On November 21, 1993, two hunters in a wooded area of North Sea, a hamlet in Southampton, New York, found the partially clothed body of a woman later identified as 28-year-old Sandra Costilla, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who had been living in New York. An autopsy determined she had been strangled to death. At the time, police described her as a drifter with a last known address in Queens, and the case went cold for many years.

Investigators later examined links between Costilla’s killing and a string of Long Island murders. Carpenter John Bittrolff, convicted in 2017 for two similar murders, was publicly named as a prime suspect in Costilla’s death but was never charged. In June 2024 the investigation took a different turn when DNA from hairs recovered on Costilla’s body was matched to Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann, and he was indicted for her murder; Heuermann has pleaded not guilty.

Are there any local memories or details about Costilla’s movements in 1993 that could help clarify what happened that fall?