New England Serial Killer Fears Grow Despite Police Hesitance

oncern is growing about the possibility that a serial killer could be operating in New England.

That's despite the fact that police have not embraced the theory.

Connecticut State Police told WTNH: "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.”

According to MassLive, the fears that a New England serial killer could be at work exploded on TikTok and other social media sites after "several recent discoveries of human remains across at least three states in the region."

A Facebook group called "New England Serial Killer" has grown to more than 57,000 members and was set up to discuss the theories.

According to WTNH-TV, human remains were found on April 9, 2025, in Danielson, Connecticut, as well as in the City of Groton and a short distance away in Foster, Rhode Island.

Some of the social media theories revolve around the death of Denise Leary, 59, a missing mom of two who "was found dead near her home" in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 21, MassLive reported.

Statement regarding human remains found. pic.twitter.com/9KcflOgEwS

— New Haven Police Department (@NHPDnews) March 21, 2025

The New Haven Police Department wrote on X on March 25, "The human remains found on Rock Creek Road have been identified by the OCME as Denise Leary (b. 1965) of New Haven. Cause and manner of death are still pending. Police also wrote that people clearing brush found the remains in a state of "decay."

According to MassLive, New Haven police officer Christian Bruckhart told the news site that Leary's cause of death has not been determined, and so far it's not even clear whether she was murdered.

“There’s certain things that have a mystique about them, and I think serial killers are one,” Bruckhart told MassLive. “... A serial killer is this almost mythical figure in the zeitgeist — I mean, how many Hannibal Lecter movies have been done?”

Leary's death "does not appear to be a homicide," MassLive wrote, quoting Bruckhart as saying there’s “nothing to say no one is ever going to be a serial killer again,” he told the site.