Police find remains near NY beach believed to be missing NJ prostitute Shannan Gilbert

(CBS/WCBS/AP) OAK BEACH, N.Y. - Suffolk County police say they have found human remains they believe are New Jersey prostitute Shannan Gilbert who went missing 19 months ago, reports CBS New York.

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Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said the remains were found near a coastal marsh on New York's Long Island Tuesday morning about a quarter-mile northeast of where Gilbert's personal belongings were found last week.

According to Dormer, a medical examiner will definitively determine if the remains do in fact belong to Gilbert and an exact cause of death, CBS New York reports.

Gilbert worked as a prostitute and it was the search for her whereabouts last December that led police to what would eventually become 10 other sets of human remains in the underbrush along a beach highway. Police announced last week that they believe these remains may have been left by one serial killer.

Police are now saying that, although, like Gilbert, most of the victims were involved in the sex trade, they do not believe her death is connected to the other 10 victims. Police think Gilbert may have drowned after becoming upset for an unexplained reason.

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