Gilgo Beach murders latest: Rex Heuermann’s family ‘disgusted’ by arrest in Long Island serial killer case

The Gilgo Beach murders stumped police in the gated community in Long Island for more than a decade. It began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker, vanished after leaving a client’s house and an investigation into her disappearance led authorities to a trail of young women’s remains.

Eleven bodies were recovered along a stretch of a remote highway, prompting fears of a serial killer terrorising the area. Some of the victims were identified, while the identities of a young Asian male, a female dubbed “Peaches” for a tattoo on her body, and her toddler remain a mystery to this day.

Last week, an interagency task force investigating the murders arrested 59-year-old Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann, reigniting hopes that the victims’ families might finally be able to obtain justice.

Mr Heuermann is only facing charges for the murders of three of the Gilgo Beach murder victims — Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy. But authorities have revealed they’re confident further charges over the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes are pending, and haven’t ruled out the possibility that the disgraced architect could become the prime suspect in the other slayings.

Most of the Gilgo Beach murders victims were young women who had been sex workers.

Their deaths long stumped investigators, and the mystery fueled immense public attention and led to a 2020 Netflix film, “Lost Girls.”

A two-hour documentary also aired on A&E that year, and the deaths were covered on CBS’ “48 Hours.”

Rex Heuermann’s defence attorney has dismissed a mountain of evidence presented by prosecutors linking him to the Gilgo Beach murders.

Mr Heuermann, 59, was ordered held without bail on Friday after pleading not guilty to six counts of murder over the deaths of Gilgo Beach murder victims Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman.

He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. The women, all sex workers in their 20s, were found within one-quarter mile of each other in December 2010 during a separate missing persons investigation in the Long Island community of Gilgo Beach.

The married father of two lived in Massapequa Park, where the victims were last seen, while his architecture consulting firm is located near the area in Midtown Manhattan, where taunting calls were made to the women’s families. His wife’s hair and his DNA evidence matched evidence found at the crime scene, while forensic analysis of his cellphone records and chilling online searches have further tied him to the crime, police said.

But despite the damning evidence, Mr Heuermann’s defence attorney says that his client is nothing but a “loving husband” and “devoted father”, also suggesting that the Suffolk County task force leading the investigation is ignoring “stronger leads.”

“Rex Heuermann is 59 years old with no prior criminal history,” criminal defence lawyer Michael Brown said in a statement to News 12 Long Island. “He is a loving husband to his wife of over 25 years and an involved and dedicated father to his daughter and stepson.

“There is nothing about Mr Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents.

“And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers.”

DNA results came back on 12 June with a 99.96 per cent degree of accuracy.

The brother of slain child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey has said he believes her killer could have a similar profile to the man accused of perpetrating a string of murders that terrorised Long Island more than a decade ago.

Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested last week in connection with the brutal murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found within one-quarter mile of each other in the shoreline community of Gilgo Beach. The grim discovery was made amid a separate missing persons investigation in December 2010 but the case went cold for years before Mr Heuermann’s bombshell arrest.

Some neighbours have said that Mr Heuermann seemingly led a normal life in Massapequa Park — where he lived with his wife and near the site where the three victims were last seen — while others claimed they warned their children never to approach his house. The father-of-two also had a booming architecture consulting firm located in Midtown Manhattan.

Reacting to the breakthrough developments in the Gilgo Beach murders investigation, John Andrew Ramsey said that he believes his sister JonBenét’s killer has also likely led an outwardly low-profile life but wouldn’t be able to entirely blend into society without raising suspicion.

“No criminal record but you can’t hide this level of darkness,” Mr Ramsey tweeted in reference to Mr Heuermann’s arrest on Saturday. “It will manifest itself in other areas of your life. Try as you might you can’t blend. JonBenet’s killer will likely have a similar bio.”

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told Fox News Heuermann that at least 200 weapons were seized from Mr Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park. Authorities only were aware of 90 weapons registered to his name

“He had an arsenal in a vault that he had downstairs,” Mr Harrison told the outlet. “It’s concerning, regarding the guns being registered or legal or not, that’s something we’re still taking a look at. Anytime somebody has that type of arsenal, we have some concerns.”

The weapons were found inside a room in the basement of Mr Heuermann’s home.

Long Island police are searching for “body parts” in a storage unit tied to Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann following his bombshell arrest last week.

Suffolk Police Officers executed a search warrant at a single unit at Omega Self Storage in Amityville late on Sunday night, according to PIX 11.

Police confirmed to the local outlet that the search was part of the investigation into the Manhattan architect’s alleged murders of at least three women whose bodies were found dumped on the shores of Gilgo Beach over a decade ago.

The storage unit is just two miles from the married father-of-two’s home in Massapequa Park which investigators have been combing for evidence – and possible trophies and body parts – linking him to the slayings.

“He’s a monster,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told PIX 11. “It was a very cluttered house. He was like a pack rat.”