Remains of 8th Person Found in New England in Just Weeks, as Fears of a Serial Killer Grow

The body of a woman was recently discovered on a riverfront bike path in Massachusetts, again fueling online rumors that a serial killer — or killers — may be targeting New England residents.

Since early March, the bodies of eight people — mostly women — have been found in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The most recent discovery was made at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 22, when officers with the Springfield Police Department responded to calls about an unresponsive person — an adult woman — found near the 1500 block of Hall of Fame Avenue, Springfield Police Department spokesman Ryan Walsh said, Boston 25 reports.

The woman was pronounced dead shortly after she was found, Walsh said.

The department’s homicide unit will conduct an “unattended death investigation” pending an autopsy by the medical examiner, Walsh said. 

Authorities in many of these cases have said they have not found any evidence connecting the deaths to each other.

Police tell PEOPLE they believe foul play was not involved in at least three of the deaths.

But the public is still worried. The New England SK group on Facebook, which has 17,000 members, has become a central hub for discussions about the recent string of deaths in the region.

‘There’s a Mystique About Serial Killers’

Speculation about a possible serial killer began swirling on social media in late March, after a number of bodies began turning up in the area.

On March 6, a human skull was found in the woods off Route 3 in Plymouth, on the Massachusetts coast, Boston 25 News reported. Authorities have not yet determined the person’s age or gender.

Also on March 6, the remains of a woman identified as Paige Fannon, 35, of West Islip, N.Y., were found in Norwalk, Conn., police said.

“Based on our investigation, there is no indication of foul play or relation to any other death or serial killer,” Norwalk Police Department Lt. Tomasz Podgorski tells PEOPLE. 

The State of Connecticut Medical Examiners’ Office is still conducting its investigation into her death, Podgorski said.

On March 19, human remains were found in a suitcase near the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery in the seaside Connecticut town of Groton, NBC Connecticut and WTNH report.

The remains belong to a female between the ages of 40 and 60 and were left near the cemetery in mid-February, investigators said.

Authorities are investigating but cautioning the public not to jump to conclusions. “I would tell people, ‘Don’t rush to judgment,’” Groton Police Chief Louis Fusaro told WTNH.

On March 21, the public became further alarmed when the body of another Connecticut woman, identified as Denise Leary, 59, was found in New Haven, where she lived.

She was reported missing in September, New Haven Public Information Officer Christian Bruckhart tells PEOPLE. 

“The medical examiner did an autopsy,” he says. “It was inconclusive what caused her death, but they were able to say that it did not appear to be any trauma. Based on the circumstances where she was found and given everything we knew about the investigation, there was nothing to indicate that she was murdered.”

Leary had struggled with mental health issues before her death, Bruckhart says.

Five days later, public fears grew when the body of Michele Romano, 56, who was reported missing from the coastal town of Warwick, R.I., in August, was found in Foster, R.I., on March 26.

In a recent Facebook post, her family wrote, “In light of the recent comments being made, we know that Michele’s passing is in no way related to any type of serial killer. We have complete faith in the Rhode Island State Police and our Private Investigator that the person responsible will be brought to justice sooner rather than later.”

More human remains were then found on April 9 in Killingly, the Connecticut State Police told PEOPLE in an email. 

“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 CSP said in the email.

The statement also said “there is no known threat to the public at this time.”

Another body was found on April 10 in Framingham, Mass.

Officials are still trying to determine the cause and manner of all of these deaths.

Bruckhart says he understands the public’s fascination with these cases. “There’s a mystique about serial killers,” he says. “People are fascinated by them — and the possibility of them. But they do exist.”