Shannan Gilbert's kin gather at Oak Beach

Shannan Gilbert's mother, Mari, walked through the spongy wet marsh near Oak Beach Saturday. Upon reaching a makeshift cross a friend had erected, she came for the first time to the spot where her daughter's remains had been found about a month ago.

She lay flowers where her 24-year-old daughter's body had been, and she dropped to her knees. She covered her face with her pink wool gloves, and sobbed, uncontrollably, inconsolably.

Shannan Gilbert's sister, Sherre Gilbert, stood looking down, arms limp at her sides, tears streaking her face.

Shannan, who police said had been a sex worker, disappeared in May 2010. The hunt for the Jersey City woman led to the discovery of 10 sets of remains dumped in the Gilgo Beach area. But she wasn't found until Dec. 13 in a dense wetland thicket, less than a mile from where Gilbert was last seen alive during a visit to a client.

Mari Gilbert said Saturday before visiting the spot where her daughter was found that she hadn't been able to come there before Saturday because it was too emotionally difficult. Joined by about a dozen supporters, she and Sherre had come from upstate New York because they needed to see.

"This is where my daughter's life was taken, and it's important to go there and see and never forget," Mari said.

Sherre Gilbert, 24, said she had come to "just remember her." She remembered "her laugh, her singing, her cooking. "

Suffolk County police have said Gilbert was seen fleeing a client's home and appeared to have stumbled up to three-fourths of a mile on foot into the bramble. She may have become lost or disoriented in the darkness trying to get to a road, police have said. They've theorized she may have drowned accidentally in the marsh. The Suffolk Medical Examiner's office has not yet determined the cause of Gilbert's death.

Mari Gilbert, however, believes her daughter may have been a victim of the same killer or killers responsible for the 10 other victims found along Ocean Parkway. Speaking before going to the spot where Shannan was found, she repeated her call for the Justice Department to take over the investigation into the deaths of Shannan and the others.

"We will never be OK because there will be emptiness inside," she said. "Knowing [Shannan] will never come home again for birthdays, holidays or births is more pain than anyone can imagine. The only thing that keeps us holding on is the hope for the killer to be brought to justice."