Long Island police officers found the remains of a fifth person buried near Gilgo Beach late Tuesday night.
Police returned yesterday to canvass the area where the bodies of four dead prostitutes were found in December. They are searching for Shannan Gilbert in the marsh and wooded areas around Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach. Gilbert, 24, from Jersey City, was working as an online escort who met clients on Long Island when she disappeared. She was last seen in the area on May 1.
Remains that appear to be human were located by police off Ocean Parkway, west of Cedar Beach, on Tuesday. The area is one mile east of where the four other bodies were found. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner is currently working to identify the remains.
Gilbert’s family has said they cling to hope that Gilbert may still be found alive, so they can end a nearly year-long search for her.
Police suspect a serial killer may have killed all five women and dumped their bodies in shallow graves at or around Gilgo Beach.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, of Norwich, Connecticut, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Erie County, New York, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, of North Babylon, and Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine have been identified as the four women whose remains were found in Gilgo Beach in December.
