 7, according to data from the search engine.
