Top Cop Who Nailed Suspected Gilgo Beach Killer Declares Sex Worker Shannan Gilbert Death an ‘Accident’ — Despite Family Being Convinced She was Victim of a Serial Killer

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison announced that Shannan Gilbert's death was an accident and not connected to Long Island Serial Killer suspect Rex Heuermann, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Harrison was responsible for expanding the investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders, which led to the arrest of Heuermann on July 13. Despite the police commissioner's statement, Gilbert's family still believes she was a victim.

After Gilbert, a sex worker, disappeared on Long Island under mysterious circumstances in 2010, a massive search effort for her led to the discovery of 11 sets of human remains on Gilgo Beach.

Several identified bodies, three of which were connected to Heuermann through DNA and cell phone data, were also sex workers.

Harrison told NewsDay that despite similarities in the four women's cases, including meeting clients off Craigslist, Gilbert's death was accidental.

"It’s a horrible accident and as of right now, myself and the investigators assigned to the homicide squad still believe it was just an incident where she ran into the marsh and unfortunately drowned on that horrible day," Harrison told the outlet.

Gilbert's cause of death was labeled "undetermined," according to the autopsy conducted in Suffolk County.

An attorney representing Gilbert's family argued that a second autopsy, which was conducted by a third party hired by the family, revealed her death to be "consistent with homicidal strangulation."

Gilbert's sister, Sherre Gilbert, told 48 Hours' Erin Moriarty that her sister was "in fear for her life" on the night she went missing.

"My sister was last seen running along the roads ... She felt like she was in fear for her life that night," Sherre told the correspondent. "She just disappeared into the night."

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Before her disappearance, Gilbert called 911 from the home of Joseph Brewer, the client who hired her off Craigslist.

"My sister met the client through Craigslist and went to his house around 2:00 AM," Sherre said of the night her sister was last seen alive. "Her driver dropped her off and she was there for quite a while and then ... for some reason, she started to panic."

During the 911 call, Gilbert said, "They're trying to kill me" as two male voices were heard in the background, believed to be Brewer and her driver, Michael Pak, who was trying to remove her from the home.

While still on the phone with 911, Gilbert fled Brewer's home and ran down the street before she eventually stopped at Gus Colletti's home, a retired insurance fraud investigator.

"It was like 5:00 in the morning," Colletti recalled. "I was in the bathroom shaving. ... All of a sudden, I heard screaming out here and banging on that door. Yelling, 'Help me, help me, help me."

After asking Gilbert what was wrong, Colletti said she repeated that she needed help. He called 911 and told Gilbert the police were on the way and that she could wait there. Gilbert fled once again.

Colletti remembered seeing Pak's black SUV follow Gilbert down as she ran down the street. "She was afraid of somebody."