Prosecutors today unveiled a new clue and detailed new technology being used to crack the case of the Gilgo murders.

During a news conference Thursday, Suffolk Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart released images of a black leather belt embossed with WH or HM. Police believe it was handled by the suspect and did not belong to any victims.

Police did not reveal the exact location the belt was found in but did say it was located on Ocean Parkway. They say the letters on the belt are about a 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch.

Ten sets of human remains were found along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach between 2010 and 2011. Hart says police have now sent DNA samples from five of the unidentified victims to the FBI for genetic genealogy testing and launched Gilgonews.com as a platform to exchange information on the investigation with the public. They say the website is also an avenue for the public to send in tips anonymously.

“We’re constantly re-evaluating, we’re constantly trying new techniques,” said Hart. “Science and technology are moving forward at a mind-boggling pace.”

Suffolk police said part of the process of trying to identify the victims includes uploading DNA to public genealogy databases.

The human remains were found as police searched for missing sex worker Shannan Gilbert. Her body was found in December 2011 near Oak Beach. For years, police said they believed her death was accidental and that she was not murdered by the serial killer or killers.

Hart said Thursday that police “don’t know whether it’s natural causes or the cause of a criminal act.”

“[Gilbert] does not match the pattern of the Gilgo Beach homicides, but again, I want to emphasize to everyone here, we let the facts dictate where we’re going to go with this investigation,” said Hart.

Before the news conference, the attorney for Shannan Gilbert’s family held a news conference to call for the Suffolk County Police Department to release the 911 call made by Gilbert on the night she died.

“If there’s nothing of value on those tapes, if it’s merely Shannon’s voice saying nothing of significance that we don’t already know, then there can’t be a reason why for nine years they have resisted and refused to give up those tapes,” said attorney John Ray.

Hart said the Gilbert call is considered “part of the investigation” that will be protected. 

Previous News 12 Coverage: A look back 5 years after the Gilgo discoveries:

PHOTOS: The Gilgo Beach murder investigation:

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• Photo by Tom Franz – News 12
• Photo by Tom Franz – News 12
• Photo by Tom Franz – News 12
• A detailed map of victim locations
• Victim locations along the beach.
• Photo of victim Amber Lynn Costello.
• Photo of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
• Photo of victim Megan Waterman.
• Photo of unidentified female victim.
• Photo of unidentified male victim.
• Photo of victim Melissa Barthelemy.
• A closer look at the symbols on the belt.
• Photo of newly released evidence, symbols on a belt.
• In this April 5, 2011 file photo, emergency personnel search the dunes and scrub near the ocean in Oak Beach. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
• In this April 4, 2011 file photo, a police officer and cadaver dog search the thick brush on the side of the road near Oak Beach for signs of human remains. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
• In this April 11, 2011, file photo, emergency personnel use a chainsaw to search through the brush for human remains near Jones Beach in Wantagh. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
• In this Dec. 16, 2010 file photo, K-9 unit police use a cadaver dog near Oak Beach in Smithtown as authorities continued scouring a 10-mile stretch of beach access road where four bodies were discovered that week. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)
• In this Dec. 14, 2010 file photo, Suffolk County Police conduct a search along a beachfront road in Babylon where four bodies were found. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman, File)
• In this March 12, 2015, file photo, Mari Gilbert prays over the coffin of her daughter, Shannan Gilbert, at Amityville Cemetery in Amityville, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman, File)
• This photo taken Dec. 11, 2015, in Babylon, shows a cross where the body of Melissa Barthelemy was found in December 2010 along a remote stretch of beach highway in what has become known as the ‘Long Island serial killer’ case. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman)
• In this Dec. 9, 2011, file photo, searchers, lower left, dig in a marsh area just east of Oak Beach, N.Y., for the remains of Shannan Gilbert, who went missing after meeting a client of a sexual encounter in May 2010. (AP Photo/Kevin P. Coughlin, File)
• In this April 11, 2011, file photo, emergency personnel search through the brush for human remains near Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Slideshow: Photos: Gilgo Beach murder investigation

 

 Previous News 12 Coverage: New technology could help solve Gilgo murder cases:

Previous News 12 Coverage: Second anniversary of Gilgo discovery:

Previous News 12 Coverage: DNA links torso found 20 years ago to Gilgo Beach killings