Long Island Killings: Woman's Body Found

Police believe they have found the remains of a missing woman - after the search for her uncovered 10 suspected serial killings in New York.

Officers think Shannan Gilbert died accidentally after getting stuck in a marsh on Long Island.

They had been searching for the 24-year-old prostitute since she went missing in May 2010, and in the process turned up 10 other bodies.

They are now thought to be the victims of a single serial killer , but police do not believe Miss Gilbert's death is connected to the killings.

Miss Gilbert, from Jersey City, had advertised her services on the online classifieds service Craigslist.

Officers believe she may have been fleeing a client's home when she got stuck, but New York police commissioner Richard Dormer did not say exactly why officers believed she was on the run.

He said they think she was heading for the lights of a nearby main road when she became entangled in the undergrowth and stuck in mud.

"She travelled at least a half-mile, three-quarters of a mile on foot though that muck," he explained.

"It would be very easy to get exhausted and fall down and not be able to move any further."

The skeletal remains were found in an area so dense and waterlogged that officers with search dogs could not enter it previously, he said. Last week a search of the area found some of her belongings, including a cell phone.

Oak Beach resident Gus Colletti, 75, said a terrified woman ran to his house screaming for help around the time Miss Gilbert disappeared, but when he called the police, she fled.

Outside his house, Mr Colletti then encountered a man who said he was searching for Miss Gilbert, who claimed she was upset and had left a party he was hosting.