New York ( CNN ) -- Police say human remains found on a New York beach are not those of a missing woman whose search led authorities to the discovery of four dead prostitutes . `` The remains found off Ocean Parkway , west of Cedar Beach , on March 29 have been determined to not be those of Shannan Gilbert , '' Suffolk County police said in a statement Thursday . It is not clear to whom the remains belong . Gilbert , 24 , of Jersey City , New Jersey , was last seen alive on May 1 . As authorities searched for clues about her disappearance last year , they uncovered the bodies of four women in various stages of decomposition . The bodies were stuffed into bushes along an isolated strip of waterfront property on Long Island , New York . Police say they are `` continuing the investigation of the remains found on March 29 as well as the investigation of the deaths of four women found off Ocean Parkway in December 2010 . '' The four bodies 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 in December . `` It 's too coincidental that there were four bodies in the same location . '' He said police could be dealing with a serial killer . The remains of the fifth body were found about a mile from where the other corpses were discovered , Dormer said . `` There may be clues available now with this body that will help the homicide investigation and will help it move forward , '' he added . The four bodies have since been identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes , 25 , of Norwich , Connecticut ; Melissa Barthelemy , 24 , of Erie County , New York ; Amber Lynn Costello , 27 , of North Babylon , New York ; and Megan Waterman , 22 , of Scarborough , Maine . All four of the women advertised for prostitution services on the Craigslist website , police said . At least one body could have been there for as long as two years , Dormer added .
James Smith , 24 , of Jersey City , New Jersey , was last seen alive on May 1 . It is not clear to whom the remains belong . Analysis of the remains last night led investigators to other bodies . Police say they could be dealing with a serial killer .