Clothing and a purse believed to belong to a female escort who advertised her services on Craigslist have been found on an Long Island beach nearly two years after she vanished. Police discovered Shannan Gilbert's jeans, cell phone, shoes, and a purse with identification near the community of Oak Beach. It was the police search for the missing woman that led them last year to the discovery of a shocking body dump of 10 victims of a suspected serial killer. The corpses of eight women, a toddler and a transvestite were found in the weeds along a rocky stretch of beach. Of the five women identified, all were prostitutes.
Nearly two years ago a distraught Gilbert knocked on the door of an Oak Beach resident, and begged him for help, he reported to police. As he was calling 911, she fled toward the ocean. But police don't believe Gilbert was the victim of the serial killer, and think she may have drowned in the marshy area along the beach, reports the Los Angeles Times. “We believe that Shannan Gilbert ran into that area the night she disappeared" in a hysterical state, said the Suffolk County police commissioner. "Looking at the terrain, it's very easy to get stuck and not be able to get out of there." They're continuing to search for the body. The items were found because the tide has been particularly low, exposing area along the shore that has been submerged. (More serial killers stories.)