Dead Women Are Turning Up in New England Beach Towns. Police Deny a Pattern, But Locals Fear a Serial Killer

• Since March, bodies of six people have been discovered in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, police say
• Three of the remains were identified and belong to women ages 35, 56 and 59, police say
• News of the disturbing discoveries is fueling speculation about a serial killer – or killers – preying on New England residents

The rumblings started on social media in early April.

Posts about bodies mysteriously turning up in sleepy towns in the coastal New England states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts began hitting For You pages on TikTok and the newsfeed on X.

Since early March, the remains of six people have been found in towns close to one another in the three states, ramping up speculation about a serial killer in the area.

“This has serial killer written all over it,” one commenter on TikTok wrote.

Social media users claim the disturbing discoveries are connected. But police say they haven’t yet found any links between the cases. Police are also cautioning the public not to jump to any conclusions.

“I would tell people, ‘Don’t rush to judgment,’” Groton Police Chief Louis Fusaro told WTNH on April 11.

Given the relative proximity of the towns where the remains were found, people are telling each other to stay aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior.

“I live in Rhode Island,” says another TikTok commenter. “This is definitely happening. Definitely scary. And the places aren’t far from each other.”

On March 19, human remains were found near the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery in the seaside Connecticut town of Groton, NBC Connecticut reports.

The remains belong to a female between the ages of 40 and 60 and were left near the cemetery in mid-February, investigators said, per NBC Connecticut. The woman may have been missing before that, they said.

Her remains were found in a suitcase, police said, WTNH reports.

Residents concerned about the discovery became spooked when they learned that the bodies of two other women had recently been found in two other Connecticut towns – Norwalk and New Haven.

On March 6, the remains of a woman identified as Paige Fannon, 35, of West Islip, N.Y., were found in the Norwalk River near the abandoned Grist Mill Road Bridge in Norwalk, near the Wilton border, police said, The Hour reports.

That same day, March 6, a human skull was found in the woods off Route 3 in Plymouth, on the Massachusetts coast, Boston 25 News reports. Authorities have not yet determined age or gender.

Weeks later, on March 21, the body of a third Connecticut woman, identified as Denise Leary, 59, was found in New Haven, about 40 minutes away from Norwalk, according to New Haven Police, NBC Connecticut reports.

Leary, a mother of two from New Haven, was reported missing in August. People who were clearing brush behind their house on Rock Creek found her remains, police said.

Five days after that, the body of a woman was found in the woods in Foster, R.I., police said.

Michele Romano, 56, was reported missing from the coastal town of Warwick in August, police said. Her death has been determined to be suspicious in nature, police said. Authorities have not yet said how she died.

Most recently, on Wed., April 9, human remains were found on Woodward St. in Killingly, the Connecticut State Police told PEOPLE in an email. They have not yet been identified.

“This investigation is in the early stages, remains active and ongoing, and there is no information at this time suggesting any connection to similar remains discoveries actively under investigation by CSP or other CT law enforcement agencies,” the email continued.

The statement also said “there is no known threat to the public at this time.”

Officials are still trying to determine the cause and manner of all of their deaths.