- Shannan Gilbert, Mari Gilbert’s daughter, was an online escort who went missing on May 1, 2010.
- Shanan spent most of her childhood in foster care.
- She eventually relocated to New Jersey with her boyfriend.
- She had called 911 for 22 minutes before going missing.
Shannan Gilbert, Mari Gilbert’s daughter, was an online escort who went missing on May 1, 2010. She vanished after visiting a customer in a gated enclave on Long Island’s Oak Beach.
Her murder in 2011 became known as The Long Island Serial Killer.
An extra tragedy in her case is that her own sister murdered their mother in a horrible manner years after her death.
When one looks at the Gilbert family, it is clear that Shannan and her sisters did not have an easy childhood.
Even as adults, the live ones are battling, whether it’s in pursuing justice for Shannan or grieving the loss of loved ones.
Check out this in-depth look at what happened the night Shannan vanished, who killed her, and how her family is dealing with her absence.
Table of Contents
Shannan Gilbert spent most of her childhood in foster care
Gilbert was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on October 24, 1986.
Shanan spent most of her childhood in foster care. Mari divorced her husband (Shannan’s and her sisters’ father) and relocated to upstate New York. Shannan, Sherry, and Sarra were all under the age of ten; Shannan was five, Sherre was four, and Sarra was three.
This was approximately two years before the family moved to Ellenville.
Shannan Gilbert was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on October 24, 1986.
Shanan spent most of her childhood in foster care.
Mari told her daughters when they were older that she had left him because he was addicted to heroin. While they never saw their father again, all three girls had his caramel skin.
Mari and the daughters resided briefly with Mari’s mother after she divorced her husband and relocated to Rockland County.
Gilbert, Shannan I Didn’t Have A Typical Childhood
Shannan, who was about seven years old at the time, was placed in foster care again after the Gilbert family moved to Ellenville.
For six years, she lived nearby in a series of foster homes, which well-meaning, kind ladies ran.
Shannan walked the same corridors as her sisters and ate the same food every day at school; she just didn’t sleep under the same roof.
Shannan was devastated, according to her friends.
She’d run home several times, back to Mari and Sherre Gilbert, Sarra, and her half-sister, Stevie.
Mari never explained why she kept Shannan at her house.
Though, after her death, the mother of four stated that Shannan’s exile from her family was her choice.
She added that her daughter had always wanted to be independent and was difficult to cope with as a child, with mood swings, overeating, and binge-and-purge behavior.
Gilbert, Shannan Was I Bipolar?
Shannan was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 12 years old.
On the other hand, she never took her medication and complained about its negative effects.
Shannan Gilbert moved in with her grandma after graduating from high school and enrolled in nursing school.
She worked as a secretary at a school, a hotel, an Applebee’s, and a senior center.
After graduating from high school, she moved in with her grandma and enrolled in nursing school.
The New Yorker worked as a secretary at a school, a hotel, an Applebee’s, and a senior center.
She abandoned college and her secretarial job within a year, citing boredom.
She Became An Escort and Aspired To Be An Actress
Shannan’s relatives reported that she was a good student who passed high school at 16 and had a strong academic record.
They also claimed that she held many professions before becoming an escort.
She eventually relocated to New Jersey with her boyfriend.
She allegedly considered abandoning adultery in the future in order to pursue her goals of becoming a singer, actor, and writer.
When Did Shannan Gilbert Go Missing?
According to reports, Shannan was at a client’s home in Oak Beach, Long Island, before going missing on May 1, 2010.
She had called 911 for 22 minutes before going missing.
Where Did They Discover Her Body?
On December 13, 2011, the Suffolk County police department discovered her remains in a marsh at Oak Beach, more than a year after she went missing.
According to NBC News, the body was discovered half a mile from where she was last seen.
Shannan’s body was discovered in a marsh near Oak Beach by the Suffolk County police department on December 13, 2011.
Mari’s deceased daughter’s handbag and mobile phone were discovered roughly a quarter-mile from her body a few days earlier, according to Oxygen.
Other ten bodies were discovered near Shannan’s body by the police
On May 1, officials uncovered more than just Shannan’s body.
During their search, they discovered the bodies of ten more people (eight women, one guy dressed as a woman, and a toddler) along the shore near Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach, which are only nine miles away.
Investigators first assumed the ten persons were murdered by a serial killer, later known as the Long Island Serial Killer or the Gilgo Beach Killer.
Who murdered Shannan Gilbert?
Given the finding of her other bodies, one could easily conclude that Shannan and the other victims were murdered by the same person.
However, investigators and their findings have maintained that there was no foul play in Shannan’s case to this day.
They’ve decided she drowned after being entangled in the marsh’s wet brush and bramble.
The police-ordered autopsy and the medical examiner later determined that her cause of death was inconclusive.
What Did Her Family Have to Say About Her Demise?
Despite police findings and statements, Mari Gilbert maintained that her daughter’s death was an accident until her death in 2016.
She and her other daughters, as well as their attorney John Ray, have asked the police to release the audio of Shannan’s 911 call.
However, authorities have yet to make these tapes public (more down below).
According to police investigations and testimony, Shannan Gilbert’s death was an accident.
Mari Gilbert, on the other hand, maintained that her daughter’s death was an accident.
Mari Gilbert, Shannan Gilbert’s mother, stated that her daughter’s death was a homicide, not an accident.
Shannon’s injuries were “consistent with homicidal strangulation,” according to Shannon’s family’s autopsy. They discovered hyoid bone damage.
Furthermore, a 22-minute segment of Shannan’s 911 call recordings showed the Gilbert girl saying, “They are trying to kill me.”
Former Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone told 48 Hours that the deceased daughter said, ‘There’s someone after me; there’s someone after me.’
Did the police apprehend Shannan Gilbert’s murderer?
There have been no arrests in relation to Shannan’s death.
In addition, the suspected Long Island Serial Killer remains at large.
The Gilbert family believes her death was a homicide and that Peter Hackett, MD, an Oak Beach doctor who had seen Mari, was involved.
Before Shannan vanished, he told the mother that he ran a home for troubled girls.
Dr. Hackett, on the other hand, has long denied the allegations.
He claims he never met Mari’s eldest daughter.
The remaining sisters, Sherre and Stevie, on the other hand, are still trying to find justice for their elder sister.
They are always pleading with the authorities to release the 911 calls.
In the meantime, they are also fighting for the rights of sex workers.
Mari Gilbert was murdered by her own sister
On July 23, 2016, five years after police discovered Shannan’s body, her younger sister, Sarra, killed her mother with a fifteen-inch knife, according to the Daily Freeman.
She stabbed Mari 227 times and then hit her with a fire extinguisher.
Sarra swayed silently beside her attorney, John Ray, during the trial.
Later, she sobbed briefly and begged for mercy.
Ray, the Gilbert family’s attorney, stated that Sarra invited her mother to her apartment, telling her she was hearing voices.
The mother of four daughters, who went to see if she was alright, ended up losing her own life.
Sarra Gilbert, the third child of Mari, is currently serving 25 years to life in state prison.
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Netflix Made A Movie On Shannan Gilbert’s Story
In 2020, the streaming giant Netflix released the story of the Gilbert family and Shannan’s death.
In the film adaptation, actress, Sarah Wisser played the role of Shannan, and New Zealand actress, Thomasin Mackenzie played the role of Sherrie.
Likewise, Amy Ryan from The Office portrayed the role of Mari Gilbert.
There are also some other shows and documentaries that have covered the deceased daughter of the Gilbert family.
Some of them are ‘The Killing Season, ‘Bodies at the Beach: Search for a Serial Killer, ‘Disappeared’, ’48 Hours’, and ‘Search for a Serial Killer.
