Gilbert, who had always felt self-conscious about her looks, was dropping weight quickly, and her stomach was flat as a board, Diaz said.
She started using cocaine and Ecstasy, he said. If a woman agreed to use drugs with johns, she could bring in more money, Diaz said.
Gilbert had "several abortions," thinking it wasnt a good choice to have a kid, Diaz said.
Money was flowing in, and Gilbert doled out clothes and cash to family, according to Diaz and Shannans sister. But when Lace Party Girls was shut down, the money flow was cut off and the couple moved into the Jersey City home of Diazs father to save money. Arguments between the two became more frequent, said Diaz, as Gilbert tried to pick up work with other agencies.
One night, Gilbert came home intoxicated and started a fight, Diaz said.
"I retaliated and hit her back," he said. "I hit her too hard."
The punch fractured the left side of her jaw, which needed a metal plate to be fixed, he said. The plate would make her body easily identifiable, should it be found.
For the five or six months before her disappearance, Gilbert worked independently, Diaz said.
She figured if she worked with just a driver, rather than an agency, she would split the profit two ways, rather than three, according to Diaz.
She booked appointments about twice a week and brought in about $200 to $250 per hour, Diaz said. About $50 of that would go to her new driver, Michael Pak.
Even though Diaz was unemployed, Gilbert could afford new furniture and a plasma TV for their apartment close to the Grove Street PATH train. The living room was stacked with DVDs, which Gilbert bought one-by-one during frequent trips to Target.
On a Friday, April 30, 2010, the new Freddy Krueger movie was opening. The two stopped by Taco Bell and snuck the food into a local theater, Diaz said.
Later, Diaz knew where she was going. By this time, the couple had moved out on their own and a $1,100 rent check was due on May 1, he said.
Dressed in slim-fitting jeans, a tank top, brown leather jacket and strappy, black sandals, Gilbert left for the evening, heading to Manhattan to meet Pak.
The door slammed with a thud, extra hard for some reason, as Diaz remembers it.
He hasnt seen her since, he said.