May 1, 2010.
On a stretch of beach about 50 miles from New York City, the peaceful rhythm of the ebb and flow of the tides was shattered when a 911 call pierced the night.
On the line was a desperate woman begging for help.
Her name was Shannan Gilbert and she was lost in an unfamiliar area surrounded by marsh. She said somebody was after her.
But before she could say who, the call dropped.
More than a month after Shannan went missing, investigators began to search for her.
She had a metal plate in her jaw, so she would be easy to identify once investigators found her.
It took six months, but police finally located a body in that dense bush.
Surely, it had to be Shannan. But there was no metal plate.
It wasn’t her.
Neither was the second woman they found.
Or the third.
Or the fourth.
What started as the search for Shannan Gilbert had become something else entirely...
To find out what happened, watch the full episode, “The Hunt for the Gilgo Beach Killer” on Peacock now.
You can also watch it on the NBC app or on our podcast.
After you finish the episode, you can learn more about Shannan and the women found along Gilgo Beach -- Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello -- who were beloved mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends.
Plus, listen to the Talking Dateline episode with Andrea Canning and Josh Mankiewicz, in which they go behind the scenes on the making of the episode.