His account is chilling.
It was about 5 a.m. when Coletti, 75, says he heard a knock on the door of his home on the barrier island hamlet of Oak Beach, New York.
After the woman dashed away from his house, Coletti says, she hid under his boat, elevated and parked on his lawn, as an SUV drove up. Coletti says he walked up to the vehicle and questioned the driver, whom he described a slim Asian man weighing about 150 pounds.
"I went down, and I stopped him, and I said, 'Where do you think you're going?' " recalled Coletti.
The man said he was searching for the woman because she had left a party upset, and he was trying to find her to bring her back to the house, according to Coletti.
"I says, 'I already called the police. Stay right here.' He says, 'Oh, you shouldn't have done that. She's going to be into a lot of trouble.' I says, 'So are you,' " Coletti recalled.
Gilbert dashed from the boat and ran around the corner toward the beach, Coletti said. The driver then pursued her.
Police arrived about 45 minutes later, and Coletti directed them to the road to the beach.