JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND — After a yearlong search of the brush near a Suffolk County highway that turned up 10 other dead bodies, police said Tuesday that they believe they have finally found the skeletal remains of a missing prostitute from Jersey City.
Shannan Gilbert, 24, disappeared in May of 2010 after apparently visiting a client in the area. She had called 911 for help before she disappeared.
When police started searching the area on a remote island south of Long Island, they inadvertently found 10 dismembered bodies, including eight women, a toddler believed to belong to one of the women, and a male transvestite, leading them to believe a serial killer was on the loose. However, police don’t believe the same person murdered Gilbert.
Some of the bodies are still identified, and police believe most were connected to the sex trade.
Gilbert was found a few miles away from the other bodies, in the brush.
Two and a half years ago, she appeared in a Hoboken Reporter police beat item about having been arrested in Hoboken for prostitution.
According to Tuesday’s Associated Press story, “While police believe a lone serial killer is responsible for the deaths of the 10, [an investigator] reiterated Tuesday that police think Gilbert likely drowned accidentally after fleeing the client’s home for an unclear reason. [He] said the location of the skeleton suggests that Gilbert may have been trying to run through the wetlands to a nearby causeway because it was illuminated by street lights. She was last seen shortly after 5 a.m. on May 1, 2010.”
Police found some of Gilbert’s belongings in the area last week.