Gilgo Beach investigation: Authorities release Shannan Gilbert's 911 calls
OAK BEACH, N.Y. -- More than 11 years after Shannon Gilbert, one of the victims of the Gilgo Beach murders, went missing, Suffolk County investigators released three 911 calls made the night of her disappearance.
Gilbert is one of six sex workers whose remains were found in the unsolved murders. In addition to the six sex workers, remains of five other people were also found.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reports, Suffolk investigators said they have nothing to hide and no smoking gun.
The Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation into ten unsolved deaths was sparked in the early hours of May 1, 2010.
In one of the 911 calls, Gilbert, a sex worker, can be heard saying, "There's somebody after me."
"Where are you, ma'am?" a dispatcher asks.
"I don't know," Gilbert says.
Gilbert's call lasted 21 minutes.
"I'm inside a house," she says.
"What house?" the dispatcher asks.
"I don't know. Can you trace where I am?" Gilbert says.
Her Craigslist client and her driver, both on the call, are heard trying to calm her and were later cleared of any wrongdoing.
"Why? You going to kill me? ... Why are you going to kill me?" Gilbert says.
It was attempts by the police to find Gilbert that led to the discovery a quarter mile away of the Gilgo Four -- homicide victims, also sex workers, wrapped in burlap.
Remains of other victims were subsequently discovered along Ocean Parkway in one of the country's most infamous unsolved murder cases.
Gilbert left her Craigslist client's house but did not get into the car with her driver as she ran towards other homes. She could be heard screaming in one 911 call.
Two neighbors also called 911.
"There's a young girl, about 14 years old, running around screaming and there's some guy trying to follow her," Gus Coletti says.
"She says she's in danger," Barbara Brennan says.
"Do you know her or no?" the dispatcher asks.
"No, I don't. I'm not letting her in," Brennan says.
The public release of the 911 calls is a complete reversal of previous Suffolk Police policy.
"We have determined that at this time the release of the audio will not impede the investigation in this case in any way," Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
In the early days, Suffolk investigators publicly feuded over theories of the case -- one killer, three killers or more, don't release the 911 calls, petty jealousies severed relationships with the FBI.
Investigators believe Gilbert ran away and got lost in the reeds and water.
"It's undetermined. Our opinion is that it's an accident," Suffolk Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer said.
But the attorney for the Gilberts says his private autopsy revealed strangulation.
"Their pride is at stake. The blue wall is at stake, and what they are hiding, God only knows," attorney John Ray said.
The family's attorney says the family wanted the courtesy of listening to Gilbert's audio tape before it was released to the public.
Earlier in April, police released video of one of the victims - Mergan Waterman - before she was killed. Police say they hope to jog memories. The reward for information leading to an arrest is $50,000.
The videos and 911 calls appear on the GilgoNews.com website, a renewed effort by a task force that includes talking to sex trafficking victims in jail.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 1-800-220-TIPS.
