98 camry 'stuck' in reverse; shifter moves freely in car

[gondorin]

I have an automatic 98 toyota camry that just this evening would not shift out of reverse. The light on the dash is around the 'R', and until I turned off the car, it would drive in reverse without a problem. I had to turn the car off once I stopped the car. Now it will not turn on because the transmission is engaged in reverse. E-brake used to keep car from not moving.

The shifter moves freely in the center console. I can depress the release button and move the shifter extremely easy between P-1. There is no resistance in the shifter.

I know nothing about cars, but it feels like to me that something came loose between the physical shifter and the transmission. I have no idea what that could be. I was hoping to read about it online but found no one with a similar problem.

Does anyone have any experience with this or have an idea as to what it could be?

Thanks in advance.

[Hajoca]

Shift linkage from shifter to the transmission (gear selector) is broken.