Sister: N.J. woman not among remains at beach

Shannan Gilbert's family will go on waiting.

Thursday, a Suffolk detective informed the family that none of the remains they recovered near Oak Beach are Gilbert's.

"I honestly don't know what to think," Gilbert's sister Sherre said by phone from her home in Ellenville, N.Y. "We were hoping that [the remains] weren't hers, but at the same time, it would have been closure."

Shannan Gilbert, 24, of Jersey City, who police and her family said worked as a prostitute, disappeared on Oak Beach in May after visiting the home of a man who had contacted her through Craigslist. She was last seen calling 911 and pleading for help. When police arrived, they could not find her.

Sherre Gilbert said a Suffolk homicide detective called her at 5 p.m. Thursday and said none of the four sets of remains found Saturday and Monday was her sister's.

The family said Gilbert had had a medical procedure that implanted metal in her jaw; none of the skulls found at the beach had any metal in them.

"They were pretty apologetic about it," Sherre Gilbert said. "They said, 'Now we go on with the search.' "

The same can be said of the Gilberts. Since Shannan Gilbert disappeared May 1, her mother and sisters have visited the beachside home where she was last seen, interviewed witnesses and distributed fliers.

They now plan to spread photographs around the region, hoping someone will have information about her whereabouts.

"My fear is that it will turn into a cold case," Sherre Gilbert said.

With Andrew Strickler