How did Shannon Gilbert die? Family lawyer claims sex worker 'didn't die of natural causes'
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: Shannan Gilbert, the 23-year-old deceased Long Island sex worker, whose search and final 911 call led investigators to 10 other victims in the Gilgo Beach murders case, was found dead in December 2011. While the Suffolk County Police Department initially dubbed Gilbert's death as a "tragic accident," her family believed that she was "murdered."
In the wake of Rex Heuermann's arrest in connection to the deaths of the first four Gilgo Beach serial killings victims, Gilbert's family lawyer John Ray claimed that her death was also allegedly caused by a possible Long Island serial killer. Ray previously told News 12 New Jersey that while there is no evidence linking Gilbert’s death to Heuermann, "there is no doubt whatsoever" that she was "murdered by someone."
What was Shannan Gilbert's cause of death?
After Gilbert's body was discovered in a marsh near Gilgo Beach, officials initially claimed that she reportedly walked into the marshland before falling and drowning in a drug-induced state of panic, CBS News reported. Her cause of the death remained undetermined in the first autopsy and Suffolk County police reportedly believed that Gilbert was not in a position to be the considered as the 11th victim of the Gilgo Beach murders.
However, a second autopsy conducted by former New York City medical examiner Dr Michael Baden, reportedly showed that Gilbert's death was "consistent with homicidal strangulation," Ray said at the time. Speaking about Gilbert's death in a recent interview with The US Sun, Ray said, "When the police claimed that she had wandered into the marsh and managed to kill herself, when I had seen the autopsy report where she's found face up laying on a bush, and the police had claimed she drowned. That didn't make any sense."
Ray mentioned that he was present when Baden conducted the second autopsy and noticed that the hyoid bone in Gilbert's neck was disfigured. "When we looked at the bones, we were able to discern that the very small, significant hyoid bone in the neck, was cracked on one edge," he told the outlet. The lawyer reiterated that Baden's autopsy "indicated that she did not die of natural causes and it was consistent with homicide."
The family attorney also noted that there was a hole at the base of Gilbert's hyoid bone. "It appears be to something was either drilled or pushed through that bone. And we couldn't determine what that was, but it was highly unusual," Ray said. In a 2016 interview with 1010 WINS, the attorney said, "We know from scientific evidence that virtually every woman who is strangled or hung breaks her hyoid bone and in this case, this was ignored by the medical examiner of Suffolk County and here Dr Baden instead says it's an indication of strangulation."
'I don't believe Shannon ever entered the marsh'
Ray also told The US Sun that he was concerned over authorities saying Gilbert drowned in what they called a "fallback position" and believed that she died from natural elements after getting lost in the marsh. "So I said, 'You know what? The best way to learn about this is go there yourself and see what this terrible marsh was like, such that it would've killed her,'" he explained.
The lawyer reportedly entered the marsh on the same day Gilbert disappeared a year ago with similar weather and natural conditions. He said the location from which police claimed Gilbert entered the marsh was a "quasi opening." "You have to work at it, but you can get in," Ray stated, adding that while it was difficult to enter the marsh, it was not difficult to get out.
"Either side of the marsh there were escape routes easily found. It would be absurd to say somebody got lost in the marsh and died because they couldn't get out," he shared. The laywer also explained that when walking in the marsh "the loam you walked on was damp and sometimes had a little water that would come up over say the tip of your boot. And that was about it. It wasn't deep at all."
He added, "Even if she fell into the canals, they weren't deep. They're like not even waist deep — they'd come up to your thighs for an average person." Ray further stated, "I don't believe Shannon ever entered the marsh." Barbara Brennan, one of the neighbors who contacted 911 to report about Gilbert's sighting on the day of her disappearance, reportedly called officials around 5:30 am that day.
"So twilight would've been the condition, not pitch darkness. So the police theory that she got lost in the dark and got confused is absurd. In fact, as we went through the marsh, as we progressed, we could see our way into the homes that lined from Oak Beach — that lined the marsh on the south side of it," Ray stated. Former Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer previously claimed to a reporter that Gilbert reportedly ran through the bramble, which pulled her jeans off.
However, Ray argued, "First of all, any girl who wears jeans they're not baggies like in the hippie days — they're tight jeans and they don't come off because sticker bushes pull them as you go through the marsh." He asked, "How do you get them off? You have to take them off, or somebody's gotta take them off for you." The attorney further added, "So then they argue, well she panicked and in her panic because she was on drugs, she was hallucinating and she got wet and she took off her pants."
"That's absurd as well," he mentioned, before adding that there was "zero evidence" showing Gilbert was on drugs the day she vanished. The circumstances surrounding Gilbert's death continues to remain a mystery. While Ray holds that her death was a homicide, he said it not known who killed Gilbert and did not claim that Heuermann was the man behind the alleged killing.