Post by redstone14 on Jul 14, 2023 12:11:01 GMT -5
Long Island man, 59, arrested in connection with 4 of the Gilgo Beach murders
ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Friday, July 14, 2023 4:25PM
MASSAPEQUA PARK, Nassau County (WABC) -- A 59-year-old man is under arrest on Long Island in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders, a cold-case investigation that dates back to 2010.
Rex Heuermann of Massapequa Park was arrested around 8:30 p.m. Thursday at West 35th Street and Fifth Avenue, near his Midtown office.
He is connected to the "Gilgo Four," the four bodies found wrapped in burlap along Ocean Parkway, three miles from where sex worker Shannan Gilbert was last seen alive. Her death was deemed not connected to the serial killer, a fact her family disputes.
A large police operation was occurring in Massapequa Park on Friday, led by Suffolk County Police, NY State Police, and other law enforcement partners.
Video from the scene in Massapequa Park
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There is a court proceeding in Riverhead later Friday, at which point any paperwork associated with the arrest would be unsealed.
Heuermann, a married father of two who works as an architect in Manhattan, is being eyed in the deaths of four women, who were found within days of each other in late 2010, the group referred to as the "Gilgo Four."
MORE: What we know about the suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders
The suspect was caught by utilizing the type of communication analytics only available to federal law enforcement.
Bringing in the FBI became a key moment in this investigation, as only federal law enforcement has the technology and resources to crunch the amount of telephone records that zeroed in on the suspect and his Massapequa Park address. Assistance from outside law enforcement was initially resisted by the previous leadership of the Suffolk Police Department.
"I do have to thank everyone, the members of the task force to get to this point today," Suffolk County Police Chief Rodney Harrison said.
The suspect has been on law enforcement's radar for months and has recently been under surveillance.
ALSO READ: How investigators tracked down the Gilgo Beach murders suspect
The "Gilgo Four" were identified by DNA as Maureen Brainard Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. All were in their 20s and working as escorts, and were all located within a quarter mile of one another near Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
"It's my 12th year as county executive. I've lived with the Gilgo Beach investigation for my entire tenure as county executive," said Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Executive.
He thanked the police commissioner and credited the "nonstop dogged determination" of the Suffolk County Police Department for cracking this part of the case.
"The focus has been on bringing justice for these victims and closure to these families who have suffered," Bellone said.
The suspect is not connected to the other deaths, indicating law enforcement now favor the theory of multiple killers.
"The work is not done here, but this is a major, major step forward," Bellone said.
In 2020, investigators revealed a photograph of a black leather belt, a pair of letters spelling out the initials "W H" or "H M."
The remains of 10 people were found in 2010 and 2011 in the weedy sections off Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach. At the time, police said half of the identified victims worked as prostitutes.
Actor Billy Baldwin tweeted the suspect was his high school classmate
"Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann," he tweeted. "Berner High School...Massapequa, New York...Class of 1981."
News of a suspect being taken into custody comes a day after state police responded to a report of skeletal remains found in a wooded area off the Southern State Parkway in Islip. Police planned a briefing near the site on Friday afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear if those remains were linked to the Gilgo Beach case.
abc7ny.com/police-operation-gilgo-beach-murders-serial-killer-massapequa-park/13501882/
ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Friday, July 14, 2023 4:25PM
MASSAPEQUA PARK, Nassau County (WABC) -- A 59-year-old man is under arrest on Long Island in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders, a cold-case investigation that dates back to 2010.
Rex Heuermann of Massapequa Park was arrested around 8:30 p.m. Thursday at West 35th Street and Fifth Avenue, near his Midtown office.
He is connected to the "Gilgo Four," the four bodies found wrapped in burlap along Ocean Parkway, three miles from where sex worker Shannan Gilbert was last seen alive. Her death was deemed not connected to the serial killer, a fact her family disputes.
A large police operation was occurring in Massapequa Park on Friday, led by Suffolk County Police, NY State Police, and other law enforcement partners.
Video from the scene in Massapequa Park
EMBED <>MORE VIDEOS
There is a court proceeding in Riverhead later Friday, at which point any paperwork associated with the arrest would be unsealed.
Heuermann, a married father of two who works as an architect in Manhattan, is being eyed in the deaths of four women, who were found within days of each other in late 2010, the group referred to as the "Gilgo Four."
MORE: What we know about the suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders
The suspect was caught by utilizing the type of communication analytics only available to federal law enforcement.
Bringing in the FBI became a key moment in this investigation, as only federal law enforcement has the technology and resources to crunch the amount of telephone records that zeroed in on the suspect and his Massapequa Park address. Assistance from outside law enforcement was initially resisted by the previous leadership of the Suffolk Police Department.
"I do have to thank everyone, the members of the task force to get to this point today," Suffolk County Police Chief Rodney Harrison said.
The suspect has been on law enforcement's radar for months and has recently been under surveillance.
ALSO READ: How investigators tracked down the Gilgo Beach murders suspect
The "Gilgo Four" were identified by DNA as Maureen Brainard Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. All were in their 20s and working as escorts, and were all located within a quarter mile of one another near Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
"It's my 12th year as county executive. I've lived with the Gilgo Beach investigation for my entire tenure as county executive," said Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Executive.
He thanked the police commissioner and credited the "nonstop dogged determination" of the Suffolk County Police Department for cracking this part of the case.
"The focus has been on bringing justice for these victims and closure to these families who have suffered," Bellone said.
The suspect is not connected to the other deaths, indicating law enforcement now favor the theory of multiple killers.
"The work is not done here, but this is a major, major step forward," Bellone said.
In 2020, investigators revealed a photograph of a black leather belt, a pair of letters spelling out the initials "W H" or "H M."
The remains of 10 people were found in 2010 and 2011 in the weedy sections off Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach. At the time, police said half of the identified victims worked as prostitutes.
Actor Billy Baldwin tweeted the suspect was his high school classmate
"Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann," he tweeted. "Berner High School...Massapequa, New York...Class of 1981."
News of a suspect being taken into custody comes a day after state police responded to a report of skeletal remains found in a wooded area off the Southern State Parkway in Islip. Police planned a briefing near the site on Friday afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear if those remains were linked to the Gilgo Beach case.
abc7ny.com/police-operation-gilgo-beach-murders-serial-killer-massapequa-park/13501882/
