CNN —
A suspect is in custody for the Gilgo Beach murders, an unsolved case tied to at least 10 sets of human remains discovered in suburban Long Island, New York, since 2010, according to two law enforcement sources.
This is the first arrest in the case, which sparked conflicting theories about whether a serial killer was responsible. The killings have baffled authorities since the discovery of the first set of female remains among the bushes along an isolated strip of waterfront property on Gilgo Beach. It’s not clear how many of the killings the suspect is allegedly tied to.
Suffolk County officials, including investigators and prosecutors, and the FBI are set to announce a “a significant development in the investigation by the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force,” at 4 p.m. ET Friday, according to a joint news release.
The case confounded Suffolk County officials for years. In 2020, they found a belt with initials that may have been handled by the suspect and launched a website to collect new tips in the investigation.
Police said some of the victims identified had advertised prostitution services on websites such as Craigslist.
The mystery began in 2010 when police discovered the first set of female remains among the bushes along an isolated strip of waterfront property on Gilgo Beach while searching for Shannan Gilbert, a missing 23-year-old woman from Jersey City, New Jersey.
By the time Gilbert’s body was found one year later on neighboring Oak Beach, investigators had unearthed 10 sets of human remains strewn across two Long Island counties.
The bodies of four women were found in bushes along a quarter-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway in Oak Beach.
Additional remains were uncovered in neighboring Gilgo Beach and in Nassau County, about 40 miles east of New York City. They included a female toddler, an Asian male and a woman initially referred to as “Jane Doe #6,” investigators said.
In 2020, police said “Jane Doe #6” was identified as Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old Philadelphia mother who went missing two decades earlier.
Mack’s partial remains were first discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2000, with additional dismembered remains found in 2011, according to the Suffolk County police.