Police believe they have found the body of Shannan Gilbert, the missing prostitute whose disappearance instigated the search for a serial killer on Long Island.

Ironically, it looks like Gilbert drowned trying to get away from a client and was not connected to the ten other bodies found in Giglo Beach, in a deserted stretch of Long Island.

"If it is Shannan Gilbert, then her location is indicative of her trying to make it to the causeway," situated northeast of where the remains were ultimately found,” said Irish-born Richard Dormer, Superintendent  of Police in Suffolk County, who is leading the investigation.

Gilbert disappeared in May 2010 and prompted  a search that uncovered ten bodies and a manhunt for a serial killer.

Homicide detectives discovered the bones at 9:14 a.m. Tuesday while riding atop "an amphibious machine" after  they drained nearby marsh areas to focus their search on finding Gilbert.
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"The terrain would have made it impossible for her to get to" Ocean Parkway, Dormer told reporters. Last week investigators found her cell phone, shoes and jeans about a quarter mile from where the bones were found.

"It is certainly a sad day for the Gilbert family," Dormer added.

Gilbert, who advertised as a prostitute on Craigslist, was visiting a client when she tried to flee and knocked on a door of a house near the beach in a frantic state. The client has since been interviewed and is not a suspect in the murders.

Police believe she may  have been high on drugs.,She ran from the man's house in a panic, saying someone was trying to hurt her.

A man who lives nearby on that night told CNN that a young woman who "looked like she was partying all night" came to his door around 5 a.m. on May 1, 2010.

"She was screaming, 'Help me, help me!' and said somebody was chasing her," said Gustav Coletti, who called police..

"This may be just a young lady (who) ran into the brush in hysterical state, fell down and expired for some reason," Dormer said Wednesday.

Police now believe that there is just one serial killer and that earlier theories that there were more involved were incorrect.