Serial killer probably.
Dec. 13, 2010 06:29 PM
Newsday
MELVILLE, N.Y.-At least three bodies were found off Long Island Monday in the same area a human skeleton was discovered Saturday, according to police and a source familiar with the investigation.
Three decomposed bodies, two of them wrapped in burlap sacks, were found near Ocean Parkway, a source familiar with the investigation said.
As the sun set Monday night, Suffolk County police were forced by darkness to stop their search, which was focused in an area of heavy underbrush just off the westbound lanes of Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach.
Detective Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky said a missing-person report was made in May for Shonnan Gilbert, 24, of Jersey City. Gilbert, who he said worked as a prostitute, met a client on Craigslist and arranged a meeting on Fire Island. She traveled with another man there to meet the client, where she was last seen alive on May 1, he said.
On Saturday, dogs searched the area, because Gilbert disappeared nearby and also for training purposes. The unit found skeletal remains in underbrush, about 6 or 8 feet from the road's shoulder. Those remains were of a female, a source close to the investigation said.
After that discovery, detectives had difficulty searching the area thoroughly because of darkness, Pelkofsky said. Heavy rain on Sunday prevented dogs from working there.
Detectives returned Monday, and a dog found a second body, also extremely decomposed, about 500 feet from the first body, also in heavy underbrush near the roadway.
"Common sense tells us it's not a coincidence," Pelkofsky said. He confirmed the existence of two bodies, but said he could not comment further. "We found two and we're still looking," he said.
The bodies appear to have been there at least a month or likely longer; all will need to be identified through dental records or DNA. No identifications have been made, and it's unclear whether one of the bodies is Gilbert's.