After nearly 13 years of intense investigations, searching only to find nothing, and dead leads, officials believe that the infamous “Long Island Serial Killer” has finally been caught.
- The Long Island Serial Killer is also referred to as the Gilgo Beach Killer.
- In total, this infamous killer took 11 confirmed lives.
- The murders took place between 1996-2011, but investigations began after 23 year old Shannon Gilbert was reported missing.
- Many patterns were detected in the victims of the Long Island Serial Killers. For example, all of the victims were very thin and five feet or below, all were in their 20s, all had been contacted by a burner phone, and all had been working as online escorts.
- The biggest suspect right now is Rex Heuermann, whose DNA has been found on one of the victims.
- Rex Heuermann had been home alone at the time of the disappearance of each of the victims.
- Heuermann is being charged with first degree murder on three counts, however, he is suspected to have killed at least eight others- though those murders are still unsolved.
- Heuermann is not being charged with the murder of Shannon, as her death has been deemed and accident and not a murder, with officials saying that she drowned.
- Despite all the evidence against Heuermann (including DNA and video), he still pleads innocent.
The Mystery Behind the Massacre
The Long Island Serial Killer or the Gilgo Beach Killer took the life of there first victim on May 1st, 2010, nearly thirteen years ago. The name of the victim was Shannon Gilbert, who had urgently phoned 911 that early that very morning. Before disappearing, Shannon had told the operators that “there were people trying to kill her” and that was the last recorded appearance of the 23 year old. After conducting an extensive search for the woman, police were last empty-handed, that was, until seven months later. In December of 2010, an officer discovered the remains of four different humans around Gilgo Beach, Long Island, close to where Shannon had disappeared. Though none of the bodies were identified as Shannon’s, that left another question, whose were they? The answers are Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy, who developed a reputation as the “Gilgo Four”. Now, police had a missing woman and four dead bodies, and questions began to arise, what had happened to these women?
Finding Like in Like
After identifying the victims, police were able to put together things these women shared. Each weighed in at about 100 pounds, and each was five feet or shorter, each was young, with their ages ranging from 22 at the youngest and 27 at the oldest, and each had jobs as online escorts. Shannon Gilbert also shared these traits. This many coincidences don’t just occur, which meant that there was a pattern, the culprit had a type. Usually, serial killers will target specific people based on certain preferences, and now that police knew that type, perhaps they could pinpoint who would be next.
The Victims
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was the first of the Long Island Serial Killer’s victims. She had lived and worked as an online escort in Connecticut, and had two children as a single mom. Before her death, Maureen had just turned 25. Her last recorded appearance was to Missy Cann, the girl’s sister. The call was late at night, and consisted of Maureen telling her sister that she was going to take the midnight train. None of them knew that this was going to be Maureen’s last phone call, because after that, she disappeared.
Melissa Barthelemy was a 24 year old girl working as a hairdresser in New York City. She also worked as an online escort and was a sex worker. She was 4 ’10, and her last appearance was reported to be in her apartment in Bronx, she disappeared on July 12, 2009, and was never seen again. However, even after her death, the mystery surrounding her did not stop. The man suspected to be Melissa’s killer called her 15 year old sister from Missy’s phone several times, claiming to have ended Melissa’s life
Megan Waterman was a 22 year old girl from Maine. She worked as an escort, just as all the others did, and was last recorded to be alive on a security footage at a hotel in Long Island. She had come to New York for sex work, but after that security footage, she disappeared on September 2, 2010. Her daughter, Liliana Waterman, was now left all alone. The girl was only three.
Amber Costello is the last of the Gilgo Four, and disappeared on September 2, 2010. She had been offered $1,500 to stay the night with a man- little did she know that this man would be the Long Island Serial Killer, and this night that she would spend with him, would be her last.
Aside from the Gilgo Four and Shannon Gilbert, a total of six other human remains were discovered on Gilgo Beach, some of which have not been yet identified. The ones who have been identified are Jessica Taylor, Valkyrie Mack and Karen Vergata. The things we do know about the unidentified victims are that one of them was an Asian man dressed in a woman’s clothing, a toddler and her mother.
A Suspect at Last
About a decade ago, the case had been stopped, investigations closed. But officials were reopening the case, and after just six weeks of investigations, police had a suspect. This suspect was Rex Heuermann, who police had identified after Amber Costello’s roommate had given the police a tip, describing the killer as ogre-like and owning a a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche truck. Heuermann had fit this description perfectly, and their had been much evidence found supporting that he was likely the culprit. They had also used the area in which the burner phones had contacted the victims to locate Heuermann, and since Rex was the only one in the area who fit the description, it was clear that something suspicious was going on in this man’s life. Finally, using a Rex’s DNA, they were able to match it with some DNA found on one of the victim’s. With this much evidence, police could finally take Heuermann into custody.
The Court Case
Throughout the court trials, Heuermann has pleaded innocent- despite being charged with the murder of three of the Gilgo Four (Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman). While Heuermann remained arrested, police were able to search though his property, uncovering several firearms throughout a nearly two week investigation. This is as far as the case has come currently, with Heuermann last appearance in court being February 6, 2024.
