Long Island Police have arrested the suspect in the case of the “Gilgo Beach Serial Killer” after a 13-year investigation.
Rex Heuermann, 59, a married architect and the owner of RH Consultants and Associates, located in Midtown Manhattan, was arrested at his Massapequa Park home early Friday morning. This is approximately 17 miles from where his alleged victims were found.
JUST IN: Gilgo Beach serial killings suspect in police custody on Long Island, ID’d as Rex Heuermann https://t.co/SmmR8wB6xJ pic.twitter.com/eo7aQy65aZ
— New York Post (@nypost) July 14, 2023
Heuermann was arrested for the murders of four women referred to as the “Gilgo Four.” At least six other bodies, which include an unidentified Asian male and a toddler, were found in the same area.
Police recovered the remains along Long Island’s Southern State Parkway on Thursday. It is about ten miles from Heuermann’s house. At this time, it is not known if Heuermann has been involved in the case.
The “Gilgo Four” are all women who it is believed were working as Craigslist prostitutes. Their bodies were discovered in 2010 as police were looking for the body of Shannan Gilbert, a prostitute from Jersey City, NJ, who cops began looking for after she made a troubling call to 911 and went missing.
Gilbert Gilbert’s body wasn’t found until December 2011.
Heuermann is accused of murdering four people.
- Melissa Barthelemy, 24
- Megan Waterman, 22
- Amber Lynn Costello, 27
- Maureen Brainard Barnes, 25
All four were found wrapped in burlap and whole within a distance of 1/10 mile apart.
Ocean Parkway was the site of six other corpses, some of them dismembered. Two other bodies were found on Long Island.
The 10 Gilgo Beach bodies were found in the dense vegetation along Ocean Parkway. This road runs along Long Island’s southernmost beaches.
In February of 2022, Suffolk County’s newly appointed Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison created a Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force.
Then, Harrison stated: “I believe this case can easily be solved. Identifying who or what was responsible for these murders is a top priority.” ”
John Ray, an attorney for the families of Jessica Taylor (20), a woman found dead on Gilgo Beach but not among the “Gilgo Four,” stated, “We’re pleased they were able to identify someone who could be charged.”
Ray continued, “We’re happy to finally have something positive to celebrate as we’ve been frustrated for so long.”
To inform the public and gather tips, the police created a site called gilgonews.com.
Heuermann is expected to appear in front of a judge Friday afternoon.