Earlier this week, human remains were discovered in an area of New England, not far from Taylor Swift’s holiday home.

Police confirmed to PEOPLE that suspected human remains were found in the Watch Hill, Rhode Island, area, the affluent spot where the singer’s home is located.

Officers attended the scene on Everett Avenue at around 9:30am on Wednesday, May 14 and found ‘what appeared to be a human leg bone’, the news outlet reports.

The Westerly Police Department said in a statement: “Investigators are awaiting official confirmation of the identity of the remains.

“No foul play is suspected at this time.”

The discovery has sparked concern among locals, especially because a dozen other remains have been found across towns in New England, including Connecticut (New Haven, Norwalk, Groton, and Killingly), as well as Foster (Rhode Island), Framingham, Plymouth, and Springfield (Massachusetts).

While it’s fuelled rumours even further about a ‘serial killer’, it’s important to note that police have confirmed they are not looking for a murderer on the loose, meanwhile not all of the deaths are being treated as suspicious.

Following the discovery of a woman’s body in Springfield last month, identified as 45-year-old Meggan Meredith, district attorney Anthony Gulluni said: “Unverified claims can compromise active investigations…

“At this time, there is no indication that these incidents are connected to each other or they are part of a larger public safety threat.”

Despite the police statements on the speculation, online sleuths are convinced that there could be a serial killer in New England.

Facebook groups and threads have been set up with thousands discussing the cases and how they could be linked.

Human remains have been found in Watch Hill, Rhode Island (Getty Stock Photo)

Where have the bodies been found?

The body of a woman, identified as 35-year-old Paige Fannon, was found by a police scuba team on March 6 from the Norwalk River, the New Haven Register reported.

On the same day Fannon was found, officers over in Plymouth were called out to reports of remains found by a hunter in the woods, which was later confirmed to be a human skull with its jaw and nasal area missing.

Police in Groton then discovered the body of a woman, believed to be between 40 to 60 years old, inside a suitcase near a cemetery on March 19, as per WTNH.

That same week, authorities in New Haven found the decomposed body of Denise Leary on March 21, who was found in a ‘state of decay’ in a wooded area behind a home. Then on March 25, the body of 56-year-old Michele Romano was found in a wooded area off Plainfield Pike in Rhode Island, as per WJAR.

On April 9 and 10, unidentified remains of a man believed to be between 25 to 45 years old were found in Killingly, Connecticut, as well as further unidentified remains in Massachusetts.

On April 21, more unidentified remains were located in the Seekonk River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, by a boater.

The next day, a woman later identified as Meggan Meredith, died after being found ‘unresponsive’ off a bike path in Springfield which police are treating as a homicide.

On April 23, the bodies of two men were found in the woods near a Walmart in Salem, Massachusetts.

There have been a string of other discoveries in the region (Boston 25 News)

What have police said?

Police are categorically ruling out a serial killer. In fact, some believe the speculation could cause more harm than good.

After the latest suspected human remains were found this week, Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella told Fox News Digital: “As far as I’m concerned, as far as right now, this has nothing to do with any serial killer [or] any New England murderer.”

Meanwhile, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said the rumours could compromise investigations, reports MetroWest.

“While online conversations around these incidents continue to grow, we urge the public to be mindful of the role that social media can play in spreading fear or misinformation,” he said.

“Unverified claims can compromise active investigations and contribute to a sense of chaos that does not reflect the full picture.”

Could there really be a New England serial killer?

Following all the speculation, a criminologist has spoken about the likelihood of a serial killer in the region.

James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist, told Northeastern Global News: “Most serial killers have some commonality in their victims.

“Usually it’s the sex, race, age or physical features of the victims. That’s not always true, of course, but they tend to have a particular preference for the victim type. But in these cases there are so many dissimilarities.”

Fox also said that there were no similarities in where the bodies were found, either.

“There’s no pattern to the dump sites,” said Fox. “A lot of serial killers will have a particular dump site where they dispose of their bodies. So when police do find evidence from a serial killer, they tend to find multiple bodies because the killer feels comfortable about disposing of bodies in that location.

“More than 70% of serial killers kill in one locale, typically around their home or workplace or somewhere where they know the roads and the escape patterns.

“It’s much safer for them to kill in a place where they know the terrain. Plus they tend to have jobs and families, which means they kill part time — literally, they have some free time to kill. And in general they can’t spend weeks and months traveling around finding victims.”