A year and a half of questions & no answers, clues or hints. And this killer may have been shopping for victims for years. Maureen checked into a Super 8 hotel in Manhattan, and like the other young women, the 25-year-old seemed to vanish in the night. He is very controlled, very calculating in what he does. But then how did her clothing end up so far from her body? "No question she thought her life was in danger," replied Ray. FacebookShannan Gilbert in a Facebook photo. "If she had abandoned her shoes and she was walking barefoot through this, it would seem almost impossible for her without cutting up her feet very badly on the broken reeds," he explained. Sarra said her mom practiced witchcraft and she believed Mari was a demon. The prosecution argued that Sarra killed her mother out of anger because Mari had Sarrah arrested after Sarra drowned her puppy. When her mom died, Sherre wrote about it on Facebook the next day, sharing that Sarra had battled mental illness for more than two years. (The) last time I talked to him, it was seven years ago at least, and he was saying that he was basically unemployable, Kolker told. "Her driver dropped her off and she was there for quite a while and then for some reason, she started to panic.". "A lot of money for her," Moriarty noted. Shannan, a 24-year-old sex worker from Jersey City, disappeared after visiting a client in the Oak Beach area in 2010. According to NBC, Mari's 27-year-old daughter Sarra stabbed her more than 200 times and hit her with a fire extinguisher, resulting in Mari's death in 2016. She said she decided to keep the Facebook page going, despite her and her sister Stevies devastation, because of all the work and dedication her mom and their lawyer John Ray had put into Shannans case. "He said, 'You shouldn't have done that.' Dr. PeterHackettbecame linked to the case of Shannan Gilbert after he called her mother, Mari Gilbert, after Shannan'sdisappearance. "I could hear the fear in his voice.". When she has moments of lucidity, I know shell be devastated by what she has done., Laster called it one tragedy on top of another., This is a family that needed a lot of help. Meserve says. Much has been made about the caller's familiarity with police investigative techniques. She wrote a heartfelt message about Shannan in 2019, saying: Its been 8yrs since you were found. In addition, she was portrayed by Amy Ryan. And she said, 'No.' Garbus knows viewers may likely be floored by the news of Mari's death at the end of the film. But she was of age and all I could say was 'be careful' and call her all the time.". He said, 'Well, I killed Melissa,'" Cohen said. I said, 'Well, I did.'". He used the phrase that it was too late to help her and that he then released her., Shannan'sbody was discovered in 2011, partially clothed, in a localmarsh. "Sarra is, from all the evidence, clearly not responsible for what shes done," Newsday quoted Ray saying in 2016. Varrone says two male voices are recognizable in the background: Shannan's driver and the man who hired her, Joseph Brewer. "He's an individual who likes to get involved," Varrone said of Dr. Hackett. They don't want to hear anything. "She was a human being she was a mother she was a loved sister she was everything to us," Cann said. Significantly, this is the same Holiday Inn where a client asked Amber Costello to meet him just few weeks before her death. Due to the control exercised by Hackett, Shannans family believes she experienced pain, suffering, anguish, agony, and knowledge and fear of her imminent death, according to the lawsuit. Mari Gilbert never stopped fighting for the truth about how her daughterwho was a sex workerdied, drawing attention to the lower priority authorities placed on solving crimes against sex workers, the investigation Kolker wrote about suggests. The suit claims Dr. Hackett improperly treated Shannan Gilbert and points to what he allegedly said in the phone call to Shannan's mother as proof. ", Garbus hopes that Lost Girls will inspire in others the same unrelenting dedication to finding the truth about how Shannan Gilbertand the rest of the women found near Gilgo Beachreally died. We tried to get Sarra help many times since she was diagnosed with schizophrenia in early 2014 and she would get better and then her condition would get worse., Laster says she genuinely liked Sarra. By the time police arrived on the scene at 6:10am, Shannan Gilbert had vanished into the night and was never seen again. They spoke to a dozen witnesses and homeowners in the area trying to piece together a timeline. We may earn a commission from these links. Despite her well-documented history of severe mental illness and the fact that Sarra had gone off of her medication before the murder, Sarra was found guilty of murder in 2017 and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. First published on July 20, 2013 / 11:39 PM. They arrested Sarra later that day and charged her with criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree murder. After graduating from beauty school, Melissa moved from her small hometown near Buffalo to New York City to work as a hairdresser. It didnt take this long. , Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart called her cause of death "inconclusive. "I'm so grateful for that," Garbus says of their meeting. The film doesnt focus on the still-unknown killer or the official investigation into the killings, but on the grieving mothers and sisters turned victim advocates who pushed the police and media to take the murders of their loved ones seriously. There are stories about him having a police radio and anytime there was any sort of emergency call within reach of where he lived, he would hop in and drive over to see if he could help out.. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, LI Serial Killer: Missing escort, crime scene & victims, Clues in the Long Island serial killer case, How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh, Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death, Five deaths with a connection to Alex Murdaugh's family investigated. Lost Girls, a new Netflix movie helmed by Emmy-winning documentary director Liz Garbus, tells the true story of the deaths of Shannan Gilbert and several victims of the Gilgo Beach murders. "We said that Maureen went to New York and she never came back. "he was soft-spoken and had -- a very controlled and comfortable manner of speech, which made his horrific messages all the more devastating he began to toy with her And for the very first time, she heard the voice of the killer.". The murderer is suspected of killing between 10 and 16 people and, so far, has eluded capture. "So, when Mary says that Dr. Hackett called on May 3 and said that he'd seen Shannan and that he was running a home for wayward girls, do you believe that, do you believe what she's saying?" Barthelemy wondered. In the prosecutors view, the killing of Mari Gilbert was a crime of passion, quite likely drug-fueled, against a mother whom Sarra resented for years. "There's nothing I can add that the police don't already know," said Dr. C. Peter Hackett, an Oak Beach resident and retired emergency services doctor who curiously inserted himself in the middle of the mystery - by calling Shannan's mother on May 3, 2010, two days after Shannan went missing. "The major symptoms of schizophrenia hit later," Garbus explains. Twisted Sisters airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery. One of her four daughters, Shannan, tragically died and her death is still being investigated. Authorities were able to trace some of the calls to a handful of busy locations in midtown Manhattan: near the Port Authority, the Empire State Building and Times Square. Mari Gilbert's murder was "the most morbid turn in this already complete tragedy," Vesselin Mitev, who Mari originally hired to help her solve Shannan's death, Its not clear what triggered Gilberts fear and a. has never been publicly released. She also beat her with a fire extinguisher and sprayed her with foam from the extinguisher. Powered by. "We believe that Dr. C. Peter Hackett's actions led to Shannan Gilbert's death," said Ray. Attorney John Ray told CBS that Sarra rtache I feel everyday for you & mom. But Hackett would face criticism after he allegedly embellished his role in the investigation, Vice reports. By all accounts, he really aggressively put himself in the center of things whenever anything was going on there, he said. Shannan's family members believe the police should have done more to investigate the man they believe was the last person to see Shannan alive: Dr. Peter Hackett. "When I said to her, 'I called the police. Varrone says that the investigation into Shannan's death remains open and is confident that the days of the elusive serial killer haunting the beaches of Long Island are numbered. Sarra also stripped off her mother's clothes and severely beat her head with a fire extinguisher. Saraa murdered her mother and is now in jail. Then, five years after the discovery of Shannans body, the Gilbert family once again made headlines when Mari was killed by her daughter Sarra on July 23, 2016. I've seen it, its really overgrown," Moriarty noted. No," Varrone replied. "She's saying, 'There's someone after me; there's someone after me,'" he said. Maybe she doesn't care about her kids'" Cann said, her eyes welling with tears. Dr. Hackett has steadfastly denied ever seeing Shannan to the press. Yelling, 'Help me, help me, help me. There is not an iota of evidence in any of this litigation., Over the years, many of the initial counts in the lawsuit have been removed, including the wrongful death claim that was dismissed in 2013, according to, The remaining claims are related to Shannan Gilberts pain and suffering before her death and the later emotional distress suffered by Mari Gilbert, according to, Before Hackett was embroiled in the media coverage of the case, Kolker told, Hackett had served as head for the Suffolk County Emergency Medical Services when the. Would love your thoughts, please comment. They're on their way,' She just looked at me and she ran right out the door.". Shannan was last seen running on the streetsof Oak Beach after leaving her client Joseph Brewers home. Read an excerpt of "Lost Girls"Kolker: Who let down the lost girls? She grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but moved with her three eldest daughters, Shannan, Sherre, and Sarra, to upstate New York to escape their heroin-addicted father. You dont go back to where you started Its like a nuclear bomb went off.. Shannan's sister believes something awful happened in that house to terrify her because of a 911 call Shannan made from right inside the client's home. Its not clear what triggered Gilberts fear and a23-minute call she placed to 911has never been publicly released. Chief Varrone insists police didn't know about that call until months later. "Mari was a lifetime practitioner of witchcraft and apparently of black magic," Ray said in the same Newsday report. But she had recently become dangerous, even drowning her pet puppy in front of her eight-year-old child. He nowreportedly lives in Florida. This was the second tragic incident to hit the family in six years. Our editors handpick the products that we feature. Still on the 911 call, Shannan fled the house running towards the nearby home of Gus Colletti, a retired insurance fraud investigator and resident of Oak Beach for over 30 years. Mari Gilbert felt that Shannans disappearance wasnt being treated with urgency, and that her daughter was being dismissed because she was a sex worker. I don't," said Shannan's mother, Mari Gilbert. Somehow he convinced her to meet him alone -- an unusual move for Amber, who normally required clients to come to her. In 2011, her body was found in a marshy area. But they werent getting it.. What has never been reported before is that Shannan's call was transferred to the New York State Police when she couldn't tell them where she was. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. Mari Gilberts body was discovered in her daughter Sarras apartment in the Catskills. Suffolk County police told "48 Hours" that they believe the caller was, in fact, Melissa's killer. According to police, she appears to have entered the marsh right behind where Peter Hacketts house is, and her belongings were found right near his house in the marsh and then her body was found a long distance away, Kolker toldOxygen.com. Though Shannan had been on the phone with 911 for more than 20 minutes and had been spotted running down the johns quiet street knocking on doors and screaming for help, police did not arrive on the scene for almost an hour. Gene Coombs and Henry Williams had mistaken the politician for a drug dealer who had ripped them off. Her disappearance and Mari's efforts to find out what happened to her daughter are the focus of the new Netflix feature film "Lost Girls" starring Amy Ryan as the desperate mother who casts suspicion on Hackett (played by Reed Birney). / CBS News, Produced by Clare Friedland and Liza Finley. Mari was alive and kicking. Mari Gilberts body was discovered in her daughter Sarras apartment in the Catskills. The Gilberts say they immediately filed a missing persons report, but with no news, they drove 140 miles from their home in upstate New York to Oak Beach, Long Island, to look for Shannan themselves. Last. Stop, go a little bit," said Colletti. With Shannan Gilbert's disappearance and the discovery of four other bodies, all escorts, attention focused on a profession that has always operated in the shadows. 'Lost Girls': What Happened To Dr. Peter Hackett? She does not deserve to be forgotten.. Hackett, who police have said is not a suspect, initially denied ever making the call, but later admitted to calling the Gilbert family after phone records showed he had placed two different calls in the days that followed her disappearance. Authorities said they thought Shannans death wasnt connected and might have been a drowning. Meserve tells PEOPLE she became close with the Gilbert family after they were linked by the Gilgo Beach killings in Long Island. Convinced the Suffolk police weren't going to investigate Shannan's death, attorney John Ray took matters into his own hands. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. What would kill a 23-year-old woman? Several references are made to Sarra's mood stabilizer prescriptions throughout the film, and Garbus says that was tweaked retroactively after Mari died. In his new afterward to Lost Girls, Kolker described the breakdown Sarra experienced after the discovery of her sisters remains: Over the following three years, Sarra spent time in psychiatric hospitals and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. "The complaint operator's asking, 'Well, where are you?' The film's events begin six years ahead of Mari's murder, and Sarra is played as an adolescent by actress Oona Laurence. He said the cause of death could not be determined, but the autopsy showed some findings consistent with strangulation. Shortly after Gilberts body was discovered, Hackett put his Oak Beach house on the market in 2012 and moved away from the area,Newsdayreports. While the calls he made to Shannan's family may be strange, they're not out of character. "I knew that it was a possibility but I really just wanted to keep hope," said Sherre. There were eight in total, including one in which the likely killer spoke to Lynn. "Shes what we call criminally insane. "You could make that argument," he replied. "I believe my sister needs a voice needs her pride back needs the respect she had before this all happened," said Melissa Cann. It was Michael Pak, Shannan's driver. It was 4:51 a.m. Former Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone, who has heard the call, is speaking for the first time on network television. Schaller says the client enticed Amber with the promise of big money. Ryan tells OprahMag.com that she'd been familiar with the story of the Long Island Serial killer, as a native New Yorker who spent time at nearby Jones Beach growing up. But mainly he focused on Melissa's little sister and called to terrify her. Something doesnt, No , the murder happened in Ohio . Mari Gilbert was an American activist and advocate for her late daughter, Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old aspiring author working as an escort who may have been murdered by the Long Island serial killer. And then you keep changing your story," said Moriarty. ultimately discovered the bodies of four women along Ocean Parkway, Howeverin an update of the case in January. She has been charged with second degree murder. Mari Gilbert's daughters dealt with the tragedy of their sister Shannan in different ways. "I was terrified," Barthelemy said. ", The Office alum says she partly based her portrayal on Liz's "very helpful" accounts of her conversations with Mari, videos of Mari, and Kolker's book. In 2016, just months after an independent autopsy raised more questions about Shannans death, Mari Gilbert was found dead in her daughter Sarra Gilberts The remaining claims are related to Shannan Gilberts pain and suffering before her death and the later emotional distress suffered by Mari Gilbert, according tocourt documentsin the case. A year & a half of anger, tears & sleepless nights. It took authorities almost a month to connect the call to the missing persons report the Gilbert family had filed for Shannan. Just weeks ago, "48 Hours" went to Dr. Hackett's house to try to get answers. "You didn't think your mom could be mistaken? Mari died on July 23, 2016, in the apartment building the Words cant even describe the amount of pain and heartache I feel everyday for you & mom. Dylan Eason and Isaiah Churchwell were convicted of murdering Cynthia William "Patrick" Alexander remains in prison for murder. The family never found closure, Laster says, as Shannans official cause of death remains undetermined and the Long Island serial killer remains at large. She's where she wants to be.' "I was so moved by Mari's story," Garbus tells OprahMag.com. Moriarty asked Sarra. "48 Hours" has since recently obtained phone records from Shannon's mother that confirm Hackett actually did make a call to Mari Gilbert exactly when she said he did on May 3. "I'm satisfied in my belief and understanding of what occurred.". Mari Gilbert died in July 2016, allegedly stabbed to death by her other daughter, Sarra, who suffers from schizophrenia. "48 Hours" uncovers missing escort Shannan Gilbert's final minutes She believed the voices in her head were caused by her mom. "No. "She pretty much thought that, you know, it would never happen to her," she replied. Mari Gilbert was murdered by one of her daughter, Sarra Gilbert, in July of 2016five years after the events of Lost Girls.