Maine woman ID'ed as 1 of 4 dead on NY beach

YAPHANK, N.Y. – New York investigators say they've identified one of the four bodies dumped on a Long Island beach and are close to identifying the others.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer says the remains are those of Megan Waterman, a 22-year-old from Scarborough, Maine. She was last seen at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge (HAH'-pawg), N.Y. on June 6. Her body was found Dec. 13.

The four dead were strewn over a quarter-mile stretch of marshy grasslands, overgrown shrubbery and sea grass on a barrier island, near an oceanfront parkway.

Dormer and Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Wedneday they were very close to identifying the other remains.

Authorities have collected DNA samples and medical records from other families who contacted them after the remains were discovered in December.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

YAPHANK, N.Y. (AP) — The remains of a Maine woman who was reported missing from Long Island last year have been identified among four found on a Suffolk County beach, her mother said Wednesday.

Lorraine Ela told The Associated Press on Wednesday that police notified her son about Megan Waterman's body being among those dumped on Eastern Long Island. Ela was waiting for formal notification.

Waterman, who advertised her escort services on the online classifieds site Craigslist, was last seen in early June at a Hauppauge, N.Y., hotel where she went with her boyfriend. The hotel is about 15 miles from where the bodies were found in December.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer and Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota were to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Family members became worried about Waterman after not hearing from her during a trip to New York in early June, her mother told the AP at the time the bodies were discovered. Waterman always called three times a day to speak to her 4-year-old daughter, Liliana, but the last call came on the night of June 5, she said.

When police searched the hotel room they found Waterman's clothing, makeup, cell phone and other belongings, Ela said.

Detectives believe the four were killed elsewhere and then taken to the site, a narrow strip of land that divides the Great South Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The four-lane parkway runs through the middle, connecting Jones Beach State Park with several state- and town-run beaches to its east.