Long Island serial killer? FBI searched pimp's computer, says official

(CBS/AP) WANTAGH, N.Y. - The computer of a pimp linked to one of the prostitutes whose body was found along a remote Long Island beach was searched by authorities hunting a possible serial killer, a police official told the Associated Press Thursday.

Pictures: Long Island serial killer's victims?

The FBI examined the laptop of the pimp, New York City resident Akeem Cruz, for a record of prostitute Megan Waterman's customers, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The official said that the Brooklyn man isn't considered a suspect in the disappearance of Waterman and the three other prostitutes whose bodies were found last December near the side of a remote highway on New York's Long Island.

Cruz' attorney, Robert Napolitano, said earlier this week that his client - currently imprisoned in Maine for a cocaine conviction - would have granted permission for a search of his computer. Napolitano said his client has cooperated with investigators.

Authorities say Cruz was one of the last people seen with Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine, last June when she disappeared after traveling to a hotel in Hauppauge, N.Y., to meet clients for sex. In addition to the computer search, investigators have questioned hotel guests who stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at the same time Waterman was there.

Authorities believe a serial killer may be responsible for the deaths of Waterman and three other women in their 20s, whose bodies were found near hers. Police have not identified any suspects.

Police have since turned up six other sets of remains along the highway in recent weeks but have not definitively linked any of them to the deaths of the four prostitutes. The recent discoveries have prompted a wide-scale search along a 15-mile stretch of the highway.

An aerial and ground search on Thursday did not turn up any additional remains, but officials said they did find items "not native" to the area and were investigating.

Complete Coverage of the Long Island murders on Crimesider