A New York woman whose escort daughter mysteriously died in 2010, leading to the discovery of a series of serial murders along a Long Island beach, was herself found dead Saturday, leading to her younger daughter’s arrest, police said.
Mari Gilbert, 52, is believed to have been killed sometime Saturday morning in her Ellenville home, local police said in a statement.
Her 27-year-old daughter, Sarra Gilbert, was taken into custody later that afternoon and charged with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Ellenville police said.
How Mari Gilbert died is unclear. Police declined to release further information, pending a press conference planned for Monday. Sarra Gilbert has meanwhile been ordered held without bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday, according to police.
The tragic news comes nearly five years after the death of Gilbert’s older daughter. The remains of Shannan Gilbert, 24, were found along Long Island’s Gilgo Beach nine months after she had gone missing. Ten other bodies were found during that time.
All the victims had some connection to the sex trade, authorities said at the time. No arrests have been made to date.
Mari Gilbert had been an outspoken critic of investigators’ handling of her daughter’s death, which was never ruled a homicide. Investigators have said Shannan Gilbert’s death is not linked to the other victims, who are believed to have been murdered.
In Gilbert’s case, her skeletal remains were found in a marsh, leading investigators to suggest that she drowned there or succumbed to the elements shortly after she met with a client nearby in May 2010.
However, an autopsy report released in February suggested that she may have been strangled.
NBC New York reported that Gilbert’s family is involved in a civil suit with a Gilgo Beach doctor, who they believe knows more about her disappearance.
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