Police Confirm Latest Remains Human; Count Moves To 10 In Jones Beach Probe
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police say a Nassau County medical examiner's office has confirmed the remains found this week during a search for possible victims of a serial killer are human. That makes 10 sets of remains found along Ocean Parkway in recent months.
The first remains found Monday morning were about 1.5 miles east of the entrance to Jones Beach on Long Island. Later in the day, a skull was found several miles away.
On Tuesday, State Police said it completed its search of the area in Nassau County believed to be consistent with where the remains were discovered on the Suffolk County side. Other than helicopter searches, the State Police has concluded that portion of the search and is moving the investigation to other avenues.
"We're doing it by chopper right now. We"ll mark any area that they search if they see something suspicious," said Ed Mangano, Nassau County Executive.
"We're concerned, outraged that some animal could murder someone and discard their body by the side of the road," he added.
1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reports: No New Discoveries In Aerial Search
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"It's really shocking that it happened here," said Vanessa Perez of Valley Stream.
Four sets of women's remains were first discovered back in December in an isolated area of Suffolk County near Gilgo Beach. All were identified as prostitutes advertising on the internet.
Recently, four more remains were found but have yet to be identified.
With Monday's discovery of a skull near a bird sanctuary in Nassau County and a set of human remains found only hours earlier near the landmark water tower, forensic psychologists were weighing in.
"I think this is an area that the killer feels very safe in and there's no reason to believe that it's not the same killer. There are some subtle differences. The first four were covered in burlap, the last four were not, but that doesn't mean they're different people," said Lawrence Kobilinsky of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
As police try to figure out if they are dealing with one or more killers, they also want to know who called the teen sister of Bronx victim Melissa Barthelemy not long after she disappeared.
"I just know he's a sick individual and needs to be caught as soon as possible. We're afraid because he's still out there," said Lynn Barthelemy, Melissa's mother.
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall on the tale of the tape
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Police in December were following up on the disappearance of a Jersey City, N.J., woman seen working as a Craigslist escort in the Long Island area last spring when they happened upon the first of the corpses. None of the victims, however, is 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert, whose disappearance remains an open case.
Although police are keeping hush hush about what was videotaped the night Gilbert went missing a year ago, there are four security cameras attached to a building outside the Oak Beach private community where authorities say she was last seen running and screaming for help.
Although the videotapes are taped over every 24 hours, the videos are also stored on a hard drive.
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall with a new twist on the Gilbert disappearance
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Now, a family member of Gilbert's tells WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall that they received a call from a doctor who lives in this community.
The doctor told them that Shannan was incoherent, so he took her in to his home rehab to help her and, the next day, a driver came and picked her up.
The doctor, Peter Hackett, said that he did speak to the police and he talked about the search for human remains along Ocean Parkway.
"This is important that this is done because these people need closure and we need to find this girl if she's alive," said Dr. Hackett.
Are you concerned that the killer might not be caught? Do you think police will find more victims? Leave a comment below…
