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48 HOURS
Air Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020
Time Slot: 10:01 PM-11:00 PM EST on CBS
Episode Title: "The Hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

THE LONG ISLAND SERIAL KILLER MURDERED HER MOTHER - NOW, SHE BREAKS HER SILENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON TELEVISION IN "48 HOURS: THE HUNT FOR THE LONG ISLAND SERIAL KILLER"

Saturday, Dec. 12

Megan Waterman was one of the first victims of the Long Island serial killer found by police. In December of 2010, four women - aged 22 to 27, similar in height, weight, hair and eye color - were found dead along a stretch of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach on Long Island, N.Y. They became known as the "Gilgo Four." Now, a decade after Megan Waterman's body was found, her teenage daughter talks for the first time on television with 48 HOURS correspondent Erin Moriarty in "The Hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer," to be broadcast Saturday, Dec. 12 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"I would do anything to bring her back, but I can't," Lily Waterman, 14, tells Moriarty. "And, it just like, frustrates me so bad."

Waterman's mother and the other women were asphyxiated; their bodies were wrapped in burlap that blended into the thick overgrowth and placed about 500 feet apart along the parkway. In searching the surrounding area where the women were found, police would find six more bodies - in what would become the biggest unsolved murder case in New York state. Moriarty speaks with current and former investigators about the new clues the murderer left behind.

The bodies were wrapped in burlap to help the killer cover his tracks, says former Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone.

"I think burlap was selected because of its ability to take dampness, moisture and breathe, which would promote decay as well as act as camouflage," Varrone says.

None of the "Gilgo Four" knew each other, but they were all sex workers, who had advertised on Craigslist. Megan Waterman is described by family members as a spunky but troubled kid who loved fashion and never would have willingly left her daughter. Waterman was taken to Long Island by a boyfriend, Akeem Cruz, as a sex worker. Cruz was ruled out as Waterman's killer.

Lily Waterman says her memories of her mother's disappearance are "blurry" because of the time that has passed since she went missing.

"I was just very, like, confused on why she ... wasn't around," Waterman says. "That's all I can remember, really."

It wasn't until later, when she grew older and tech savvy, that Lily Waterman was able to grasp what happened to her mother.

"I couldn't process it because my whole life, I was just under the, like, I thought that she just got ... stolen, and she never came back," Lily Waterman says. "I didn't realize, like, the line of work she was doing - how brutal it was. I didn't realize that part of it."

Moriarty and 48 HOURS report on the latest developments in the search for the Long Island serial killer through interviews with family members, former detectives and the Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, who originally worked the case for the FBI. Moriarty's report also raises questions about whether the initial investigation may have been stalled by a former corrupt and controversial police chief, James Burke, who might have been more worried about covering up his own crimes.

48 HOURS: "The Hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer" is produced by Mary Ann Rotondi and Murray Weiss. Gregory McLaughlin is producer-editor. Doreen Schechter and Gary Winter are the editors. Shaheen Tokhi is the associate producer. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

Follow 48 HOURS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Listen to podcasts at CBSAudio.

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