The motel where Maureen Brainard-Barnes was last seen

West 46th Street

This Google Street View image of West 46th Street was taken in June of 2011.

It is believed that the Long Island serial killer parked his vehicle somewhere in the vicinity of the motel.

Map

Brainard-Barnes' remains were discovered on Gilgo Beach, which is roughly 50 miles away from the motel where she was last seen.

Brainard-Barnes was found at Gilgo Beach

In December of 2010, investigators discovered Brainard-Barnes' remains beside this desolate stretch of road near Gilgo Beach.

By that point, she had been missing for three and a half years.

Her killer had wrapped her body in burlap and then dumped it in the thicket beside Ocean Parkway.

She was placed in the same spot as three missing sex workers called Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello.

The women are referred to as the "Gilgo Four" because they were all found in close proximity to one another.

Coordinates: 40.624717, -73.375401

Google Maps Link

180 Prospect Street

Maureen Brainard-Barnes was born on June 14th, 1982.

At the time of her death, she was living in an apartment at 180 Prospect Street in Norwich, Connecticut.

The 25-year-old was petite, standing at only 4 feet 11 inches.

Before she became an escort, she originally went to New York City with hopes of becoming a model.

She stopped working as an escort for a couple of months before she went missing. However, she decided to start again shortly after receiving an eviction notice.

Three days before her disappearance, she and another sex worker named Sara Karnes traveled to Manhattan by train. Although they were planning on working out of their rooms at the Super 8 motel, they soon learned that their ads on Craigslist had been suspended.

Consequently, they were unable to advertise their services.

In an effort to turn their trip into something positive, they decided to hire a photographer and update their escort pictures. They also spent time wandering around the city together.

On July 8th, Karnes returned to Connecticut. However, it seems as though Brainard-Barnes was so desperate for money that she decided to stay behind.

According to Karnes, her friend "had regulars."

Because she was unable to advertise on Craigslist, it is possible that LISK was a previous client. At the time, working girls sometimes advertised their services by sending out a broadcast message to their recent contacts.

Others have suggested that her ads weren't really suspended. Instead, they may have been "demoted" to a much lower position. If this was the case, then her killer may have specifically targeted ads that were at the "bottom of the pile."

Coordinates: 41.534993, -72.057007

Google Maps Link

Fire Island

Brainard-Barnes' phone pinged off a cell tower on Fire Island roughly one or two weeks after she disappeared.

It is believed that the killer may have been attempting to access her voicemail.

Note that this doesn't necessarily mean that the phone was on Fire Island. This is because phones select the closest tower with the best signal.

For example, he may have been in Heckscher State Park, which is across the bay. Or he may have been on the eastern side of Gilgo Beach.

Sara Karnes

Image source: The Killing Season

Sara Karnes accompanied Brainard-Barnes to Manhattan on Friday, July 6th, 2007. However, after a quiet weekend, she decided to cut her losses and return to Connecticut on the 8th.

Two weeks later, she received a phone call from a private number. When she answered it, a man asked her if she was from Connecticut and if she knew Maureen. He also described a tattoo on her friend's right arm.

Karnes told the man that Maureen was her friend and that she had been missing for two weeks.

In response, he claimed that she was "fine" and that he had just seen her at a "wh*rehouse in Queens."

Karnes knew that this didn't sound right, as her friend was an independent escort. When she asked where it was, he said that he didn't know the exact address.

At that point, the man promised to call her back and provide her with the location.

However, he never did.

It is possible that the man in question was the Long Island serial killer and that this was his first attempt at contacting one of the victims' friends or families.

In 2009, he called the sister of Melissa Barthelemy multiple times.

Furthermore, he almost certainly had access to Maureen's phone, as it pinged a cell tower on Fire Island roughly 7–14 days after she disappeared.

In this case, it is likely that he was trying to use Karnes as a conduit to sow disinformation about the nature of her friend's disappearance. In other words, he knew that anything he said to Karnes would eventually be passed on to her family and the police.