Cops: Remains likely Shannan Gilbert's

Suffolk County police found yesterday what they believe are the skeletal remains of 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert, a prostitute who disappeared last year.

The remains were discovered after police cleared heavy brush from an area that had previously been underwater.

The medical examiner has not yet confirmed the identity or determined a cause of death, but Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said the remains were found a quarter-mile from where Gilbert’s personal belongings were found Dec. 6. He said the position of the remains indicates that the victim may have been trying to reach the lights of the causeway before she died.

During the search for Gilbert, police uncovered the remains of 10 people, many of them prostitutes. A police spokeswoman said yesterday that, while they think those 10 people are victims of one serial killer, they do not believe Gilbert’s death is related. That’s because of where she was found and her demeanor during a 911 call, police said.

When was Shannan last seen?

On May 1, 2010, Gilbert took a limousine to the Oak Beach home of Joseph Brewer, a man who had answered her ad on Craigslist. The limousine driver, Michael Pak, said Gilbert was acting irrational and paranoid, saying that people were trying to kill her. She made a frantic 23-minute call to 911 and fled Brewer’s home. She banged on the door of Gus Coletti, asking for help around 5 a.m. but he said she ran off when he tried to call police. That was the last time Gilbert was seen.

Gilbert family doubts police information

The attorney for Shannan Gilbert’s family, Robin Sax, told Metro yesterday that they’re not confident in the police department’s account of how Shannan’s personal items were found, including a cellphone, wallet and clothing. Sax said she does not believe those items have been there since Gilbert disappeared.

“We’ve done our own investigation and we searched that area many times,” Sax said. “It’s questionable as to whether those items were found there.”

Police say they believe Gilbert’s death was an accident, not a murder, after she fled to the beach in a distraught state of mind.

“We think potentially that police have been very pressured by media attention and may have made those statements as a decoy so media backs off,” said Sax.

Sax says that any time there is a new development in Shannan’s case, with the exception of yesterday, her family hears about it through the media, rather than a notification by police.