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00:04If you want to understand Picasso, you have to study his art.
00:11If you want to understand a serial killer, you study the crime.
00:15Four unidentified bodies.
00:17Long Island police literally stumbled onto the crime scene.
00:21What was going on out in Long Island?
00:24Ten sets of remains have been discovered.
00:26It was this burial ground for all these people.
00:29They were laying out in the open.
00:31Why weren't they noticed?
00:33The killer has apparently targeted prostitutes.
00:36The police didn't investigate because there were sex workers.
00:39That's fucking infuriating.
00:41They kept the FBI out of this investigation.
00:44Was this a cover-up?
00:46What are they hiding?
00:48We realized that we needed to act.
00:51DNA evidence was obtained.
00:54We identified the suspect.
00:56Get him within your sights.
00:58Yes, but don't blow the investigation.
01:02He was keeping very close tabs on law enforcement.
01:05His internet searches contained torture porn, rape.
01:09I sized him up totally wrong.
01:12This is the house that police have been swarming.
01:15This guy was hunting victims for sport.
01:18These women were tortured.
01:20This was beyond your worst nightmare.
01:22We're talking about a cold case that extends back 30 years.
01:25How many bodies are we going to see here?
01:28Catch this guy for us, please.
01:44Long Island is an actual island, about 30 miles east of greater Manhattan.
01:52Long Island is a true melting pot of people from all walks of life.
01:57A lot of firefighters, teachers, cops.
02:01Upper middle class to working class, safe.
02:04Here and there you'd hear something, you know, but not too bad.
02:08We have the Baldwin brothers, the actors, they're from this town.
02:13So is Jerry Seinfeld.
02:15A lot of people are from Massapequa.
02:18Long Island seems like a place where nothing goes wrong.
02:22But behind closed doors, it's not always as it appears to be.
02:33The Long Island serial killer,
02:36one of the most prolific, unsolved serial killer cases in modern U.S. history.
02:45I was in the FBI 11 years.
02:50I've always looked at the victims in this case and thought that could have been my niece.
02:55That could have been my best friend.
02:57That could have been my cousin.
02:58That could have been my sister.
03:01How would I want that murder to be investigated?
03:06During the height of this investigation,
03:08certain circles within law enforcement were dismissive.
03:13All victims deserve to have equal protection under law.
03:17And you don't not investigate something because someone is involved with sex work.
03:24They all have names.
03:26They all have families.
03:27They all have people that miss them.
03:30I think a lot of people are inclined to look away.
03:34But this impacts every member of society.
03:37Don't look away from it.
03:40The problems with this case go back to the beginning of it.
03:45And this case really starts with missing women.
03:48The search is on this morning for a missing woman.
03:50A young mother from Scarborough had been missing since last June.
03:53A 23-year-old woman missing since May 2010.
03:57She vanished without a trace.
03:58She visited New York and hasn't been seen since.
04:02Every year, hundreds of women and girls go missing in New York and on Long Island.
04:08It's a desperate search for a missing woman who hasn't been seen now for almost a week.
04:13A Latham reporter Kristen Thorne with the latest.
04:16Sade Marie Kuhnla spent 17 years working as a public defender.
04:21My name is Kristen Thorne.
04:22I was a reporter for 13 years with ABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York.
04:29Police are now in this area of Freeport that they have searched before.
04:33I investigate cold case disappearances.
04:35The female jogger, 30 years old, her family called police when she didn't return home.
04:40If you're a juvenile in this country and you disappear, there is a lot to help find you.
04:45If you're 65 and older, we have something called a silver alert.
04:49So there's an alert that goes out.
04:51But if you're in that 18 to 64 range and you disappear, good luck.
04:59Law enforcement is overloaded with cases.
05:03So a missing woman is not always going to make it to the top of the pile.
05:10When Melissa first went missing, my favorite shows were like CSI, Criminal Minds.
05:16What is the chance of this happening to us?
05:19I mean, we're just normal, laid-back family, close-knit.
05:25I mean, how could this happen to us?
05:29Melissa was pretty shy.
05:31But she loved people.
05:32She loved her family.
05:35She would like to put twist ties in Grandma's hair, pretend that she was putting rollers in there.
05:43Melissa's plan was to move to New York City and open her own salon.
05:49She always told me, I want to get my career going.
05:53I want to enjoy life a little bit.
05:56She was working hard, and she deserved the whole world.
06:00And then she went missing.
06:04Before Megan went missing, I was seeing her every day.
06:08She was a problem child.
06:10If you came onto her face-to-face, one of you two were going down, and it's not going to
06:16be her.
06:18But she was kind.
06:20If you needed anything, she wouldn't hesitate at least to give it to you.
06:23She would give the last penny in her pocket.
06:27Have you ever gone roller skating?
06:29And you wear white and how it changes the color.
06:34She would just get out on that floor and do whatever she wanted.
06:38She was a free girl.
06:41Megan was on temporary aid for needy families.
06:45They were only given her $400 a month for her and Liliana.
06:51She tried getting jobs, but it didn't work out.
06:56I found out that Megan was placing ads on Craigslist through her brother's ex-girlfriend.
07:02She's like, yeah, on the escort section.
07:05I'm like, what?
07:06I'm like, no way.
07:08I just went through like 300 pages of photos of females, and Megan is in there.
07:17We had no clue.
07:20Craigslist was a place for a lot of things in 2010, including personal services as well as sexual services.
07:29And in many ways, it was safer, because women could screen their clients and then decide if they wanted to
07:36meet with them.
07:37We all tried talking to Megan, trying to get her out of it.
07:40But she needed money so she could stay where she was living.
07:48The last time anybody saw Megan was 2010.
07:52She took a bus down to New York to work.
07:57She disappeared into thin air.
08:02I called Suffolk County Police Department.
08:04They searched the hotel.
08:07And as far as I know of, that's the only time they looked for her.
08:13We contacted the 43rd Precinct, said, you know, my daughter lives in the Bronx.
08:19We haven't heard from her.
08:21And she's like, ma'am, is she mentally retarded?
08:24Is she on any type of psych meds?
08:27No, no, no.
08:28Well, then she's not missing.
08:30She's where she wants to be.
08:33It was so discouraging.
08:36They're just not doing their job.
08:41For years, these families knew that their loved ones were missing.
08:47And no matter how many times they went to the police department to try to get them to take this
08:52seriously, they didn't.
08:57Melissa was last seen leaving her apartment in the Bronx on July 12th.
09:01Her family is looking for help.
09:03If anybody has seen my daughter, please contact us.
09:07What do you think happened to your daughter?
09:10I don't know if somebody grabbed her while she was walking to the store or what, but I know she
09:14is definitely missing.
09:17With a lot of missing persons, it's not always clear to the family or friends where exactly their loved one
09:25disappeared.
09:26But with Shannon Gilbert, it's a completely different story.
09:33When I heard my sister was missing, I knew something sinister happened.
09:41Shannon was doing this for a few years to pay her college tuition.
09:48She was so smart and talented.
09:51She was so realistic, so relatable.
09:54I could tell her anything.
09:56Her voice was very beautiful.
10:00We had this thing, Sunday, fun day, every weekend.
10:04We all got together.
10:06So much fun, so much laughter, food.
10:08It was the best times.
10:13We all thought we were the Spice Girls.
10:16Our favorite girl man was the Spice Girls.
10:21She loved music.
10:22She loved it.
10:27You know how, like, you're so scared to tell your mom things?
10:30With Shannon, it's like having, like, your mom and your sister.
10:35It was great.
10:39One day, her boyfriend notified my mother that she went to see a client and was never seen after that.
10:50I met Shannon Gilbert, working for this escort agency.
10:54I got a job as a driver.
10:58May 1st, Shannon texted me.
11:00She said, can you pick me up at 32nd and Broadway?
11:03She would take the PATH train there from New Jersey.
11:06So I said, yeah, sure.
11:09Somebody spoke to her about coming out to Long Island.
11:13It was a long drive.
11:15About an hour from the city.
11:19We got there around, like, 1 a.m.
11:23When they went up to the house, I took a nap.
11:27And around 5 a.m., the guy came out to my car and said that she won't leave.
11:33I said, what?
11:35I went into this house.
11:36I said, what's wrong?
11:38And she said, they're trying to kill me.
11:40So I said, who's trying to kill you?
11:42She just got up, right up, and ran.
11:45She went across the car, toward thickets of bushes.
11:54I called her and texted her.
11:55She didn't pick up.
12:07Within 24 hours, my mother reported her missing.
12:13We were told that this was just a case of a runaway.
12:19That's not something my sister would do.
12:23This is not like her.
12:24This is not who she is.
12:27This is not her character.
12:29We all knew something happened.
12:34The crazy thing is, Shannon's driver could pinpoint exactly where she went missing.
12:42And yet, that area remained largely untouched by law enforcement.
12:51Then, in December of 2010, seven months after Shannon disappeared, total fluke, an officer
13:01for the Suffolk County Police Department decided, you know, I'm going to go take my canine to
13:05go practice down at Gilgo Beach.
13:09I'm going to go out to Gilgo.
13:10I'm going to look for that, uh, Shannon Gilbert woman.
13:13Look what happened.
13:18We're following some breaking news right now.
13:20A body has been found in Oak Beach.
13:22Authorities made the find as they investigated a missing persons report, looking for a 24-year-old
13:27woman from Jersey City.
13:29On May 1st of this year, Shannon Gilbert, a 23-year-old female, went missing.
13:36We had no leads as to where she went.
13:40In a continuation of that investigation, the missing persons unit responded to the area where
13:47this young lady went missing with his dog, Blue.
13:51Here's Blue.
13:53Blue's a cadaver dog.
13:56We started our search.
13:58He started sampling the air, and he started indicating to a spot off the shoulder of the
14:04parkway.
14:05At that point, I saw the skeletal remains of a body.
14:10Bombshell tonight, an off-duty cop walking his dog on a beautiful, remote, isolated beach
14:16stumbles upon a woman's dead body.
14:20One night, we're sitting on the couch watching Nancy Grace, and all of a sudden, they discovered
14:28a body in Long Island.
14:30They said that they had found a female, approximately 24 to 26 years old, 4 foot 9.
14:41We just started crying.
14:44We knew it was her.
14:56I mean, it's just, it's unbelievable.
14:59It was so close to the road.
15:02How could nobody see this?
15:06They were searching more that day.
15:10They didn't find anybody.
15:12Two days later, Suffolk County contacted me to tell me that they found three more bodies.
15:21Oak Beach tonight, looking more like a gruesome cemetery, the remains of three more people
15:28were found stuffed in these brushes.
15:33Typically, when you have a homicide, it's one person with a particular set of circumstances.
15:39When we realized, the reporters, the media, that there were four bodies that seemed to be killed
15:47in a consistent way, all buried in the same area, it was just unbelievable.
15:55I had never seen anything like it in all my years of reporting, and we knew that we had
16:02a huge story on our hands.
16:07The media dubbed them the Gilgo Four.
16:12The Gilgo Four were found along Ocean Parkway.
16:16They were spaced equally apart, and three of the four victims were found to have been wrapped
16:21using a specific type of burlap, typically used by duck hunters.
16:25They were disposed of in a very distinct and similar manner.
16:30It wasn't a burial site.
16:32It was where their bodies were strategically disposed of.
16:38Unless you've been there, it's hard to explain.
16:42Ocean Parkway is a desolate highway.
16:46There's no streetlights.
16:48It's completely dark.
16:50You can have considerable time if you're trying to commit a crime, like disposing of a body.
16:58I've personally pulled over and timed it.
17:01At nighttime, you might not see headlights for 30 seconds, or you could not see headlights
17:07for eight minutes.
17:09There are no housing structures nearby.
17:13There's no businesses.
17:15He walked maybe 25 paces, dumped the body, got in his vehicle, and left.
17:22The investigators found hairs that did not belong to the victims, and it did not match any profile
17:30within law enforcement DNA databases.
17:32They belonged to an unidentified male of Caucasian descent.
17:40The totality of the evidence linked the Gilgo Four together very cleanly and clearly and logically
17:47from an investigative standpoint.
17:49Shannon Gilbert is the suspected sex worker whose disappearance police were investigating
17:54when they stumbled on four bodies, but Gilbert was not among them.
17:58She remains missing.
17:59Suffolk County police find themselves now on the trail of a possible serial killer.
18:05One of the things that stood out to me was that all of the victims were petite in nature.
18:10He has this distinct type.
18:13I think he was picking those victims because they were small in stature and easier to control
18:18because of their size.
18:20Tonight, Suffolk County sheriffs say they think one of the bodies could be that of 22-year-old
18:24Megan Waterman from Scarborough.
18:26And when you're done, take it out and we'll just put it back away.
18:29Okay.
18:30Scarborough police asked Lorraine Hila for a swab sample to see if her DNA will match one
18:35of the bodies.
18:38Probably a month after Detective Hagan shows up at my house to tell me that it was Megan.
18:49I was pretty much like, okay, what is my next step?
18:52What do I do?
18:54And he was like, well, I'm really sorry about your loss.
18:58He's like, here's my card.
19:00Here's this gentleman's card.
19:01And they left.
19:03They turned around and walked away.
19:09Yeah.
19:16Good afternoon.
19:18We are here today to announce that all four women whose remains were discovered in Gilgal
19:24Beach last month have been positively identified.
19:27The victims are Megan Waterman of Scarborough, Maine, Melissa Bartholome of the Bronx, Maureen
19:41Braenard Barnes of Norwich, Connecticut, and Amber Lynn Costello of North Babylon.
20:00I still like it out there.
20:03Fishing, what I've been doing for a long time, man, it's something different.
20:10Especially after all that shit happened.
20:14Yeah, but it was funny.
20:17She was like, ridiculous.
20:18You know what I mean?
20:19Like, four foot ten, you know, a hundred pounds, just like a little firecracker.
20:25You know what I mean?
20:26She was just like any other 20-something-year-old girl.
20:30Talked about getting married, you know, talked about, you know, holding down a real job.
20:36She loved animals, man.
20:38That was the thing.
20:38She wanted to be a veterinarian.
20:41She was looking into schools and stuff.
20:46Amber would have done something.
20:49She had a really good moral compass, but the second her sister came around, it just, you
20:54know, the compass started spinning.
20:58It was her sister that got her into all that shit.
21:01They were doing calls together.
21:04These guys that would come for this kind of stuff, man, you'd be surprised how many of
21:10them are, like, cops, lawyers.
21:12I'd swear to shit, 90% of the people were married men.
21:18The first week of September, 2010, she's like, I got a call.
21:23You know, the guy wants to possibly do 24 hours.
21:28And then she disappeared.
21:31Of course, you know, it fucks you up.
21:34Because, you know, it's your friend's gun.
21:42All of those women were engaged in prostitution and solicited business over the internet.
21:48And these homicides appear to us to be directly related to that business.
21:56Maureen was fearless.
21:59Brave is an understatement.
22:02She was always like that.
22:07I met Maureen when we were working as telemarketers.
22:10She was in a cubicle across from me, and we just clicked.
22:15Maureen was the most lively person.
22:18You know, she always had something funny to say.
22:21She knew when to have fun, and she knew when to work her ass off.
22:26She's a single mom, and she was trying hard.
22:31When she was fired, I think maybe two or three weeks after me,
22:36she needed to make that money real quick.
22:38And she said, hey, Sarah, you like to fuck random people?
22:42Why don't you get paid for it?
22:46First, what we would do is we'd type in manhattan.craigslist.org.
22:50We'd go to erotic services, and then it would make you put in the title.
22:55Like, hi, I'm Lacey. I'm 100% independent.
22:59You're a rent-a-girlfriend.
23:02Everybody seems to think that it's going to be like pretty woman,
23:04and you have to dress like her, okay?
23:06No, you have to dress like her after she meets Richard Gere.
23:10It's more about companionship than it is about the sex.
23:16One of the most important things she always told me,
23:18she said, follow your instincts.
23:21If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.
23:28When Maureen went missing,
23:30we were staying in midtown Manhattan.
23:34But I left.
23:35I went back to Connecticut.
23:41Later on that night,
23:42I kept calling her phone, calling her phone, calling her phone.
23:50We would work in pairs to keep us safe,
23:54but she had eviction court the next day.
23:58She had less than 24 hours to get some fucking kind of money up
24:03so that they didn't lose their friggin' house.
24:10And that's why she went alone.
24:12She wouldn't have done it any other time.
24:18I have really bad survivor's guilt
24:20because I really feel like
24:23she'd be alive had I stayed.
24:25I know that for a fact.
24:30Melissa was in New York
24:31for probably two and a half years,
24:34and I didn't find out what she was doing
24:37until they found her body
24:39and they found out that they were sex workers.
24:44We were really close with Melissa.
24:46We spoke constantly.
24:49It's just mind-boggling.
24:52I just don't understand how I missed all this stuff,
24:56how I didn't know what she was doing.
25:05Here on Oak Beach,
25:06they don't seem overly concerned
25:08since the killer has apparently targeted prostitutes.
25:12I think that it was very comforting
25:13when we found out that he was targeting
25:15a specific group of women from a specific website
25:17so that it made it something that was removed from us.
25:21In the beginning, the media wasn't very nice.
25:24They called our girls prostitutes and whores.
25:27Bodies of four young prostitutes in December.
25:29Another Craigslist prostitute.
25:31An online escort.
25:32Prostitutes who advertised their services on Craigslist.
25:35People would see something on TV
25:37and basically they would say that they deserved it.
25:42There was some of the attitude that,
25:44well, they put themselves in that position,
25:46and that was obvious from public statements
25:48that some of the most senior people
25:50investigating this murder were saying.
25:53Their deaths are a direct result
25:55of their business as prostitutes.
25:59We're easy targets.
26:01Because we are considered bottom of the barrel,
26:03nobody gives a shit about us.
26:05We cannot report crimes to cops
26:09because it's not legal.
26:12Today, sex work has become more de-stigmatized.
26:16With sites like OnlyFans becoming mainstream,
26:21it's become a more accepted line of work.
26:25But in 2010, that wasn't the case.
26:29At one point, one of the senior investigators
26:32made a comment to a reporter
26:34about the victims being greedy and wanting money.
26:38When I read that,
26:40I remember getting sick to my stomach
26:43because I just thought to myself,
26:45what have you done to find this guy?
26:47And what are you doing telling a reporter
26:50that this victim was greedy
26:52and that's why she was involved in that type of work?
26:55It's utter fucking bullshit.
27:01Any more questions?
27:02One more, one more, please.
27:04Don't be scared.
27:05Oh, no, I don't think, no.
27:07I don't want anybody to think
27:09that we have a Jack the Ripper
27:11running around Suffolk County
27:12with blood dripping from a knife.
27:14It's not that type of situation.
27:16And so I would say to people,
27:18go about your business.
27:21Suffolk County is one of the safest counties
27:23anywhere in the United States.
27:27Just three months after the Gilgo 4 are discovered,
27:31another bombshell drops.
27:35I get a call.
27:36More bodies have been found in Gilgo.
27:38We need you guys to go out there.
27:41And so we leave New York City
27:44to go out to Long Island.
27:47Police vehicle was driving by
27:49this Ocean Parkway Highway
27:51and something caught his eye.
27:53Last time they were here
27:55was actually back in January,
27:56just a couple weeks
27:57after Suffolk police found
27:59the remains of four women.
28:01The winter weather prevented searching,
28:03so they came out here again.
28:05Officers discovered
28:07what appeared to be
28:07another human remain.
28:09It was discovered also
28:10on the north side
28:11of Ocean Parkway.
28:14Helicopters, cadaver dogs, machetes,
28:16the macabre search
28:17for fresh evidence
28:18in Shannon Gilbert's disappearance
28:20continue today
28:21in a case that only grows grislier
28:23with each gruesome discovery.
28:24Police found a human skull yesterday.
28:27This time by divers.
28:28They are being examined tonight
28:30by medical experts.
28:34Over the course of a few weeks,
28:36police found partial skeletal remains
28:39several miles east
28:40of where the Gilgo 4 were found.
28:43Investigators unearthed four.
28:45More bodies on that same strip of beach.
28:48One more body, that's right.
28:49The body count just keeps on rising
28:51and the grisly mystery just deepens.
28:53Ocean Parkway is a mass burial ground.
28:57I mean, this is, like, crazy.
29:02It's just a little bit unsettling
29:04that, you know, you never know
29:05what could be down the street.
29:07It's very scary
29:07and it makes it much more creepy
29:10to come here by yourself.
29:11I keep a cell phone in one pocket
29:14and when I have to take a shotgun,
29:17I'm out of here.
29:19At that time, the fever pitch
29:21from the public interest,
29:24the public outcry,
29:25and the media got really, really high
29:27because you have a crime scene
29:29with at least 10 bodies
29:31and Shannon Gilbert has not been found.
29:33So far, police have already discovered
29:36the remains of 10 people.
29:38They made it very clear
29:39that they do not know
29:41if these remains are connected
29:42to the four other women
29:44that you saw there.
29:46So still a lot of mystery around this.
29:48Police are holding this news conference
29:50at 11 o'clock this morning.
29:51We're live at Gilgo Beach.
29:52Kristen Thorne, CBS 2 News.
29:57Where's Bob?
30:01You all set?
30:05Today we're going to discuss
30:07some details regarding the remains
30:10discovered by the Suffolk County
30:12Police Department
30:12and what is now very clear
30:14is that the area
30:16in and around Gilgo Beach
30:18has been used to discard human remains
30:21for some period of time.
30:25Displayed on the maps
30:26are the locations
30:27where the remains were found.
30:31Six other victims.
30:34Five were female.
30:36One was male.
30:38And one of them is a toddler.
30:41Four of the six were dismembered.
30:46Typically, perpetrators dismembered victims
30:48in order to frustrate
30:50and confuse investigators.
30:53Because presumptively,
30:54if law enforcement knew
30:55who that person was,
30:56they would be able to fairly easily
30:58link the victim back
30:59to the perpetrator.
31:02So the crime scene itself
31:04is two and a half miles long.
31:06It spans two different jurisdictions.
31:09That's huge.
31:10So investigating the Gilgo 4,
31:13that's where they honed in.
31:15Because, quite frankly,
31:16that was the easiest
31:17and most logical path
31:19for investigators to follow.
31:21Well, I will not term it
31:23as a serial killer.
31:24There are no similarities.
31:26I want to emphasize this.
31:28There are no similarities at all
31:30to the four Gilgo homicides.
31:33There is no evidence
31:34that all of these remains
31:36are that of a single killer.
31:40The difference between the way
31:42the Gilgo 4 were found
31:44and the other bodies
31:45begged the question,
31:47was this the work
31:48of one individual
31:50or was there more than one serial killer
31:53on Long Island?
31:57The public should realize
32:00that this investigation
32:01is not an episode of CSI
32:04or Criminal Minds
32:05that is going to be solved
32:07in a one-hour period.
32:10The investigation most likely
32:12is going to take
32:13a very long period of time.
32:18On numerous occasions,
32:20I asked the police
32:21what was going on with the case.
32:24And they said,
32:25just believe me,
32:26we're really working on it.
32:27It's the only thing
32:28that we're working on.
32:30We'll never stop working.
32:33That's basically all they told us.
32:40A few months later,
32:42the coroner told me
32:44that Melissa's body
32:45wasn't whole.
32:47They found another part
32:48of her body, her arm.
32:50I said, well,
32:51how could you have missed that?
32:54They had told me
32:55that maybe a crab
32:57or some type of animal
32:59had dragged off
33:00a part of her body
33:01and they had missed it.
33:04They asked me
33:05what I wanted to do with it.
33:07And I said, well,
33:08what do you mean
33:09what do I want to do with it?
33:11I want to put
33:12her whole body together.
33:15I mean, it's just,
33:16it's unbelievable.
33:19I really wasn't good
33:20with the stress
33:21that was going on
33:22in my life at that time.
33:25I wanted to find
33:27the other families.
33:31I didn't know about Lynn
33:32until she started
33:33looking for me on Facebook.
33:36I set up the group
33:38so we could contact each other
33:39and keep in touch.
33:42We'd shoot a message
33:43and then we just
33:45talked quite a bit.
33:47The special bond,
33:49we know we can talk
33:50to each other
33:50because we know
33:51what each other
33:52is feeling.
33:56Lynn became
33:57my best friend,
33:58my sister.
33:59She wanted me
34:00to go spend a week
34:01at her house
34:02so I took
34:03a week's vacation.
34:08Yeah, our friendship
34:09will never end.
34:12Then we were just
34:13one big cat,
34:15somewhat happy family.
34:27We want just
34:28a little bit of closure.
34:30Not all of us
34:31have been to the sites
34:32and it's tough.
34:36It's taken just about
34:37everything I have
34:38to be here.
34:40This was supposed
34:42to be a final goodbye
34:43to all the girls
34:44but with Shannon Gilbert
34:45still missing,
34:46family members say
34:47they will continue
34:48to return to this site
34:49as long as it takes.
34:51My name is Mary Gilbert.
34:53My daughter is Shannon.
34:54She is out there.
34:56She is missing
34:57and our family
34:59and our friends.
35:01We're going to find her
35:03and we're going to find out
35:04who hurt Shannon
35:05and all the others.
35:09in this situation.
35:11I think you just
35:12kind of listen
35:13to what your heart
35:15tells you
35:15and my mother
35:18definitely knew
35:19that Shannon
35:20wasn't with us anymore.
35:23It was tough
35:24but it only made her
35:26stronger.
35:28There's a part of me
35:30that did not want
35:31to move forward
35:31but we needed answers.
35:41I'm hoping that
35:43the more the people
35:44see this
35:45the more the people
35:45hear this
35:46that they're going to know
35:47we're not going to forget
35:48regardless how long it takes
35:49if it takes the rest of our lives
35:51we're going to find
35:51where my daughter is
35:52and we're going to find out
35:53who it is to the other girls.
35:58When we went to see the sites
36:00we were pulled
36:02on the side of the road
36:03and the police
36:04basically told us
36:05that we had to leave.
36:08A detective
36:09from Suffolk County
36:10told us
36:11that he did not want us
36:13talking to the media
36:14because the media
36:16was trouble
36:17and they always
36:18get everything twisted.
36:33All they tell us is
36:35when we catch him
36:36you'll be the first to know.
36:40Early on
36:41the families were stonewalled
36:43by law enforcement.
36:44These cases were not moving
36:47as fast as they should have been.
36:50The families needed
36:51to find a way
36:52to get law enforcement
36:54to listen to them.
36:57And for Shannon's family
36:58that resulted
36:59in finding John Ray.
37:03You can say what you want
37:04about John Ray
37:05but he is a good lawyer.
37:08Do you want to sit?
37:09Yeah.
37:10Come up closer?
37:11A tiny bit.
37:12Yeah.
37:14It's an amazing room.
37:16I mean I didn't need
37:17a set designer, babe.
37:20I'm a lawyer.
37:21I've been a lawyer
37:22since 1983.
37:25I work seven days a week.
37:28I do everything.
37:29I litigate.
37:30I'm not afraid
37:31of the big firms
37:33or the government
37:34as a renegade
37:35against the system.
37:39Mary Gilbert contacted me
37:41through Steve Barcello,
37:43photographer slash reporter
37:45for the New York Daily News.
37:46He said,
37:47look, can you help me
37:48with this lady
37:48that's involved
37:49in that Long Island
37:50serial killer case?
37:52She had no money,
37:53you know,
37:54but what was wrong here
37:57was that the police
37:59didn't do anything.
38:01So I was asked
38:02to step in
38:04and that's what I did.
38:13The media comes
38:14when I call
38:14a press conference
38:15as a rule
38:15because they know me.
38:16Whenever you're ready,
38:17tell me
38:18and we'll get cranky.
38:20That was my value.
38:21Are we on?
38:22Okay.
38:24We're here today
38:26at the site
38:27of these terrible crimes
38:28because the Suffolk County
38:31Police Department
38:31is grossly derelict
38:34in its duty.
38:36The commissioner of police
38:38in Suffolk County
38:39has acted like
38:41the Pink Panther.
38:43I called him
38:44Inspector Clouseau
38:45and I brought a big board
38:48that we had made up,
38:49you know,
38:49some facts and figures.
38:51They may investigate
38:52serial killings
38:53in violation
38:54of the laws of a state
38:55or a political...
38:56I guess I went,
38:57you know,
38:57using my,
38:58I don't know,
39:00Irish talents
39:01and that highly insulted them.
39:03We say step up
39:04to the plate,
39:05do your job.
39:06If it doesn't happen,
39:07we will launch a lawsuit
39:08for that to occur.
39:10I think the police department
39:12got annoyed with him.
39:14John Ray fought
39:15the Suffolk County
39:16Police Department
39:18and that's when
39:19they finally resumed
39:20looking for Shannon.
39:26Tonight,
39:26Suffolk County Police
39:27confirmed that they
39:28were again searching
39:29for any evidence
39:29of missing New Jersey woman
39:31Shannon Gilbert.
39:34Today,
39:35during the search,
39:37they found a cell phone
39:39which they believe
39:40may belong
39:41to Shannon Gilbert.
39:43It's looking like
39:45the missing New Jersey
39:46prostitute is buried
39:47in the boggy marsh
39:48her jeans and pocketbook
39:50discovered yesterday.
39:51A year and a half
39:53after Shannon disappeared,
39:55her body was finally found
39:57less than a mile
39:58from where she disappeared
40:00and several miles east
40:02of where the Gilgo 4
40:04were found.
40:05The body was found
40:06approximately
40:07one quarter mile
40:09northeast
40:10of where her personal
40:12belongings were located.
40:16When Shannon was found,
40:19our world just stopped.
40:23as much as we tried
40:25to pick up the pieces,
40:27it was impossible.
40:28It absolutely broke
40:30our family.
40:38I feel robbed
40:40of my youth
40:41because I was so stuck
40:44on the tragedy.
40:45I wasn't able
40:46to move forward
40:47and focus on a career
40:49when I was in
40:50a very dark place
40:53for a very long time.
40:57It's a sick,
40:58horrible, sick world
41:00that we live in.
41:02What's running
41:02through your mind?
41:04It's evil.
41:07This place is evil.
41:11Why weren't the reeds
41:12cut down a year ago?
41:13Why didn't you bring in
41:14all this equipment
41:15a year ago?
41:15Well, it wasn't,
41:16we didn't think
41:17it was necessary
41:18and also,
41:19that area was full of water.
41:22Investigators weren't able
41:22to go through there
41:23to search.
41:24How could Shannon Wilbur
41:25walk a half a mile?
41:26It was very tough.
41:27When you get a chance
41:28to look at that area,
41:30you will wonder
41:30how anybody could walk
41:32through that area.
41:37There's no way
41:38anybody would have
41:39wandered into the marsh.
41:40That is a lie.
41:42Then you have her clothing.
41:44How did her jeans come off?
41:45A third of a mile away
41:47from where her body is found
41:48with her pocketbook.
41:49The commissioner of police
41:51said,
41:51well,
41:52they're bramble bushes
41:52running through the marsh.
41:54They pulled her jeans off.
41:55It's absurd.
41:58Investigators believe
41:59Gilbert got tangled
42:00in brush and drowned
42:00in the marshy area,
42:01that she was not
42:03murdered by what cops believe
42:04is the serial killer
42:05that dumped the 10 other
42:06sets of remains
42:07at Gilgo Beach.
42:08They even claimed
42:09she drowned.
42:11Are you serious?
42:15Shannon was found
42:16face up
42:17in very shallow water
42:1920 inches deep.
42:21She couldn't have drowned.
42:24And so then
42:25when that was discovered,
42:26the police immediately
42:27changed their story
42:28and said
42:29a different reason
42:30that she died,
42:31natural causes.
42:34What natural causes?
42:35They didn't say.
42:37I mean,
42:37it was ridiculous.
42:38Do you believe
42:39it was an accident
42:40at this point?
42:41No.
42:42No.
42:43I can't accept
42:44that she died
42:46of natural causes.
42:47There's no way.
42:49Especially when
42:50other women
42:51have been found
42:52in the same exact spot.
42:54All of the same age,
42:56all into sex work.
42:58There's a pattern.
43:00Anybody
43:01with a brain
43:03can see
43:03that there's a pattern
43:05going on.
43:06And then
43:07a few days after
43:09Shannon was found,
43:11a new police chief
43:12came in,
43:13James Burke.
43:14It's going to be
43:14a very good time
43:15to be a Suffolk County
43:16citizen,
43:16and it's going to be
43:17a very bad time
43:18to be a criminal
43:19in Suffolk County.
43:21And the case
43:22was shut down.
43:23You couldn't get anywhere.
43:24You couldn't talk
43:24to the police.
43:25You couldn't get anything
43:25from them.
43:28Burke,
43:29with the help
43:30of the district attorney
43:31at the time,
43:32told Nassau County
43:33Police Department
43:34to step out of the case.
43:35New York State Police
43:36were told to step down.
43:38They also told
43:40the FBI to step down
43:41and get out of the case.
43:43It's a local case.
43:44It's a case that is led
43:45by Suffolk County
43:46Police Department.
43:47The FBI can assist,
43:49but the FBI assists
43:50at the behest
43:51of the local agency.
43:52There has to be
43:53a federal crime
43:53attached to it
43:54for the FBI
43:55to take over
43:56the investigation.
43:58When I was told
43:59that Suffolk County
44:00wouldn't let the FBI
44:01in on this,
44:02I thought,
44:04it's too much
44:05for them to handle
44:05for themselves.
44:06They need more people
44:08in there.
44:08Why won't they
44:09let them in to help?
44:12You don't tell
44:13the FBI no.
44:15You probably should
44:16be bringing in
44:17the agencies
44:19from anywhere
44:20that is willing
44:21to assist.
44:23Suffolk County
44:25Police Department's
44:26hierarchy
44:26wanted to
44:28put to bed
44:29the entire saga
44:31of all these
44:32dead bodies.
44:33We know she called
44:35911.
44:36What we heard
44:38was someone
44:38who seemed
44:39disoriented,
44:41confused.
44:42She did not
44:43seem rational.
44:44She didn't act
44:45appropriately,
44:46and she ran off
44:47aimlessly
44:48into this
44:49marshy area.
44:52We know
44:53for sure
44:54that Shannon
44:55Gilbert
44:55called 911,
44:57and then
44:58she disappears,
45:00allegedly never
45:01to be seen
45:02again by anyone.
45:04What was on
45:05the 911 tape?
45:10The police refused
45:11to give it to me.
45:13For me to find out
45:15what was on
45:15that tape,
45:17I had to sue
45:18the police department.
45:20The detective
45:21sergeant
45:22who was in charge,
45:23he said,
45:24John Ray
45:25will get that
45:26tape over
45:26my dead body.
45:29No,
45:29I don't think so.
45:32After years
45:33of litigation,
45:34I won.
45:35We got the tape.
45:37Hello,
45:37you dialed in
45:38to the 911 system.
45:39How can I assist you?
45:40There's some of the
45:41after me.
45:42I'm sorry?
45:43No, stop.
45:44No.
45:45How can you hear
45:47that 911 call
45:48and not send out
45:50your entire
45:51police department
45:52to look for this person?
45:53She was being hunted.
45:55Will this reveal
45:57something about
45:58the killer?
46:00Please stop,
46:01please.
46:02Stop!
46:03Stop!
46:04Stop!
46:06Stop!
46:06Stop!
46:06Stop!
46:06Stop!
46:06Stop!
46:07Stop!
46:07Stop!
46:08Stop!
46:09Stop!
46:10Stop!
46:11Stop!
46:12Stop!
46:13Stop!
46:14Stop!
46:16Stop!
46:18Stop!
46:19Stop!
46:22Stop!
46:52Transcription by CastingWords
46:59CastingWords
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