The Real Story Of The Lost Girls

The Long Island serial killer hunted sex workers for years

- April Glover

Over two decades, a deranged killer hunted sex workers in the coastal town of Long Island in New York.

Bodies of young women were found along the shores in remote beachside areas, and the modus operandi made it clear that this was the work of a serial killer.

The spate of murders was uncovered after 24-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert went missing after meeting with a client in the Oak Beach area of Long Island.

Shannan’s mother, Mari, a tenacious, poor mother of three, was determined to find her eldest daughter when she went missing on May 1, 2010.

In a haunting phone call made to 911 the night she went missing, Shannan was heard screaming: “They’re trying to kill me!”

It was Mari’s relentless effort to search for Shannan which led to the shocking discovery of 10 more bodies of women believed to be sex workers – some who had been missing for years.

This included Melissa Barthelemy, a sex worker who had disappeared years earlier in 2007, Jessica Taylor, also a sex worker, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

“THEY SAY SHE’S AT REST ... SHE’LL NEVER BE AT REST UNTIL I COMPLETE THE FIGHT AND GIVE HER JUSTICE”

With no suspect and after months of no answers, Mari and other family members of the victims decided to band together to investigate the deaths and advocate for more police investigation.