The Heckscher State Park Murders

Could Two Women Found Murdered in the Park Been Slain by the Same Killer

By Shawn R. Dagle

In the spring of 1978, a coin collector using his metal detector to comb East Beach on Long Island discovered a human skull at the bottom of a hole in the sand near a deserted pavilion at Heckscher State Park.

The skull still had strands of red, auburn or brown hair attached to it and a brown leather belt was still wrapped around the unidentified woman’s neck.

The shallow grave was less than 200 feet from the water and the woman’s remains were completely skeletonized. Police were never able to identify the victim.

Eight years later at the same park – this time near a bridle path – a horseback rider made a grisly discovery.

The nude, lifeless body of 26-year-old Patricia Costello was discovered approximately 200 feet from the Great South Bay – a piece of her own clothing wrapped around her neck and tied to a nearby tree. To this day Patricia’s killer has never been caught.

Could these two murders have been committed by the same killer?

Investigators were at a great disadvantage when it came to identifying the unknown woman found strangled to death in that hole in Heckscher State Park on April 2 of 1978.

It was later estimated that the woman had been buried in that shallow grave in East Islip, Long Island for at least three and perhaps as many as ten years before she was discovered.

Investigators believed that a dog or other animal had come upon the grave and partially dug it up before it was discovered by the coin collector.

The woman’s remains were completely skeletonized and no tissue was found. The woman had a broken collar bone that had long been healed by the time of her murder and a red purplish substance painted onto three of her fingernails.

There are many contradictory details that have been released or disseminated over the decades.

Some press reports at the time claimed the woman was discovered with a leather belt wrapped around her neck others a weathered old scarf.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. the coin collector noticed the shallow grave. It was a sunny afternoon by the water when he discovered the hole which was approximately 30 inches deep.

At the time East Beach had been closed to the public for a decade. According to Newsday however the area was still used as “lover’s lane.”

Some investigators questioned how long the body had actually been in the grave. Some theorized it could have been there just a few weeks before animals and the elements stripped it of its flesh.

Police believed the killer most likely knew the victim since whoever had committed the murder had taken the time to try and bury her remains. They also believed the victim had been carefully placed in the grave according to the Newsday report at the time lending further credence to the theory that the victim knew her attacker.

The woman was believed to be white, right-handed and anywhere between the ages of 15 and 35 depending on which report you read.

A short distance from the grave police discovered a clog style shoe partially buried in the sand and a ring with the initials “D.E.C.” (though police are uncertain whether the ring is associated with the victim or her killer).

The rest of the woman’s clothing was never discovered.

Police attempted to link their victim to missing persons reports in the New York area but were ultimately unsuccessful. The case went cold.

Then in June of 1986 another murdered woman was found in the same park. This time she was identified. The victim was 26-year-old Patricia Costello of Brentwood.

At around 5 or 6 p.m.  a horseback rider found Patricia’s body near a bridle path 200 feet from the shoreline of the bay.

Patricia was nude except for a piece of clothing that had been wrapped around her neck and looped around the low lying branch of a nearby tree, in what police theorized was an attempt to make her death appear to be a suicide.

Costello had recently returned to Long Island from Colorado (approximately a year before her murder) where she had unsuccessfully attempted to start a house cleaning business.

Patricia’s family believed she was working as a cocktail waitress to save up enough money to start a similar business on Long Island but her friends believed she was working as a topless dancer at various bars in Suffolk County around the time of her death.

Unlike the unidentified woman, Costello’s clothing was found near her body.

Neither Patricia nor the unidentified woman’s murders have been solved.

The discovery of both women in the same park and the articles of clothing wrapped around both women’s necks suggest the possibility they could have been the victims of the same killer.

There are however some differences in their cases. The unidentified victim was buried. Patricia was left for all intent and purposes out in the open. The unidentified woman’s clothing was never discovered. Patricia’s was found nearby.

Both murders have in recent decades have been overshadowed by the crimes of the Long Island Serial Killer and other serial murderers that have stalked the shores, parks and woodlands of Long Island over the decades.  

Hopefully new light can be shed on both these cases and the killer or killers can finally be brought to justice.

-October 24, 2022

Like What You’ve Read? Don’t Forget to Visit Our Website Coldconnecticut.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ColdConnecticut and Join Our ColdConnecticut Group Page on Facebook

Sources

Newsday “A Pile of Bones Tells a Story” Jim O’Neil and Cathy Davidson, May 5, 1978

Newsday “Skeleton Found In Sandy Grave At State Park” April 3, 1978

NAMUS

The Doe Network

The Daily News “Topless Dancer Strangled” June 3, 1986 Jerry Cassidy

The Daily News “Clues Sought in Dancer’s Strangling” June 13, 1986 Jerry Cassidy

Newsday “Body Found in Park Id’d” Adam Z. Zittorvath and Tom Demoretcky June 3, 1986

Newsday “Cops: Dancer’s Body Was Dumped in Park” June 11, 1986

Newsday “Police Try to Rename Jane Doe” Christopher M. Cook April 9, 1978