JOSH (VOICEOVER): Delving into the case of the Long Island
serial killer, Rachel and I have come to learn
there are no easy answers.
We believe it was exposure to the elements.
It didn't sound like anybody was trying to kill her.
Gina's death was not an accident.
JOSH (VOICEOVER): And the truth is sometimes just
as tragic as the crime itself.
He said, "She's staying in a whorehouse in Queens."
I do believe it was him I talked to.
JOSH (VOICEOVER): Every lead we've
uncovered only seems to take us further down the rabbit hole.
Where should we go find him?
Same way he found us, on Backpage.
JOSH (VOICEOVER): It is a journey far darker than we
could ever have imagined.
We have information as to whom we believe this individual is.
But of all the mysteries we've encountered so far,
none has been more consequential--
and to some, coincidental--
than the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert from Oak Beach.
Shannan Gilbert-- she fits the same
profile as all the other girls.
She's an escort service girl.
She is going out to do a trick and she doesn't come back.
How can you separate Shannan Gilbert
from those other victims?
You can't.
The way she operated, the MO was completely different.
She had a driver.
Brewer had to drive or bring Shannan to his house.
With these young women, there was no driver.
They were lured into some location.
We still believe and we hold to it that she
succumbed to the elements.
It just doesn't make sense that she would run naked
through a marsh and then die if there
wasn't somebody out there who was also involved in her death.
I mean, there are a lot of different ways
you can play it out, but the police
theory is probably the least likely of any of those.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): It's the enduring mystery of Shannan's
death and our own need for answers that has led Josh
and I back to Oak Beach to retrace her final steps.
Less than 500 yards from where we entered,
police found the trail of Shannan's purse,
shoes, and her torn pants.
She lost all her possessions.
She lost her pants somehow, either
taking them off or having to pull
them off because they got wet.
This is really what it must have been like.
I mean, she's walking barefoot without gloves.
She must have been cut up.
Whoa.
Yeah, this gets bad.
I can't even see where you are right now.
Guys?
See how far away she was from the house?
Jeez.
It's like a quarter mile of a huge push.
If she was brought in here, how
would that person have done it?
There's no way.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Standing out here,
we were confident Shannan's body hadn't
been staged, as the Gilgo Beach four had been.
But still, could someone have had a hand in her death?
Had she been chased, as the 911 insinuated?
Or had she been given drugs that led to the episode police
suggested?
So sad.
What makes me sad is that, look,
it takes us so much to get through here and no one comes.
I believe that her death was not
in vain because she led to the discovery
of 10 other individuals.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Maybe one day
we will solve the mystery of what exactly
happened to Shannan.
But will that answer involve LISK?
In our opinion, probably not.
Yet as tragic as Shannan's death is,
there was still the overwhelming horror of 10 bodies,
bringing us back to our hunt for LISK and to our post
on Backpage, which has led to numerous texts and calls,
including one cryptic message that caught our attention.
I heard who the LISK is/was and it kind of makes sense that he
hasn't killed in quite a while.
Hmm.
Interesting.
We should call him.
Call him?
Mm-hmm.
[phone ringing]
Hey, how are you doing?
We're the filmmakers who are doing the Long Island
serial killer documentary.
You saw our post on Backpage.
And how did you hear that?
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): The man the caller was talking
about was James Bissett, a wealthy landscaper
and aquarium enthusiast.
Oh, right here.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): We'd heard rumors surrounding Bissett
before, but never from someone connected to law enforcement,
leading us to take a closer look.
Look, December 14.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): In an eerie coincidence,
Bissett committed suicide just one day after Shannan's body
was discovered.
And what's more, he also owned a nursery that allegedly was one
of the only places on the island that
sold burlap sacks, which was wrapped
around four of the victims.
Something kind of viable.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Which has led Josh and I to drive out
to Long Island to see just how difficult it
is to find burlap sacks.
Hi, how are you?
Do you guys sell burlap sacks?
No.
- It's like a potato sack. - No.
I don't.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Finally, our search
has brought us here, to the nursery
owned by the Bissett family.
Josh.
Yeah.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Bissett's easy access to burlap
and his mysterious suicide made the story difficult to ignore.
And these facts didn't escape the attention
of the online community.
What's interesting is this--
2,868 comments.
Jesus.
Jimmy was a womanizer and a cocaine addict and alcoholic.
And his cell phone, the victim's number is in it?
I have heard they found an underground kill room.
His family's been trying to keep it hush hush.
Makes sense why he killed himself.
Jimmy was good people.
Watch your disrespectful talk.
All the moronic scumbags posting
negative things about such a great person
should be ashamed of yourselves.
I know he will be truly missed.
It's all just rumors.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Trying to make sense
of all these comments, we reached out
to Ellen Bissett, the family spokesperson,
to get her perspective.
The internet hoax?
Right.
2,800 comments about this?
Any reason why it started?
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Could the answer be so simple--
a hoax?
Or was this further proof of an alleged coverup?
In the echo chamber of the internet,
it was surprisingly easy to see how the facts
could fit either narrative.
There are so many theories, and this theory about Bissett
went like wildfire over the internet.
There's no evidence whatsoever connecting Bissett to Shannan
or any of these other women.
None.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): The Suffolk PD even issued
a rare press release warning people not
to believe the internet rumors.
But since it didn't mention Bissett by name,
it only fueled further speculation of a coverup.
We shouldn't be surprised.
With a lack of answers, especially after a case that's
been going on for five years, people create narratives
to fulfill those storylines.
Well, it's human nature, that's what it is.
RACHEL (VOICEOVER): Whether guilty or innocent,
it didn't matter.
Bissett would forever be tied to the Long Island Serial Killer.
It was a lack of suspects or any new information
and a need to speculate that convicted him, turning fiction
into fact and fear into hate.
I hope he was the one that did it and we
can stop thinking about it.
If it's not him, that means this psycho is still
out there, probably eyeing Backpage for his next victim
right now.