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Police: Search for evidence resumes on N.Y. beach

By Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Teeth, skull were found in Nassau County recently
  • Police will search new part of county starting Monday
  • Local police departments disagree over whether serial killer is likely possibility

New York (CNN) -- Police will continue their search for human remains along Long Island Monday morning following the discovery of additional remains connected to a possible serial killer.

The search follows the discovery of two teeth that appear to be human found April 22, near where a human skull was uncovered in Nassau County late last month. There were no searches last week because the designated area had been completed, police said. Monday marks the start of a search of a new area in Nassau County.

The teeth are the latest discovery in an ongoing search that has found 10 sets of human remains since December.

From those remains, authorities have identified at least eight bodies.

New York State, Environmental, Park and Nassau County police departments will search Nassau County Monday, temporarily closing five miles of one of the three major roadways that connect to the barrier island where the remains have been found, according to a police statement.

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Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said last month's finds take authorities a step closer to bringing "this killer to justice," though he added that a medical examiner will have to determine if the teeth are indeed human.

Police spokesman Kevin Smith cautioned against media speculation regarding a possible killer on April 22, saying that the two sets of human remains found in Nassau County have yet to be classified as a criminal homicide matter.

"Anybody who is making a profile (of a possible killer), it's pure speculation," Smith said in reference to the human remains found in that county.

His words were in sharp contrast to those of authorities in neighboring Suffolk County, where eight other sets of human remains have been found.

That county's police commissioner, Richard Dormer, said the remains found in Suffolk could be the work of a serial killer or killers.

Dormer first mentioned the possibility of a serial killer in January, when the total number of bodies found was four.

Those bodies were all female prostitutes uncovered within a quarter-mile of each other, according to Dormer.

"Common sense tells us it's not a coincidence," Suffolk County Detective Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky said at the time.

Since then, authorities have discovered six additional sets of human remains in the two counties. They appeared to be in various stages of decomposition, police said.

Officials have yet to identify the latest sets and have provided few other details regarding the discoveries.

Last month's find of the teeth came as police fanned out across brush and bramble-filled areas that border the Long Island highway that will be closed Monday in a remote area north of the town of Oyster Bay.

Police divers scoured the sea floor with metal detectors and long poles before the finding, searching for evidence.

"It could be a piece of jewelry, it could be a piece of apparel, anything of interest," said Harold Jantzen, the Suffolk County marine deputy inspector.

That search was in the same area where the first four bodies were uncovered in December.

The area, near private docks in upscale Oak Beach, is also where 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert was last seen in May of last year. The missing New Jersey woman's disappearance prompted the initial search.

She was reported missing after attending a private party at a home in the Oak Beach community. No sign of her has been found.

Police said Gilbert, like the other four women found in Suffolk County, had advertised prostitution services on Internet sites such as Craigslist.