Author Maureen Boyle on The Women of New Bedford, Mass.

From https://shallowgravesthebook.com/: The women were dead before anyone realized they were gone. It was 1988, before the opiate epidemic of the 2000s, before families openly talked about heroin addicts, before there was a public face to the addiction. At the time, as many still do today, young women in the throes of addiction turned to street hustles to find money for drugs. They would write bad checks, shoplift and some, as the addiction worsened, turned to conning men into giving them money. Some turned to prostitution. The addicts lived on the outer edges. In a small city like New Bedford, people recognized them on the street. Many knew their families. New Bedford is a tight knit city with large, close families. It is also a fishing community where people know death can come unexpectedly on the seas. But no one expected what happened in 1988. Eleven women went missing that year. Nine were later found dead along local highways surrounding the city. It is officially unsolved. I was a reporter at the Standard-Times of New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the time. I knew some of the women who were on the streets at the time, struggling with addictions. They were good people. Some of them are still alive, finally kicking their habits. Many are now dead. Some of AIDS, some from overdoses, a few from natural causes. Some of the women got clean before they died, giving their families – and children – the gift of knowing their true spirit. I have been haunted by the story of these dead women for years. Their families have lived with the pain each day. No one should get away with murder. Shallow Graves: The Hunt for the New Bedford Highway Serial Killer (ForeEdge) tells the story of the investigation through the eyes of the investigators and some of the families. We hope someone will finally end that hunt. - Maureen Boyle If you'd like to contribute to keeping these shows running you can do so by clicking on the following link: paypal.me/williamhuffman3 or via Venmo with my username @bill-huffman-3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices