Shouldn't all of you be more concerned that these investigators have no idea what they are doing? All the other people were murdered, but she just flipped out and accidentally killed herself!? Yeah that makes sense. She fell down an elevator shaft onto some bullets. Completely logical.  It's like the guy who drank drano then nearly cut his own head off. At least he was kind enough to put the knives back into the sink when he was done.

All dees hos be scurred o watah.

They should legalize sex in america

hey, trolly mctrollenstein... sex is legal in america. paying for sex with a stranger isn't because, more often than not, it's a choice made out of desperation and society has, in its wisdom, decided to protect women who are in that position. additionally, few people want a brothel on their corner.

thanks for the new nickname!

Prostitution isn't "just business," it's a means of expanding and perpetuating the depravity of American society. Americans are extremely inept at discussing sex and communicating their needs and desires to their partners.

If a man would have the balls to tell his woman that he rather enjoys choking her nearly to the point of death to heighten his sexual pleasure before he marries her, not afterward, there wouldn't be a need for prostitution.

But if it were legal and out in the open it could be more easily regulated to make sure that no one is being forced to do anything she or he doesn't want to do. Legalizing prostitution (like the Dutch or some other cleverly progressive county have done), and regulating, and making sure the prostitutes have access to healthcare and are awarded the same kinds of workplace benefits that other professionals enjoy, would go a whole lot further to "protect" these women than simply turning a blind eye and brushing the inevitable under the rug and pretending that just because it's illegal it doesn't happen.

What kind of society would encourage people to have no self esteem, and no worth or value except to sell their body? You should always raise the bar, never lower it. Only by raising the bar do you challenge people to question the morality and worth of anything to attain higher levels of society.

It is our society and morals that dictate selling one's body is something to be ashamed of.

It is our society that produces the men who feel the need to pay women for sex, that produces the very creatures who have so little respect for human life that they casually leave a trail of bodies along a beach.

Our bodies are the only thing that we ultimately can own (those of us who aren't so privileged to own much more). Are athletes not making money off of their bodies? And models and pretty people? Do they also deserve to be looked down on and left along beaches to die?

The bar I would raise would challenge people to get rid of the ridiculous social taboos of the "family values" set.

So this is how we "protect women"? Keep up the good work, there Brownie!

Yeah because working at McDonald's is totally awesome for the self-esteem. Even the managers don't make as much as women at legal brothels.

Because government regulation makes everything better.

i love how people all of a sudden trust the government to properly regulate when it serves their interests.

No way, I'm all for government regulation! Fuck the free market! That shit is bullshit!

I mean, I guess the free market does better than the black market...

The black market is for all intents and purposes a free market.  Regulation is necessary because there are too many people that have little or no conscience.

I know, I guess my point was less about markets and regulation and more about bringing our societal skeletons out of the closet. Clearly the current laws on prostitution have done nothing to protect Shannon Gilbert, the other 10-odd Long Island bodies, scores of other ladies historically targeted by serial killers, young women trafficked from Asia and Eastern Europe, poor women beaten by pimps, and everyone else caught up in an industry that is as old as human civilization and no doubt will be around till the end of time.

Above in this comment section you were criticizing that this article identified the woman as a prostitute.

Now, you admit that her profession as a prostitute is one targeted by serial killers.

So, have you now tied the two things together in order to understand why she was identified as a prostitute in the headline?

is 'prostitute' part of this woman's name?  why in the hell is it used so prominently -- and before her goddamned name?

is that really necessary?

as if she and her family haven't suffered enough indescribable pain, they are now subjected to the efforts to dehumanize their daughter/sister.

Agreed.  If she was a receptionist or did data entry or something it wouldn't be mentioned every single time.  Plus at this point her name alone is recognizable enough from all the coverage.

it's not uncommon to cite someone's profession in a news story.... 'football player so and so shoots himself in the leg', 'wall street banker whats-his-name drops 100g's at scores', etc.... and, more importantly, if it helps one girl maybe think that they might not be making a great career choice, it's worth it.

Why does every news report about Shannan Gilbert preface her name with the word prostitute?  She was a human being.