Cops call in FBI as serial killer case develops - none of four bodies on beach is Shannon Gilbert

John Lauinger New York Daily News 12/14/2010 18:46

Cops say it's unlikely that any of the discovered bodies is that of missing prostitute Shannon Gilbert.

Cops who feared a serial killer has turned a Long Island beach into a dumping ground Tuesday called in the FBI for help. The New York City medical examiner is also helping Suffolk County police identify the four decomposing corpses a cadaver dog discovered in Oak Beach, L.I.

Cops were looking for clues to the fate of prostitute Shannon Gilbert when they discovered the remains on Saturday and Monday.

An early analysis suggests none is Gilbert - who vanished in May after a sex romp in a gated community in Oak Beach.

"Preliminarily, it doesn't look like it is her," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer told the Daily News yesterday.

The bodies - at least two are women - were found on a narrow island off Long Island's South Shore, between Gilgo Beach and Cedar Beach.

Officer John Mallia and his dog Blue were walking along the shoulder of Ocean Parkway on Saturday when the pooch's tail suddenly perked up.

"At that point, I saw the skeletal remains of the body," Mallia said.

He and Blue were called in for followup searches Monday, and they found the other three bodies within a quarter mile of the first - about 50 feet apart.

Dormer said police are operating on the assumption the victims were slain by a single murderer who drove to the area and dumped the bodies in the roadside brush.

"We could have a serial killer," he said. "I don't think it's a coincidence that four bodies ended up in this area."