Remains Found on Long Island Aren't Those of Missing Woman

New York (CNN) -- Searching for clues to the disappearance of a missing woman, authorities made a grisly discovery: the bodies of four women in various stages of decomposition, stuffed into bushes along an isolated strip of waterfront property on Long Island.

But the remains of Shannon Gilbert, the woman they sought, weren't there, the Suffolk County (New York) Medical Examiner's Office said Thursday.

Gilbert, 24, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was last seen alive on May 1, CNN affiliate WABC reported.

Suffolk County Detective Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky told WABC that Gilbert worked as a prostitute and had last arranged to meet a client on Fire Island about a mile from Oak Beach, where the bodies were found, he said.

"Common sense tells us it's not a coincidence," Pelkofsky said.

A Long Island resident -- who lives a few miles from where the bodies were found -- said a young woman who "looked like she was partying all night" came to his door at about 5 a.m. on May 1.

"She was screaming 'Help me, help me!' and said somebody was chasing her," said Gustav Coletti, who lives in the town of Oak Beach.

He described the woman as a "young, light-brown-haired person in her early 20s."

Coletti said he called 911 after opening his front door to the woman, prompting her to flee into the weeds along an embankment near his house.

Moments later, Coletti said, an Asian man driving a dark-colored sport utility vehicle pulled up alongside his home, looking for the woman.

"Things got out of hand at a party and I'm just looking for her," Coletti quoted the man as saying.

When Coletti informed him that he had called the police, the man said that he "should not have done that" and drove off in the direction of where girl had fled, Coletti said.

Authorities were searching in the area on Saturday when they found the first body, and three more were found Monday, Suffolk County police said.

All were discovered on a quarter-mile stretch of Oak Beach, "which indicates they were dumped there by the same person or persons," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said. "It's too coincidental that there were four bodies in the same location."

Investigators broadened the search Thursday, but no additional remains were found, according to Suffolk County Police.

Dormer said police could be dealing with a serial killer but have not been able to sufficiently link the bodies to make that determination.

Federal agents have joined police in their Investigation, according to Dormer.

"I held a meeting between members of my staff and the FBI's New York office today concerning the discovery of four bodies in Gilgo Beach during the past several days," Dormer said Wednesday. "The FBI has offered all available resources in support of our investigation."

The FBI was not immediately available for comment.

Authorities say investigators will continue to search the surrounding area Friday.

Boy Stabbed Repeatedly in Long Island Dave & Buster's

New York (CNN) -- An 8-year-old boy, who was repeatedly stabbed at a Long Island, New York, restaurant, was recovering from a punctured lung and other wounds Saturday, police said.

The boy was spending time with his family at the Dave & Buster's in Westbury when he was attacked by a 23-year-old man who approached him from behind, police said. The man placed his left hand on the victim's shoulder and stabbed the boy five times with a three-and-half-inch folding knife, police Lt. Kevin Smith told reporters.

The boy had been playing a video game with his parents nearby, Smith said.

Police arrived shortly after the boy's father and a witness captured the attacker, identified as Evan Sachs, outside the men's room, authorities said. The incident was random; Sachs didn't know the child, police said.

Sachs faces charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and possession of deadly weapon.

Mom Who Abandoned Baby In Shoebox Arrested

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (WPIX) - Bail has been set at a half a million dollars for the Long Island mom accused of abandoning her newborn in a shoebox in the lobby of a Hempstead apartment building.

Xiomara Gamez, 25, was arraigned on charges of reckless endangerment, child abandonment and child endangerment at First District Court in Hempstead. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors say Gamez has a drug addiction and has six other children who live with their father. They say she admitted to being addicted to cocaine during her latest pregnancy.

The newborn infant nicknamed "Baby Hope" by authorities was left "completely soiled" in a Timberland box on the floor of an apartment lobby at 5 Lafayette Ave. on Sunday, according to prosecutors.

Judge Robert Bruno ordered Gamez held on $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash bail as she faces charges of first-degree reckless endangerment, abandonment of a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Gamez abandoned the newborn girl, nicknamed Baby Hope, "because of her addiction" to drugs, the prosecutor said. Authorities said the newborn was in good health when she was found with her umbilical cord tied off with dental floss.

After an investigation Nassau County detectives found Gamez and arrested her Wednesday.

Gamez is set to appear back in court on Tuesday.

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Police Search For Mother Of Abandoned LI Baby

HEMPSTEAD (CBS) ― Police are searching for the mother of a newborn baby abandoned in Hempstead, Long Island Sunday night

Nassau County Police say the baby, named 'Jane Doe Hope' by authorities, was found in the foyer of a building on 5 Lafayette Avenue at around 9:30 p.m.

According to police, a resident from the building discovered the baby in a shoebox. The 1-day-old baby was taken to Nassau County Medical Center where she is said to be in good condition.

A local resident expressed her concern.

"I'm surprised that one of her friends or someone didn't know, said Reamellow Foskey. "I mean, someone had to know, her mother or someone. Too bad she didn't know me, she could have brought the baby to me."

Under New York State's Safe Haven Law, a mother can drop a baby off at a police station or hospital and not face prosecution. But because the baby was dropped off at an apartment building, it is being investigated.

Detectives asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.

FBI: Michigan Man NOT the Boy Gone Since '55

(CNN) -- DNA test results reveal that a Michigan man is not a Long Island, New York, boy who went missing 54 years ago, according to the FBI.

John Robert Barnes, of Kalkaska, Michigan, approached police in New York twice in March claiming to be Steven Damman, a toddler who vanished while on a shopping trip with his mother in 1955.

Barnes tracked down Pamela Damman Horne, Steven's sister, and the two had private tests performed that showed a "probability" they were siblings, according to Nassau County, New York, detective Lt. Kevin Smith.

But samples from Barnes and Horne analyzed by the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, determined that they do not share the same mother, the FBI in Detroit said Thursday.

Sandra Berchtold, spokeswoman for the FBI Detroit bureau, said the FBI follows strict testing protocols and used mitochondrial DNA to determine Barnes and Horne were not linked to the same mother.

Mich. Man Claims to Be NY Boy Who Vanished in 1955

ABC News- More than 50 years after a 2-year-old boy disappeared from outside a Long Island bakery, a Michigan man has come forward to claim that he was the missing boy, authorities said Tuesday.

The missing boy's father, Jerry Damman, said he was hopeful the man is his son.

"After all those years, you kind of lost all hope," he said Tuesday.

Authorities didn't release the Michigan man's identity. He approached Nassau County police and federal authorities over the past few months and said he believes he is Steven Damman, Nassau County Police Lt. Kevin Smith said.

The case was referred to the FBI and authorities are awaiting DNA results to determine if the man's claim is true, Smith said.

Sandra Berchtold, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit, declined to comment on Damman's case Tuesday.

Jerry Damman said "it's very possible" that the man could be his son.