Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Graig Graziosi

Police release haunting 911 call from woman later found dead as possible serial killer probe continues: ‘There’s somebody after me’

social media

Police have released the full audio of a 2010 911 call in which a woman, insisting people are trying to kill her, runs for her life before she disappeared.

Her remains were found a year later, but the full audio is being released to the public for the first time. The search for her remains led police to the bodies of 10 other individuals who are believed to be the victims of a serial killer.

Shannan Gilbert was 24 when she went missing in 2010. Just before her disappearance, she made a 911 call alerting authorities to her fears that someone was menacing her.

During the call, Ms Gilbert sounds disoriented and repeatedly tells the 911 operator that "somebody's after me”.

When asked where she is, Ms Gilbert says she doesn't know, and asks if 911 can trace her call. The operator tells her they cannot and asks her for a callback number, to which she hesitates and again states that "somebody's after me. Please.”

Later in the call it is revealed that Ms Gilbert is somewhere on Long Island in New York.

Eventually Ms Gilbert begins arguing with a male voice who police believe was a driver trying to coax her back into a car. She refers to the man by the name Mike. The driver can be heard saying "it's time to go" as Ms Gilbert pleads with him to "stop”.

Ms Gilbert was working as a sex worker at the time of her disappearance and investigators believe she was headed to a client's house at the time of the incident.

At some point her cries become more fearful as she repeats "please" over and over and asks the male voice "what are you going to do to me?"

The argument continues, with Ms Gilbert asking at one point if the male voice is "going to kill" her.

Later she asks if the situation was "all set up”, though it is unclear to what she is referring.

Throughout the call, the 911 operator can be heard quietly explaining Ms Gilbert's situation, presumably to law enforcement. When the operator tries to get Ms Gilbert's attention again, she replies "please get me out of here lady”.

Her attention then snaps back to the male, accusing him of being "a part of this all along”. Again it is unclear what "this" is referencing.

When the 911 operator eventually gets Ms Gilbert to respond, she claims that "these people are plotting to kill me," to which the male voice replies "shut up”.

The line goes quiet for several minutes while the 911 operator asks repeatedly for Ms Gilbert to give her more information. The quiet on the line is abruptly broken when Ms Gilbert begins screaming.

After several screams it sounds as though Ms Gilbert is running, with the slaps of frenzied footsteps the only thing audible on the call. After more running it sounds as though Ms Gilbert attempting to knock on doors of nearby houses.

For the next several minutes there is more running, and Ms Gilbert can be heard panting over the phone. 911 operators continue to try to get her attention, but she does not respond. They theorised that she may have put the phone in her pocket when she began running.

The call ends after Ms Gilbert apparently makes contact with someone, though it's unclear what happens after.

The same night, two other 911 callers reported seeing Ms Gilbert running down the street. The two men Ms Gilbert was with that night told police they thought she had a paranoid episode and described her hiding behind their sofa and running away. One of the men tried to catch up with her in his car but reportedly lost sight of her and drove home.

Both men have cooperated with investigators, and police ruled them out as possible suspects in Ms Gilbert's disappearance.

Later in 2010 while searching for Ms Gilbert, police found four sets of remains that had been wrapped in burlap sacks in the same are where she had disappeared. All of the women were identified as missing sex workers. Police then found six more sets of remains, which they believe to be the victims of the same killer.

Ms Gilbert's skeletal remains were located more than a year later in a marsh eight miles from Gilgo Beach.

Police ruled out murder at the time of her discovery, theorising that she may have been under the influence and ran into the marsh, where she died by hypothermia or drowning.

However, her family demanded an independent autopsy, which found that her death was consistent with a homicide.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.