Spooky, creepy, eerie that describes what's going on right now at Jones Beach and the neighboring beaches.
On Monday went to Jones Beach for a walk to strengthen my bad back when I saw a FBI Black Hawk helicopter hovering over Field 6. The next day the newspaper, Newsday, said the helicopter was at the beach to look for any evidence in the mysterious murder spree, where some nut-case disposed bones and skeletal remains not only at Jones Beach but also at Gilgo Beach and Oak Island. There's a lunatic at large. Spooky.
As a reporter in the early 1990s, I covered a few of the serial killer Joel Rifkin's trial hearings. He was accused of killing 17 young ladies working as prostitutes. I was assigned to cover one of his court hearings to see if evidence was admissible in his case (called a scope hearing). It was a small courtroom and the guards led him in in steel bracelets, handcuffs. It was eerie to be in the same small courtroom with someone charged with killing so many innocent victims. Gross, disgusting, vicious, vile, pure evil. Anyway now the police are finding more victims in this supposively serial murder case. This time right there at the beach, where I fish.
I hate fishing at night so I avoid doing it. Even it seems the night bite produces big bass who venture closer to the shoreline in the dark, I still don't fish at night. About 12 years ago, I went to Field 6 before sun up to fish for striped bass when at sun up I spotted a drunk fisherman surrounded by more than a dozen empty beer cans and hugging a huge 30-pound plus striped bass. The sun light woke him up. So he got up, dragged his big bass away to the parking lot. When I left the beach I saw him snoozing away in his car next to his bass.
Nonetheless I went to the beach at 5 a.m., about one hour before sun up, so I wasn't in the dark for long. Good. There's this queasy feeling about fishing at night. It's spooky. On moonless nights you really can't see anything in front of you. And if your mind plays tricks, you could easily think that someone might be sneaking up on you in the dark. It's pitch black. All one hears is the ocean lapping on the shoreline. The only way to fish at night is with a flashlight helmet to see your hook when you bait it. It's a totally different form of fishing than tossing out your rig on a clear sunny afternoon. Night fishing is not for me although the bite is probably better. It's a surreal perceptual experience.
Now with this unexplained murder spree hitting the oceanfront, there are probably those who have the nerve to continue night fishing. They're many addicted anglers out there, who I'm sure would simply shrug off the murder spree, believing the nutso is or was after prostitutes.
Soon, probably in a week or two, I will start surf fishing in daylight, of course, at the oceanfront beach. Tourists or strangers usually stop to talk to me since I'm planted in my fishing spot and have no where to go. So I will chat with them. Some are interesting and are pleasant to talk to. This year, I'm sure, however, some conversations will turn to the rash of murders, and skeletal remains found at the beach. Of course, I really don't want to talk about such a gruesome topic. But I've had my ears yakked off before by tourists and strangers, so I'm used to it.
I just won't get used to the idea that a murderer might be lurking at Jones Beach. That alone is too scary to think about. So far, what, the police have found, I think are 10 skeletons, and are still searching for more on the Jones Island barrier that stretches for six miles. The case is far from being over. The police are still looking for more mortal remains. All within my fishing vicinity. Murder has come to the beach. And I will think about all of those poor souls who have lost their lives when police helicopters buzz pass while I wait not in peace and quiet for a fish to bite.
