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Could the L.I. serial killer be frequenting Detroit now?

From the ABC News article: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...escorts-15240677?singlePage=true#.Tvtybno0iuI

Detroit Police: Killer May Be Targeting Escorts

By DAVID RUNK Associated Press. DETROIT December 27, 2011 (AP)

Detroit police fear a killer may be targeting escorts after learning that three of four women found dead in car trunks within blocks of each other had placed sex-related ads on the same website.

Attorneys general for 45 states had raised concerns earlier this year about how the site, Backpage.com, polices ads for adult services.

The latest two victims, women aged 28 and 29, were found Christmas morning when Detroit firefighters discovered their badly burned bodies in the trunk of a car that had been set ablaze in a garage. Two other women were found Dec. 19 in a separate car trunk. The medical examiner's office has not determined how they died.

But Police Chief Ralph Godbee said that three of the women had placed ads for "prearranged adult dating services" on Backpage.com, and investigators were preparing search warrants Tuesday to get more information from the Phoenix-based website. Police were stopping short of calling the deaths the work of a serial killer, Godbee said.
null
AP
In a Dec. 26, 2011 photo, Detroit Police... View Full Caption

Backpage.com said Tuesday that it had provided police with information about ads that a suspect may have posted on numerous websites, and said that the police investigation involves at least 30 different ads on multiple websites, "separate and distinct from ours." The company said it was cooperating with the investigation.

"Backpage.com shares the concerns of law enforcement and the community that every effort be made to stop violent criminals from using the Internet to commit their crimes," the company said.

Detroit police didn't immediately comment Tuesday on the company's statement.

Meanwhile, the families of Demesha Hunt, 24, and Renisha Landers, 23, whose bodies were found Dec. 19, prepared Tuesday for a joint funeral on Thursday.

The Detroit women were found in the trunk of a car parked in the driveway of a vacant home on the city's east side. They were reported missing by relatives after they didn't return from a night out and police said there were no outer signs of trauma to the bodies.

Relatives of Hunt, who had a 10-month-old daughter, and Landers did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press. Their mothers told the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday that the cousins weren't escorts.

"These were good girls. They were not on the streets. They had homes," said Landers' mother Chikita Madison.

Hunt's mother Denise Reid said neither her daughter nor Landers were escorts who advertised services online.

"That was nothing that they were into," Reid said. "It's nothing that I would even say, 'Oh, yeah. Maybe.' It's absolutely not."

The names of the two other victims hadn't been released Tuesday. Police also haven't said which three of the women had promoted themselves as escorts on Backpage.com, which is used to buy and sell things but that also carries personal ads.

Paul DeCailly, a Tampa, Fla.-based attorney who represents escort services in court, said he doesn't believe that Backpage.com could be held liable for providing a service that brings people together. He said a newspaper, for example, wouldn't be held liable for a personal ad placed in its pages.

"I don't think that throwing in the term 'escort' in this particular situation changes the outcome of potential liability," DeCailly said.

He noted that the killings come amid government efforts to stamp out the use of the Internet for arranging escorts.

"Whoever did this, regardless of where he found his victims, was going to do the same thing," DeCailly said. "The question is when they catch him is he going to be someone who even had access to the Internet."

The attorneys general of Michigan and Illinois were among those across the country who wrote Backpage.com on Aug. 31 demanding that it show it was not promoting illegal sexual activity. The officials had raised similar concerns about Craigslist, which agreed to close its adult services section last year.

"My heart goes out to these women and their families," said Rob McKenna, the attorney general in Washington state. "Those advertised on adult services sites like Backpage.com are exploited and sometimes terribly harmed. This may be one of those cases."

James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston who has written about serial killers, said Detroit police could be dealing with a case of a serial killer or a copycat double-killing. Because the bodies were found in pairs it's possible, he said, that more than one person was involved.

He said the women may have been killed elsewhere and their bodies dumped, a common way that serial killers operate. He noted that online ads for escort services are risky for those involved because they're dealing with strangers. And he said the police warnings for caution might not be heeded.

"Even when a perpetrator is known to be on the loose, many women will put profit over protection," Fox said.

On Tuesday, printing business Can You Picture This in Detroit made T-shirts in memory of Hunt and Landers. Money from the sale of the shirts was to go to their families, said owner Clayton Carter.

Near signs promoting printing for business cards, banners and Christmas cards for the just-passed holiday, three adult-sized shirts in memory of Hunt and Landers sat on a counter along with an infant's shirt showing Hunt and her young daughter, their photos in a heart with red roses.

"It's disturbing to have this kind of stuff going on in our city," Carter said.

Sadly, this is probably not our L.I. Serial Killer. The murder of prostitutes is all too common in the U.S. Looking at all the different ones in Long Island and ones on this thread from Florida make that all too clear. :doh:
 
Woah! Big news: We finally get a glimpse into the "911" call that Shannon Gilbert made the night she died (was murdered?)! From an article on <modsnip>

This is written by the secretary-treasurer of the Suffolk Detectives Association who personally heard Shannon's call. It's hard to believe, but he says Shannon was totally calm during it.

Question: Why the hell would anyone call "911" and be totally relaxed? Anyway, he claims that Shannon had a history of acting the same way and running away during other 'tricks' as she did on the night she died. I have a hard time believing it. If so, where are the "911" calls she made at other scenes?

I still think she was murdered by the serial killer. It's just too much of a coincidence that she was a prostitute that advertised on Craigs List. Then she called 911 scared for her life & ran to a neighbor's house saying she would be killed. Then she really DOES end up dead in the same killing fields as the serial killer had been using.

"I am writing in response to &#8220;Gilbert&#8217;s mom asks feds to step in&#8221; [News, Dec. 21], in which John Ray, the lawyer who represents Shannan Gilbert&#8217;s family, strongly criticized Suffolk County police detectives investigating the Gilgo Beach murders. It is quite obvious that Ray has not listened to Gilbert&#8217;s 911 call nor spoken to any investigators assigned to the case. His claims are misleading and lack credibility. I have been a member of the department&#8217;s homicide squad for 17 years and worked on the Gilgo investigation in its first three months.

I listened to Gilbert&#8217;s 22-minute 911 call. The 911 operator tried several times to get Gilbert&#8217;s location. At one point, she mentioned she was near Jones Beach. Gilbert never said she was at Oak Beach. It is hard to respond to a call when the person calling doesn&#8217;t know where he or she is.

In the house at Oak Beach, Gilbert was not about to be murdered. Her demeanor on the tape was calm. You can hear male voices on the tape, and they are calm. At no time during this call was she desperate. From what I heard on the call, Gilbert was not speaking as if she were in danger. Despite this, she decided to run from the house and her driver, whom she relied on to take her back to New Jersey. During the investigation, I interviewed an individual who drove Gilbert to her &#8220;dates&#8221; in the past. He said she would leave houses and apartments in the same fashion as she did in Oak Beach. He described her as being a paranoid person and at times acting irrationally.

As we all know by now, Gilbert ran to another house seeking assistance. She was let into the house. When the gentleman in the house said he was going to call the police, she ran into the reeds across the street. I also interviewed this gentleman. Finally, she knocked on another door, but again ran away before the woman who lived there could find out what was going on.

Suffolk County has not turned down offers of help from the FBI. The FBI has provided a psychological profile of the offender and coordinated the use of a Blackhawk military helicopter to conduct an aerial search of the Ocean Parkway area, using classified equipment. In addition to the FBI, 12 other law enforcement agencies have assisted the homicide squad.

The detectives assigned to the homicide squad are some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable in Suffolk County. The units that support this squad &#8212; such as the identification section, computer crimes section, criminal intelligence section and the crime lab &#8212; are also the best in their respective fields.

Detectives have traveled to the hometowns of each victim many times to meet with the families, and to several states as part of the investigation. For most of 2011, the detectives assigned have set aside their personal lives, working long hours for weeks at a time. For Ray to insinuate that the homicide squad has given this case less than its full attention because of the victim&#8217;s lifestyle is grossly inaccurate."

Det. Vincent Stephan, West Sayville

Editor&#8217;s note: The writer is the secretary-treasurer of the Suffolk Detectives Association

http://long-island.newsday.com/search/letter-all-out-effort-for-shannan-1.3473520
 
The Suffolk Times:

http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/

There is a small article about Jane Doe 9098 at this web site. There is also a police blotter at this site.

To get to the web site for the above link, enter the following into the Google search bar:
The Suffolk Times

It is the first result on the first page.
 
48 Hours Mystery
"Murder or accident: How did Shanna Gilbert die?"
December 17, 2011

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_162-57344731/shannan-gilberts-remains-idd-how-did-she-die/

***"Just days after Shannan went missing, her sister, Sherre, says their mother got a strange call from a man they had never heard of - Dr. Hackett - who, she says, claimed he found Shannan roaming around Oak Beach the night she disappeared and brought her into his home.

"So he called my mom and he said that he saw Shannan, he held her at his house and following morning, the driver came back to pick her up and that was it," said Sherre Gilbert.

But when the sisters made their trip to Oak Beach to find out more, Dr. Hackett denied that he ever met Shannan.

"And at that point, we were just really upset," Sherre said. "We didn't know what to believe."

In press reports, Hackett denied making any call.

"Do you believe that he called her mom? Moriarty asked Commissioner Dormer.

"Yeah. Our information is that he did," he replies."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_1...cident-how-did-shannan-gilbert-die/?pageNum=4
 
CBS News
Crimesider
Do you know this woman? Police release
composite sketch in Long Island serial killer probe
By Crimesider Staff
Jan. 9, 2012
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_...te-sketch-in-long-island-serial-killer-probe/


Huffington Post
Long Island Serial Killer Case: Police
Release Victim Sketch
By Aman Ali
1/8/12
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/08/long-island-serial-killer_n_1192666.html


Gather News
Long Island Serial Killer Case Update:
New Sketch of Myster Victim Released
January 9, 2012
by Chelsea Hoffman
http:///viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981007370


Jezebel
Police Ask for Help Identifying LI Serial Killer Victim
January 8, 2012
http://jezebel.com/5874175/police-ask-for-help-identifying-li-serial-killer-victim


Irish Central
Police release new sketch of one of the Long Island serial killer's victims
Jan. 10, 2012
By Bernie Malone, IrishCentral Staff Writer
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Po...-Island-serial-killers-victims-137005293.html


All Media NY
Police Release Sketch of Long Island Serial Killer Victim
by Stephanie Ortiz
9 Jan 2012
http://www.allmediany.com/details_news_article.php?news_artid=2891
 
The true story of an America serial killer still at large
Daily Mirror, Feb 12, 2012

The killer is still at large and the *lackadaisical efforts of the local police, as described here, don’t exactly fill you with confidence that he will soon be caught – even though he telephoned one victim’s younger sister a total of eight times to describe what he had done.

[...]

This film shows how the murders have brought to light the flourishing secret sex trade being carried on in the suburbs. In recent years, prostitution has gone underground, online and self-employed and that means there is zero protection for the women involved and no witnesses around when it all goes wrong.​
Full article: click here
 
Robin Sax was, until about 2 months ago, the attorney for Shannan Gilbert's family. She also ran findshannangilbert.com which is now closed.

DomainTools
Whois Record For FindShannGilbert.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/findshannangilbert.com

"Registrant:
Sax Katzenstein, Robin
ATTN FINDSHANNANGILBERT.COM
care of Network Solutions
PO Box 459
Drums, PA. US 18222

Domain Name: FINDSHANNANGILBERT.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Sax Katzenstein, Robin"
 
ZDNet
Twitter uploads contact list
data without consent; retains
for 18 months
By Zack Whittaker / February 15, 2012
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/twitte...8-months/69480


“Twitter has admitted it stores user contact details — including phone numbers and email addresses — for an 18-month retention period when the service’s “Find friends” feature is used.

New and existing Twitter followers alike can upload their contacts list and address books from a variety of platforms to see if any of their contacts match up to a Twitter registered account. Once users access the feature from one of its smartphone applications, it uploads the data and is subsequently stored for 18 months.

The Twitter application for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices does not ask for permission before it scans your contacts and reveals your contacts’ Twitter accounts.

Looking into Twitter’s privacy policy, it does not explicitly disclose that it uploads and stores your contact information.”


**Although I am sure LE checked out any possible Twitter angle, I passed the info onto them just in case. This Twitter info could still prove useful to LE, IMHO.
 
Newsday
Cops: Remains likely those of
Shannan Gilbert
Originally published: December 13, 2011 8:10am
By Tania Lopez and Bart Jones
http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking...bert-1.3385742

"4:51 a.m.: Gilbert calls 911. During the 20-minute call, she "seemed disoriented, confused" and "did not seem rational," said Suffolk Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone."



Newsday
Letter: All-out effort for Shannan
Published: January 23, 2012
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/lette...nnan-1.3473520

"In the house at Oak Beach, Gilbert was not about to be murdered. Her demeanor on the tape was calm. You can hear male voices on the tape, and they are calm. At no time during this call was she desperate. From what I heard on the call, Gilbert was not speaking as if she were in danger. Despite this, she decided to run from the house and her driver, whom she relied on to take her back to New Jersey. During the investigation, I interviewed an individual who drove Gilbert to her "dates" in the past. He said she would leave houses and apartments in the same fashion as she did in Oak Beach. He described her as being a paranoid person and at times acting irrationally."
 
Mashable Social Media
13% of Online Americans Use Twitter [STATS]
June 01, 2011 by Lauren Indvik
http://mashable.com/2011/06/01/twitter-pew-study/

"Much of that growth came from younger adults, Pew found. Nearly one in five U.S. Internet users ages 25 to 34 use Twitter, up from 9% in November."


Pew Internet
Pew Internet & American Life Project
8% of online Americans use Twitter
Dec. 9, 2010
by Aaron Smith, Lee Rainie
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/.../Overview.aspx

"Some of the groups who are notable for their relatively high levels of Twitter use include:

Young adults – Internet users ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to use Twitter than older adults.

African-Americans and Latinos – Minority internet users are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white internet users.

Urbanites – Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers."


Mashable Social Media
STATS: Young People Are Flocking to Twitter
September 02, 2009
by Adam Ostrow
http://mashable.com/2009/09/02/twitter-demographics/

"The share of visitors to Twitter under the age of 35 is increasing at a breakneck pace. The most notable positive shifts are evident among the 12-17 and 18-24 year old segments, which are coming at the expense of the 35+ segments.”
 
Here is a link to the story quoted in post #738. You will need a subscription to view the entire article.

Newsday
Cops: Skeletal remains found in
Manorville
Originally published: February 17, 2012
by Nicholas Spangler
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/s...ille-1.3539517


Here is a link to a Wall Street Journal article that is basically a repeat of the Newsday article.

The Wall Street Journal
Police probe skeletal remains found on Long Island
February 18, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP0bd7...1c1dc2b14.html


LongIslandPress.com
Possible Human Remains
Found in Manorville
By Jaclyn Gallucci on February 18, 2012
http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/...in-manorville/

"The spot where the remains were found is in the heavily wooded Pine Barrens region and only five miles down the road from where the partial remains of an unidentified woman were found in 2000, the same woman whose head was found on Ocean Parkway in 2011."


**The above links were originally posted in the NY-LI10 bodies found on Beach...#13 thread on 2.17.12 & 2.18.12
 
The Associated Press
Police probe skeletal remains found on Long Island
February 18, 2012
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...8f2791c1dc2b14

"The latest set of bones was discovered at around 6:30 p.m. Friday in a pine barrens in Manorville. A resident of the town, Matt Samuel, said he was walking through the area with his dog when he made the find."

"I probably walked by it a hundred times before, and I saw it kind of sticking out of the ground, and it looked unusual. I looked a little closer and from there discovered that it was human remains," he said, adding that it looked like the body had decomposed many years ago. "It was wrapped in bed sheets and a plastic bag, It was a whole body, but just the bones, there was trees growing up through it, so it has been there a long time."


**The above link was originally posted on 2.18.12
 
The New York Times
More Human Remains Are Found on Long Island
By Al Baker
Published: February 18, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/ny...ng-island.html

“At this time, we cannot say if the remains are connected to any other cases,” a police spokeswoman said on Saturday. “The scene will be processed and re-evaluated to see if any further searching is necessary. At this point, we are at the preliminary stages of the investigation”

The spokeswoman said that investigators “cannot yet determine the age or gender of the remains.”


**The above link was originally posted in the Manorville Bodies thread on 2.18.12
 
Here is a link to a small interview with the person who found the remains:

Riverhead local
Interview: Manorville man who
found human skeleton in the woods
near his home
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Written BY Denise Civiletti
http://www.riverheadlocal.com/breaki...-in-the-woods-


**The above link was originally posted in the Manorville Bodies thread on 2.18.12.
 
Dwntwnslim said:
Here is a link to a small interview with the person who found the remains:

Riverhead local
Interview: Manorville man who
found human skeleton in the woods
near his home
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Written BY Denise Civiletti
http://www.riverheadlocal.com/breaki...-in-the-woods-


**The above link was originally posted in the Manorville Bodies thread on 2.18.12.
Click to expand...


Thanks Lilmiss_cantbwrong for pointing out the bad link! Here is a working link for the above story:

http://www.riverheadlocal.com/break...le-man-who-found-human-skeleton-in-the-woods-
 
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