RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP/WKBW) — A Long Island architect has been charged with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. One of the victims was from Buffalo.
Rex Heuermann, 59, has lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found. He is charged with first and second degree murder in connection with the deaths of three victims - Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Authorities say he is also the prime suspect in another killing.
Barthelemy, 24, was born in Buffalo and moved to New York City several years before her death. Police found her remains in 2010.
Heuermann was taken into custody in Massapequa late Thursday, near where investigators were seen searching his home Friday. He is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon in state court in Riverhead.
Suffolk County prosecutors are asking that Heuermann be held without bail, citing "the heinous nature of these serial murders," as well as recent searches he made for sadistic materials, including sexually exploitive images of children and photos of the victims and their relatives.
"This is a day that is a long time in coming, and hopefully a day that will bring peace to this community and to the families, peace that has been long overdue," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said during an unrelated appearance on Long Island.
The news of an arrest came as a shock to some of the relatives after so many years waiting for a break in the case. In a text message, a sister of one victim said her family wasn't ready to speak publicly because they "really haven't had a chance to process the news today."
Heuermann lives in Massapequa Park, a community just north of South Oyster Bay and the sandy stretch known as Gilgo Beach where skeletal remains were found along a remote oceanfront highway in 2010 and 2011. The deaths have long stumped investigators. Most of the victims were young women who had been sex workers.
The case has drawn immense public attention. The mystery attracted national headlines for many years and the unsolved killings were the subject of the 2020 Netflix film 'Lost Girls.'
