Missing Prostitute's Bones Found on Long Island

Medical examiner thinks it was an accidental death
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2011 9:19 AM CST
Missing Prostitute's Bones Found on Long Island
In this Dec. 8, 2011 photo, investigators search for Shannan Gilbert's body in a marsh area just east of Oak Beach, NY.   (AP Photo/Kevin P. Coughlin)

Police think they have at last found the remains of missing prostitute Shannan Gilbert, more than a year after the search for her led them to the discovery of a serial killer's graveyard. After an exhaustive, weeklong search of a 100-acre marsh in Oak Beach on Long Island, police found a skeleton that they assume is Gilbert's—though that hasn't been officially confirmed yet, the New York Post reports.

The medical examiner also hasn't officially pronounced a cause of death, but he believes Gilbert collapsed and drowned while running toward a nearby causeway. Thanks to the rough terrain, "it would be easy to get exhausted, fall down, and not move," he said. Gilbert was last seen alive in the area in May 2010, when she ran away from client Joe Brewer screaming, "They're trying to kill me!" She took refuge in a neighboring home, but fled when the owner called the police. Brewer yesterday said that he'd "always held out hope that she would be found alive." (More Shannan Gilbert stories.)

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