Netflix Film About Gilgo Beach Murders Shooting On North Fork

SOUTHOLD, NY — Cameras were rolling Wednesday as a crew set up in Southold to shoot a new Netflix film about the Gilgo Beach murders, which rocked Long Island and led to the desperate search for a serial killer who has never been found.

The film, "Lost Girls," is based on the book "Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery," by Robert Kolker, according to producer Anne Carey.

When asked why Southold was chosen for the filming, Carey looked at the beach. "It's a beautiful location, with a very cooperative community," she said. "It had the right creative elements."

A post in Broadwayworld.com said that the film is "a true crime story and a strong character piece" revolving around the agonizing search of one mother, Mari Gilbert, for her daughter Shannan, a sex worker who went missing in 2010 and who was later found murdered. The film stars Amy Ryan, of "The Office" and "Gone Baby Gone;" Miriam Shor of "Hedwig and the Angry Itch," and Gabriel Byrne of "The Usual Suspects," and is directed by Liz Garbus, the post said.

The search for Gilbert first led to the bodies of four other prostitutes, all of whom were strangled and stuffed in burlap bags; a total of 11 sets of human remains, including Gilbert's, were found along Ocean Parkway. Police have been searching for a serial killer ever since.

Mari Gilbert was later murdered by another daughter, police said.

According to a filming permit from Always Am Productions, Inc. approved by Southold Town, the crew began on Oct. 26 at the Kenney's Beach parking lot, continued on Oct. 29 with an actor "leading a march of women" to a gate; filming continued at a private home on Leeton Drive.

Wednesday's shooting was slated to include an actor "leading a vigil" at the Kenney's Beach parking lot; on Thursday, filming on Leeton Dr. is expected to include a "girl running down" the street.

Filming, which wraps up Nov. 9, is also scheduled for the Mattituck Motel, according to the permit.

Patch photos by Lisa Finn.