True Crime Society - Is there a serial killer in New England?

The remains of multiple people have been found in New England in the span of around a month and there is now speculation that a serial killer may be operating in the area.

The remains have been found in four towns in Connecticut, one town in Massachusetts and one location in Rhode Island. There have been more remains found in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the last couple of days alone.

We are going to run through what we know so far about the victims.

The body of Paige Fannon (35) was found on March 6, 2025 in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Paige was from West Islip, NY. She was last seen in Wilton in the area of Schenck’s Island on Wednesday, March 5, at around noon.

She was reported as a missing person in New York on March 4. This is a bit confusing as it seems like she was reported missing the day before she was last seen – but maybe there was a sighting after she was reported missing?

Paige’s body was found by Norwalk police’s scuba team on March 6. Her clothing and personal items were found on the bank of the Norwalk River at the time.

On the same day that Paige’s remains were discovered, human remains were found in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This is around 178 miles east from where Paige was found.

The remains were found by a hunter in a wooded area. The hunter first thought that the remains belonged to an animal. It was soon discovered that the bone was the top half of a human skull, with its jaw and nasal area missing.

According to NAMUS, these remains belong to a male.

On March 19, 2025 in Groton, Connecticut, the body of a female was found inside a suitcase. The suitcase had been dumped near a cemetery.

The remains are said to belong to a female, aged 40-60 years old. As of the time of recording, the victim has not been identified. The victim is said to have had light-pigmented skin and that she may have possibly had Turner Syndrome. Symptoms of Turner Syndrome include a short stature, broad chest, short wide neck, and small chin.

This info about the remains is from NAMUS:

On March 19, 2025, the unidentified remains of a woman were discovered near a trash can at the entrance of Colonel Ledyard Cemetery in Groton, Connecticut. While law enforcement has not officially released details regarding the condition of the body, local reports suggest the victim was found inside a suitcase, with both her head and hands missing. Authorities believe the body was placed at the location sometime between February 13 and February 18, and that the woman was likely killed shortly before.

The location where the remains were found is in a visible area, near the road, at the entrance of the cemetery. Multiple individuals have since come forward stating they noticed a suitcase at the site in the weeks prior to the discovery.

– White / Caucasian female

– Adult pre-60s

– Height / Weight: Cannot estimate

– Hair color: Unavailable

– Eye color: Unavailable

– Condition of remains: Not recognizable – decomposing / putrefaction

– Clothing found on the body: Blue shirt / Tag reads: Belma New York – One Size

– Clothing found on the body: Pink underwear (Hanes Size 7 / Large)

At the time, police told the media that there is no reason to believe these remains may be connected to the other cases.

“…there is no information at this time suggesting any connection to similar discoveries in RI & the CT shoreline area, and there is also no known threat to the public at this time.”

“I would tell people don’t rush to judgement,” Groton Police Chief Louis Fusaro said.

There has since been an arrest in the suitcase murder case. Donald Coffel, of Groton, is facing charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence, and improper disposal of a body, according to NBC CT.

He is accused in the death of Suzanne Wormser, 58.

Police determined that the incident was not connected to any other missing person cases, and that Wormser and Coffel knew each, NBC CT reported.

On March 20, 2025, the body of Denise Leary (59) was found in New Haven, Connecticut.

Denise went missing in September 2024 from her home in New Haven. Authorities said at the time that she may have been struggling with her mental health. Her bedroom door was locked from the inside and the bedroom window was open, indicating that she perhaps left through the window.

Denise grew up in Connecticut with four siblings. Her brother Michael spoke to Dateline when she went missing.

“We were very close,” he told Dateline. “I always had a responsibility to make sure my sisters were OK.”

Denise eventually moved to Atlanta there and settled there with her two children, Joshua and Morgan.

Joshua described his mother as his best friend. “I tell her everything, whether I’m having a relationship or anything that I’m going through,” he said. “I know she’s there to guide and help me.”

Denise moved back to Connecticut in 2022 after her mother had a stroke. She wanted to help care for her aging parents.

Michael said that he spoke to Denise a few days before she disappeared.

They were discussing a variety of things, from their mother, to his own health struggles. “I [had] no idea that she had so much going on in her mind,” he said.

Joshua said that the weeks prior to his mother’s disappearance were a particularly difficult time for her. “She suffered with mental health and anxiety and really bad depression,” he said.

A few nights prior to Denise’s disappearance, Joshua found her behavior concerning. “Around 10:30 p.m., she said she was going out,” he recalled. “She was like, ‘Turn my location off on my phone.’” He says he reluctantly did as his mother requested. “So I tried to look out the window to see who was picking her up,” he recalled.

Joshua said that Denise left the home. He was unable to see who picked her up, but she did return home safe later that night.

On the morning of September 30, 2024, Joshua knocked on his mother’s bedroom door. There was no reply. He became concerned when his grandmother’s nurse came to the house and Denise still did not emerge.

“The door was locked from the inside, so nobody could get in,” he said. “So I called my auntie and my auntie was like, ‘Call the paramedics to knock down the door.’”

Joshua says he did as he was told, and when the paramedics arrived, they knocked down the door. “They was like, ’Nobody’s in here,’” he recalled. But the bedroom window was open. “That’s when they said it looked like somebody jumped out the window.”

Paramedics said that they thought Denise used a cable cord to hoist herself out of the window. Footprints were found near the house.

Joshua started tracking Denise’s phone. It first pinged in Westport, Ct. Thirty minutes later, it tracked to a park in New Haven. Her phone was found on the second day of the search.

“Her phone was behind a neighbor’s house in my grandma’s neighborhood.” Joshua said.

NHPD told Dateline they conducted “multiple searches involving different agencies in the area where Denise was last seen” utilizing K9 units and drones. The police department stressed they “are exhausting every investigative lead” they can and that the “search is continuing and ongoing.

Authorities have said that Denise suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

According to police, a family friend reported seeing Denise in Hamden, Connecticut, “in the area of Dixwell Ave near Stop and Shop” and said she “did not appear to be in distress” at the time. They also added they have retrieved surveillance footage which is currently being analyzed. Police did say there was ‘no evidence of foul play.’

Denise’s family searched an abandoned house in their own neighborhood. They found Denise’s makeup palette outside.

As we mentioned, Denise’s remains were found in March 2025. According to a post from the New Haven PD, residents in the area “reported finding human remains while clearing brush in a wooded area behind a house.”

The remains, which were in an advanced state of decay, were then taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for identification.

On March 26, 2025, the body of Michele Romano (56) was found in Foster, Rhode Island, eight months after she disappeared.

Details about Michele’s disappearance:

Michele’s body was found in a wooded area near Plainfield Pike, in Foster, Rhode Island.

Investigators from the Rhode Island State Police, Warwick Police Department, and the Office of the Attorney General are jointly examining the “suspicious circumstances surrounding Ms. Romano’s death.”

A local resident spoke about the discovery of Michele’s body.

Tom Slater, a resident of Plainfield Pike, recalled seeing several police cruisers outside of his home.

“They just said they found a suspicious trash bag,” Slater told WJAR. “But, being in the fire service, I kind of knew, yeah they found a body.”

Friend John Michelotti told WPRI that Michele was a mother of two and “her children meant the world to her.”

“She deserves justice,” he added. “She didn’t just die and end up in the woods. Someone has to be held accountable for what happened to her.”

There is a Facebook page titled ‘Justice for Michele Romano’ and they have said they do not believe her death is the work of a serial killer.

On April 3, a witness called in reports of a suspicious man at Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT.

Here’s a portion of the call reporting that incident to the Groton Police Department.

“I went back around. Turned the other way,” said the caller. “He went back the other way and then he started like walking back as I turned around to walk back to the car.”

After the call was made, posts about the incident were made online and police have said they contradicted what was said in the call.

“What I heard on our phone call initially was remarkedly different from what we saw posted over the weekend last weekend,” Police Chief Fusaro said.

Facebook posts state that the suspicious man pulled out a switchblade knife.

“What I can say is we don’t believe there’s any connection between them,” Chief Fusaro said. “But I’ve seen people draw conclusions. I’ve seen the stuff and it’s causing a little bit of concern in our community.”

On April 9, 2025, remains were found in Killingly, Connecticut.

This info about the discovery of the remains is from WTNH.com:

State police confirmed human remains were found in Killingly this week.

Troopers were first dispatched to the area of Woodward Street around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Eastern District Major Crimes detectives are assisting in the investigation, which remains active.

State police said there is no known threat to the public.

Connecticut State Police told the media “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 agency said.

In the last few days, two more bodies have been found in the New England area.

Info about the first one – Pawtucket police on Sunday pulled a body from the Seekonk River.

Police were on the water and along the shoreline opposite the stadium at Tidewater Landing for hours.

They said they received reports of a possible body in the water at about 5:30 p.m.

“I just came down to the river, there were like four or five police cars, a couple fire trucks and the rescue boat,” one witness recalled. “They were doing something over here. Then I see them load something into the rescue, but besides that the fire department did their job, they did everything they were supposed to do.”

The second one was just found today in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Springfield police are investigating the discovery of a body along the city’s riverfront Tuesday morning.

Officers were called to the 1500-block of Hall of Fame Avenue at approximately 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday for the report of an unresponsive individual near the bike path. Springfield Police Department Spokesperson Ryan Walsh said that the adult woman was found to be deceased shortly afterward.

The Springfield Police Department Homicide Unit will conduct an unattended death investigation pending an autopsy by the medical examiner. The name and age of the victim has not been released at this time.