Maine Woman Missing From Hauppauge Hotel Among Gilgo Beach Bodies

The remains of a missing Maine woman last seen at a Hauppauge hotel have been identified by Suffolk County Police as one of four bodies found at Gilgo Beach last month.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said New York City medical examiner's office positively identified Megan Waterman's remains were identified using DNA late Tuesday as one of the .  Suffolk homicides detectives visited the Waterman family to bring them the news, Spota said. 

"I knew it since Day 1. When she went missing that's when I knew,"said Lorraine Ela, Waterman's mother who was notified at 11:30 a.m. 

Messages of consolation and sympathy for Waterman's family have begun flooding the Facebook page "Find Megan Waterman."  

Waterman, 22, worked as a Craigslist escort who regularly made trips to Hauppauge with her boyfriend, Akeem Cruz. She was last seen alive on June 6, 2010 at the on Expressway Drive South. 

The family had launched an extensive search through the nonprofit organization LostNMissing Inc, traveling down from Maine to spend several weekends posting fliers across Hauppauge locations, including the hotel and 's. 

Scarborough police detectives in Maine had previously stated they had considered the possibility Waterman may have been abducted for human trafficking. Meanwhile Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said a potential serial killer was an avenue of investigation, but denied it at Wednesday's press conference.

No matter the nature Waterman's death, Ela said her family is moving forward with grieving. 

"I'm relieved and now my family can have closure," Ela said. "I won't have 100 percent closure until they charge the person that did it to her. Then my closure will be complete."

Cynthia Caron, president and founder of LostNMissing, said the family has received no information about when Waterman's when the body will be released. 

"Obviously the family is very distraught. Her mother, Lorraine, has always known and felt in her heart that Megan was one of them. We all hoped perhaps it wouldn't have been the case, but in light of today's events its been confirmed," Caron said. 

The  the family raised through spaghetti dinners to be offered as reward leading to Waterman's return will likely be used to start a memorial foundation, Ela said, and future fundraisers will become a celebration of her daughter's life. 

As for the other three bodies found on Gilgo Beach, Spota said investigators are “very close” to making an identification but declined to offer any further information.

"We have received information regarding medical, dental, personal and DNA from other people,” said Spota in response to questions on forensic efforts to identify the remains.

Patch will continue to update this story throughout the day as more information becomes available. This article contains information reported by Patch's Judy Mottl.