It’s been a year since police in New York discovered the remains of four women on Long Island. All were believed to be the victims of a serial killer, and all worked as prostitutes. The search that unearthed them began when Shannan Gilbert’s family reported her as missing. Their persistence in pressuring area police led to the ongoing searches which have turned up ten bodies since last December, none of them Gilbert. That changed Tuesday, when police found her belongings near skeletal remains on Long Island. Unexpectedly, given the fate of the other women, they theorize that Gilbert was not a victim of the serial killer, but instead may have drowned.

No arrests have been made and no solid leads to the identity of the killer/s have emerged. In an article about profiling serial killers, the New York Times puts forth the disturbing idea that the killer works in law enforcement. While no other information has been released that supports that theory, it highlights how sex workers are made more vulnerable because of the legal prohibitions on their work. The police are seen as a threat, not as protection. Other sex workers may not come forward with information for fear of legal reprisal, leading to  this request made by the Red Umbrella Project last December for amnesty. It’s sadly obvious that had the victims all been young college coeds rather than women working in an illegal profession, the media attention and public pressure to solve the case would be increased tenfold. There’s attention, of course, and even a TV special, but there’s not outrage.