WhowasMaureen Brainard-Barnes? CT resident was among 'Gilgo Four' serial killing victims

Jul. 14—Brainard-Barnes was reported missing by a friend to the Norwich Police Department exactly 16 years ago on July 14, 2007.

What happened to Maureen Brainard-Barnes?

Brainard-Barnes, of Prospect Street in Norwich, Conn., was 25 years old when she went missing in 2007, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

Police said that she was a sex worker advertising on Craigslist, Backpage and other sites and was working out of hotels and motels in Manhattan. Authorities believe that on July 6, 2007, Brainard-Barnes took an Amtrak train from New London to Grand Central Terminal.

At the time of her disappearance, she had been with a female friend who returned home early, according to police, and her last known communication was at 11:43 p.m. on July 9, 2007 when she called a Connecticut friend.

"Although she was known to work out of motel rooms, on the night of July 9, 2007, she told her friend she would be going to meet someone outside of the motel on an 'out-call,'" according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

A friend reported her as missing to the Norwich Police Department and the New York Police Department later took over the case, police said.

Brainard-Barnes' remains were found off Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach on Dec. 13, 2010 during the search for Shannan Gilbert, who was also missing, police said.

Who was she?

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Brainard-Barnes was born July 14, 1982, in New London to Marie Ducharme, of Groton, and the late Robert Senecal, according to her obituary.

Brainard-Barnes grew up in Groton and attended Fitch High school, her sister Melissa Cann told the Hartford Courant in 2012. Brainard-Barnes became a mother at 17 and had two children before she disappeared, her sister said.

Cann said her sister had worked as a card dealer at Foxwoods Resort Casino, then later as a cashier and telemarketer.

Sarah Marquis told The Bulletin in Norwich in January 2011 that she was a friend of Brainard-Barnes and described her as someone who "had a lot of energy" and "thought everyone was her friend."

Marquis said friends knew there was a problem when Brainard-Barnes stopped calling because she was often on her phone.

"I just want to know," Cann told the Courant in 2012, "I don't want to die not knowing who took my sister's life, you know."

Who were the 'Gilgo Four'?

The search for Gilbert, a 23-year-old woman who went missing in May 2010, led to the findings of other human remains in December 2010, the Suffolk County Police Department said. The first four sets of remains were identified as Barthelemy, 24; Brainard-Barnes; Costello, 27; and Waterman, 22.

Police said all four "worked as Craigslist escorts and were last seen between July 2007 and September 2010."

The remains of 10 people, including multiple female victims, a male victim and a toddler, were found along the Ocean Beach Parkway, police said.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this story.