Oak Beach Bodies Update: N.Y. Authorities Trying to Identify Decomposing Remains
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBS/AP) Investigators in Nassau County and New York City are checking hundreds of missing person files to help identify the remains of four women found on a deserted beach highway on eastern Long Island.
Police on Long Island discovered the first of four bodies Dec. 11 while investigating the disappearance of New Jersey prostitute, Shannon Gilbert. The other three women were found within a quarter mile of each other two days later, leading investigators to suspect the deaths are connected.
Nassau police Lt. Kevin Smith says detectives are looking into about 350 cases. According to Smith, authorities are searching for women with a history of running away or prostitution.
If a case seems like a possible match, detectives would try to find DNA from the missing person or relative to help with identification.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office determined through analysis of forensic evidence that none of the human remains found belong to the 24-year-old Gilbert, who was reported missing in May, reports CBS station WCBS.
Suspicions that Gilbert might be among the victims were sparked by revelations that she was last seen in a private community about three miles from where the bodies were found.
Authorities obtained a DNA sample Dec. 15 from Lorraine Ela, mother of 22-year-old Megan Waterman, who advertised her escort services on Craigslist, to determine whether one of the bodies found is her daughter's, according to Robert Moulton, chief of the Scarborough, Maine, Police Department.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said it could be days or weeks before the bodies are identified. The New York City medical examiner's office is also assisting with identification.