Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, is another great Netflix true crime documentary, probably one of their best. This is a deep-dive into the heart of evil, the corrupt officials who allow that evil to go unchecked, the innocent people whose lives are affected, and the family members who never give up to fight for justice.
It starts with a mysterious case of a young woman, who was a sex worker (but this does not diminish who she was in any way shape or form) who disappeared under mysterious circumstances and it took many months before police start to look for her. When they do, they uncover body parts of several woman hidden in the marshes in Long Island. The pattern unravels that this is the work of a serial killer, and the hunt (should be) on to find him.
What follows is an example of how corrupt police and prosecutors put their own jobs on the line instead of doing what is right in the name of justice, and this serial killer is allowed to go on doing his work for over a decade. These idiot cops and prosecutors even block the FBI from investigating the case. The parents of the victims stop at nothing to bring awareness to the crimes against their children, and there are some journalists and attorneys who pursue justice as well, and in this documentary you really are held no the edge of your seat as the story unravels.
One of the more messed up parts of the story is that the suspect starts to call the sister of one of his victims and taunt her over the phone. This is seriously a demented person.
There is a TON of evidence of who the killer is, and the fact so little of it was pursued is a serious injustice. For example, there were eyewitnesses who had identified a suspect that the police did not follow up on until they read a report almost a decade later. (And, for those two men, you should have gone to the FBI / media sooner with your story and what were both of you doing living with a woman who had to sell her body for money?) The police knew the killer lived in a certain area of Long Island and most likely worked in Manhattan, and instead of narrowing down their suspect...well, the cops just did nothing.
Finally, DNA evidence from new people in charge of the case surfaces and they have their man...and wow as to how nobody connected the dots on this guy for so long is just infuriating. This guy was 6'8, 300 lbs, and lived in a run down home in the suburbs and had creeped out his neighbors for decades. Hmmm. And why did they even need DNA to grab him with all the circumstantial evidence.
It does feel there is tons to this case that has yet to be revealed. But, for now, this is a good series that really shares the story of all involved. Hopefully, justice will be done in the end and the guilty will be punished and the sister who was taunted will have her final say.
