Lost Girls (38 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project never would have been possible without the generous participation of the mothers and sisters of the women whose lives I have tried to present here. My deepest thanks go to Melissa “Missy” Cann, Lynn Barthelemy, Amanda Funderberg, Mari Gilbert, Sherre Gilbert, Lorraine Waterman, Muriel Benner, and Kim Overstreet. Many others contributed invaluable insights; with apologies for not mentioning everyone, I’m particularly indebted to Sara Karnes, Jason DuBrule, Jeff Martina, Kritzia Lugo, Elmer Barthelemy, Anthony Sims, Liz Meserve, Alfred Overstreet, Melissa Brock Wright, and Dave Schaller. This book is a tribute to their candor and sensitivity and to the love they feel for those who were lost.

A great many others offered expertise and opened doors. On Long Island, thanks to Steve Barcelo, Brendan Murphy, Jim Jones, Michele Kutner, Joe Scalise, Jr., Mary Cascone of the Town of Babylon’s Office of Historic Services, Babylon Chief of Staff Ronald Kluesener, Babylon Waterways Management Supervisor Brian Zitani, and State Parks ecologist Julie Lundgren of the New York Natural Heritage Program. Beyond Long Island, thanks to Neale Duffett and Jim Cloutier in Portland, Maine; Doug Weed in Scarborough, Maine; Aaron Bartley in Buffalo, New York; John Jeremiah Sullivan and Ben Steelman in Wilmington, North Carolina; and Charlie Hannon in Jersey City, New Jersey. The forensic pathologist Michael Baden provided great insight into his field, as did Sienna Baskin of the Urban Justice Center’s Sex Workers Project and several employees at Safe Horizon, a social services organization in New York. Thanks also to John Connolly, Robert D. Ryan, and Susie Sampierre.

For historical material, I relied heavily on two essays from the dearly departed journal
Long Island Forum:
“The Old Time Ma’shin’ Season” by Julian Denton Smith (1957) and “By-gone Days At Oak Beach” by Ulla S. Kimball (1968). The personal remembrances of Ed Meade, Sr., written in 1983, were also invaluable. My account of the search for bodies owes a debt to the work of a number of reporters: Andrew Strickler and Michael Amon broke news constantly in
Newsday
; Manny Fernandez and Tim Stelloh of
The
New York
Times
wrote the definitive piece on Officer John Mallia and his dog, Blue; Jaclyn Gallucci of the
Long Island Press
reported comprehensively on the case; and Christine Pelisek and Roja Heydarpour of the
Daily Beast
published the first major report on the relatives of the victims forming a “sisterhood.”

I would like to thank my talented and caring editors at HarperCollins, David Hirshey and Barry Harbaugh, for believing in the book and improving it tremendously; Bill Ruoto for designing a beautiful finished book; Beth Thomas and Lydia Weaver for a skillful copyedit; and my agents, David Gernert and Chris Parris-Lamb, for their faith, encouragement, and expertise. Jon Gluck has been my great friend and editor at
New York
magazine for ten years. The article from which this book evolved, “A Serial Killer in Common,” is just one example of Jon’s editing skill, story sense, and boundless enthusiasm. I’ve treasured our partnership. Editor in chief Adam Moss and managing editor Ann Clarke were very gracious and supportive while I took time to complete this book. Several skilled reporters from the magazine and elsewhere assisted me with transcription and research: Bianca Male, Taylor Berman, Thayer McClanahan, and Rachel Arons.

Through countless discussions over a great many salads, Jennifer Senior helped me figure out what to say and when and how to say it. She and Mark Levine, Emily Nussbaum, and Clive Thompson never failed to offer moral support. Amy Gross and Kenneth Mueller helped me through some of the worst of it. Thanks also to Chris Bonanos, Juliet Lapidos, and Cristine Cronin. Other good friends contributed not just encouragement but much-needed child care: Josh Goldfein and Yvonne Brown, Michael Kelleher and Shari Zisman, and Doug McMullen and Corinna Snyder. My family, the Kolkers and Hallocks of Maryland and Illinois and the Danises of Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Georgia, have always been so very supportive, and I can never thank them enough.

A few months before
Lost Girls
was completed, our family experienced the loss of Henry L. Danis, Jr. We’ll always cherish his memory. This book is for him, and for Audrey and Nate, and for my wife, Kirsten. I am so glad to have this chance in print to thank her not just for encouraging me, but for her beauty, understanding, and love. She means the world to me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ROBERT KOLKER is a
New York
magazine contributing editor and a finalist for the National Magazine Award. He writes frequently about issues surrounding criminal justice and the unforeseen impacts of extraordinary events on everyday people. He lives with his family in Brooklyn. This is his first book.

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CREDITS

Cover Design by Amanda Kain

Front Cover Photographs by Andrew Gombert/Epa/Corbis

COPYRIGHT

LOST GIRLS
. Copyright © 2013 by Robert Kolker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Maps designed by Springer Cartographics, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN: 978-0-06-218363-7 (Hardcover)

EPUB Edition JUNE 2013 ISBN 9780062183675

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