Police block a road leading to Oak Beach Tuesday. (Joe DeMaria)
The skeletal remains of missing hooker Shannan Gilbert were found this morning on Long Island following an exhaustive, weeklong search spanning a 100-acre swamp along Gilgo Beach, authorities said.
“We believe at this time that they belong to the missing Shannan Gilbert,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said.
The medical examiner has yet to confirm that the remains belong to Gilbert. The cause of death has also not been determined.
At a news conference today, Dormer said he believes Gilbert’s death was an accident after drowning in the marshland.
Gilbert’s remains were found at 9:14 a.m. after cops resumed their search.
Gilbert’s disappearance in May 2010 in Oak Beach, a gated community on Long Island’s south shore, led to the unexpected discovery of what would eventually become 10 victims of a suspected serial killer.
Last week, police found her jeans, shoes, purse, ID and cellphone in a marshland near where she disappeared.
On Friday, investigators said they said they found lip gloss only steps from where the purse was found.
Police said they suspect she may have fallen into a hidden drainage ditch and drowned.
Cops said the deaths of the 10 people and Gilbert’s disappearance appear to be a coincidence.
Police said the area where Gilbert’s remains were found had to be drained.
The startling discovery comes 18 months after the pretty 24-year-old Jersey City, NJ, escort vanished on May 1, 2010, where she was at the home of a john before she bolted screaming for help.
Police have said the last person to have apparently seen Gilbert, Joe Brewer of Oak Beach, has cooperated with cops in the case.
Gilbert’s driver the night she went missing, Michael Pak of Jersey City, told The Post that he thinks the discovery of Gilbert’s purse may finally help close the troubling case.