NEW YORK-- Police say a second man had been partying with missing Craigslist sex worker Shannon Gilbert the night she disappeared from a Long Island, N.Y., beach community where a serial killer is suspected to have buried his victims, the New York Post reports.
Police are not yet releasing the name of the 48-year-old man who was staying at the Oak Beach, N.Y., summer home owned by businessman Joseph Brewer, the man who hired Gilbert in May 2010 and who was also with her that night.
According to police, Gilbert fled from Brewer's home located a few miles from where the bodies of four other prostitutes were unearthed in December, telling one resident: "They're trying to kill me!"
Gilbert has been missing since.
Brewer has repeatedly denied any involvement, saying only his "prayers are with the families" of the dead women. Police confirm he is not a suspect.
Police would not say if they have questioned the second man, the Post reports.
His mom told the paper Friday that her son had contacted her after Gilbert's disappearance, and that she believes he is somewhere in Georgia.
Police uncovered the remains of four young women on a Suffolk beach while they were searching for Gilbert in December. All were in their 20s and worked as prostitutes.
More bodies have since been uncovered and police are investigating a possible link between the now eight bodies found on the New York beach and the 2006 murders of four prostitutes in Atlantic City, N.J., the New York Post reports.
None of the remains found so far belong to Gilbert.
There have been no developments in the unsolved prostitute homicides near Atlantic City since the bodies began appearing on Long Island last year, Madelaine Vitale, a spokeswoman for the Atlantic County prosecutor, told the paper.
Authorities quickly ruled out Gilbert as any of the eight victims because of forensic evidence they had on file in her case.
The four bodies discovered in December were found amid a 4-foot-tall tangle of sea grass punctuated by scrubby pine trees. Authorities have identified them as Amber Lynn Costello, 27, originally of Wilmington, N.C.; Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 28, of Norwich, Conn.; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y.
The Suffolk County Police Department is spearheading the investigation and the FBI has not gotten involved, according to Tim Flannelly, media spokesperson for the FBI's New York field office.
Detectives wrapped up a four-day search Thursday of a seven-mile stretch of the road leading to the Long Island beach. Authorities in neighboring Nassau County are preparing to pick up the search in their jurisdiction next week.
Detectives suspect a serial killer but have not announced any suspects in the case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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