Police: No Human Remains Found in Latest Gilgo Search

Suffolk Police say no human remains have yet been found during searching Tuesday in Oak Beach related to the missing person case of Shannan Gilbert and that the search will continue until dark.

The 24-year-old New Jersey woman was last seen in May 2010 fleeing the area.

“I can’t comment on items being found but I can state that no human remains have been found,” said Suffolk Inspector Stuart Cameron during a press conference held shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday at the former Oak Beach Inn parking lot on Ocean Parkway.

"I"m not at liberty to say if any significant items were found," Cameron said.

Cameron said there is “potential” for remains to be found given the hour of light left in the day, and that police will hold another press conference later if necessary.

“There is a chance [of human remains being found] between now and darkness,” added Cameron, stating police will likely return to search the area tomorrow given the favorable high temperature and low tide in the area. Police may use equipment from public works for the search tomorrow, he added.

Suffolk marine divers and canine units undertook today’s search about 8 a.m. The area, which Cameron described as "adjacent" to where Gilbert was last seen leaving a home in Oak Beach, had been searched previously but it had been underwater during those searches.

On Monday, police initiated a six-hour search effort and police said no new evidence or clues were discovered during the search related to the Gilbert case or the serial killer investigation involving 10 victims.

Nearly three dozen law enforcement officers, including over a half dozen canine units, from Suffolk, Nassau and State Police departments formed seven teams to comb the thick underbrush of beach between Robert Moses Parkway and Jones Beach, as well as specific sites on Bay Parkway and Wantagh Parkway.

Those resources, said Cameron, had been allocated for more searching today and six divers searched the marsh area along with 10 canine units today.

Yesterday’s search focused on 90 points of interests identified by FBI aerial photography shots taken of the beach area this past spring. Each area had already been searched at least once, according to Cameron. As of Monday the police had searched all of the 110 points of interests identified by the photo effort, he noted.

Monday’s search was “targeted” using GPS coordinates provided by photography work done during a pre-summer search effort of the beach area. The search was conducted now, as opposed to the last five months, as foliage is off the bushes which makes searching easier.

Initially published reports stated the Monday search was part of the ongoing effort to locate Gilbert, a 24-year-old prostitute who was last seen fleeing Oak Beach in May 2010.

During the press conference Monday Cameron said the search was related to the Gilbert case as well as the serial killer investigation, which police stated last week are likely two separate investigations.

Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer Patch last week that the theory now is that one Long Island male killed eight women, a male and toddler and that Gilbert's disappearance is likely not related. Police say it's possible Gilbert is dead and that her body could be somewhere in the beach brush along the parkway.