The series begins by plunging viewers into the early days of the investigation, starting with the mysterious disappearance of Shannan Gilbert in May 2010. Gilbert, a young escort, vanished after making a frantic 911 call from a remote area near Gilgo Beach. What began as a search for a missing woman quickly spiraled into something far more sinister when police uncovered the remains of four other women, all wrapped in burlap and discarded along the desolate stretch of Ocean Parkway.