Harrison: Cops intend to release new Gilgo video, Gilbert 911 call soon
Composite image showing the sign at Gilgo Beach, and a picture of Megan Waterman. Credit: Newsday
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison told Newsday that he intends to make public new videotape evidence and 911 audio that is part of the Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation in an effort to spark possible new leads.
“We are going to, eventually, in the near future, share the audio of Shannan Gilbert, as well as video, that is part of the investigation,” Harrison said during an interview on Tuesday, referring to a recording made of a 911 call received from then missing sex worker Gilbert and other witnesses during an incident in Oak Beach the morning of May 1, 2010.
At that time Gilbert was trying to get away from a client and stated on her 911 call that “they are trying to kill me,” according to her family attorney John Ray.
Harrison said that he will be conferring with one of his top investigators, Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commanding officer of the Suffolk homicide squad, before he releases the evidence to be certain the disclosure wouldn’t compromise the Gilgo investigation.
Assuming there is no risk to the probe, Harrison said the materials would be released “very, very soon,” as part of a shift to more transparency and disclosure about the case.
Harrison didn’t disclose the nature of the video. But a law enforcement source said that it depicted a Gilgo Beach victim, Megan Waterman, fleeing a hotel. Lorraine Ela, the mother of Waterman, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Waterman was 22 years old when she disappeared. Her remains were found near the Ocean Parkway in 2010.
No one has been charged in connection with the killings.
Media involvement in reporting about Gilgo, Harrison said, is vitally important. “I think it is going to help out,” Harrison said of media coverage.
“There is a narrative out there that we need to change,” Harrison said. “It starts with talking about the case, seeing people who might have heard anything, getting information from somebody that might have heard something that could help us, give us a lead into the investigation.
Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney, who took over the office in January, has said solving Gilgo is one of his priorities. The case has stumped authorities for almost 12 years.
It was police attempts to locate a missing Gilbert in 2010 which led to the discovery between late 2010 and 2011 of numerous other remains of victims in what has become one of the country’s most infamous serial killer cases. Gilbert’s remains were finally discovered in December 2011 but her cause of death remains unclear.
In the early days of the investigation into the deaths of 10 Gilgo Beach victims, Suffolk Police were cautious and parsimonious about the information released. But in early 2020, then-Suffolk Police commissioner Geraldine Hart began to take a different approach.
Hart released a belt buckle bearing the insignia “HW” or “WH,” and set up a website about the case. Then, in May 2020, Hart revealed that genetic genealogy had confirmed the identity of one of the unidentified victims as being Valerie Mack, whose remains were discovered in 2000 and 2001 in two locations.
Three sets of remains, including that of a toddler, a woman believed to be the child’s mother, and an Asian man remain unidentified. Investigators have said that those remains contain DNA which is more degraded and proving to be a challenge to analyze with genetic technology.
After Harrison got the job as commissioner in late 2021, he announced that the Gilgo investigation was a priority. He recently announced the setup of a task force involving the FBI, Suffolk County sheriff and other law enforcement agencies to make it known that the case was a priority.
Ray applauded Harrison’s decision to release some evidence, and he had talked to the commissioner recently about the case and tapes.
“It is prudent, wise to let information out to the public,” Ray said on Wednesday.
Over the years, Ray said he has litigated for the right to disclose the Gilbert tapes — which consist of 911 recordings from the dead woman and three other witnesses — and said that while he has prevailed his is constrained by a court order for now from revealing the exact contents of the recording.
“One thing for sure, the public will be shocked with what they hear on that tape,” Ray said. With Cecilia Dowd
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
