Eileen Coletti said she has a personal connection to the...

Eileen Coletti said she has a personal connection to the case. Credit: Newsday/Janon Fisher

Eileen Coletti, 64, got to the courthouse at 7 am. Her father, Gus Coletti, who died in 2015, answered the door for Shannan Gilbert the morning she disappeared in 2010. Gilbert's frantic 911 call and the discovery of her remains near the marsh in Oak Beach led to the discovery of Heuermann's alleged victims. While Gilbert has not been named as one of his Heuermann's possible victims, her case kick-started the investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings. 

Coletti has followed the case ever since. She said she attended Alfred Berner Middle School in East Massapequa with Heuermann, were she was a year ahead of him.

"I had to see it end," she said.

Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

'I've never seen fire sitting on the water' Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

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