Who is the Gilgo Beach serial killer? New York architect Rex Heuermann arrested for a string of Long Island murders

On Friday, July 14, New York State authorities announced that they had arrested architect Rex Heuermann on suspicion of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer. Officials claim that Heuermann, a 59-year-old man from Massapequa Park, has been tied to 11 sets of human remains discovered on Long Island.

Officials reportedly traced Heuermann through a combination of DNA samples, phone records, and his online history.

Trigger warning: This article concerns a serial killer, the reader's discretion is advised

As of July 15, Rex Heuermann has been officially charged with three murders. All the victims were reportedly escorts that he had hired off Craigslist. Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello were the victims. He is also suspected of slaying a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. However, he is yet to face any formal charges for Brainard-Barnes' murder.

Officials noted that due to the heinous nature of the crimes, Heuermann would not receive bail.

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Rex Heuermann is the founder of RH Consultants & Associates

As per Forbes magazine, Rex Heuermann is a renowned Long Island architect who founded RH Consultants & Associates in 1994. He was from Massapequa, Long Island, where he lived with his wife and two children. In 2020, he appeared on the Bonjour Realty show, where he said that he had been a New York-based architect since 1987.

According to Suffolk County authorities, however, the suburban family man had a dark side. According to the suspect's neighbors, he was a quiet individual who occasionally showed signs of a short temper. On Halloween, local children were told to stay away from his home.

As per CNN, while leading a seemingly normal life, he may have also been preying on women through Craigslist.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison commented on the incident.

"Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks amongst us, a predator that ruined families," he said.

Harrison said that as they investigated the string of slayings connected to Heuermann, they began to suspect that he was attempting to follow the investigation.

Investigators eventually traced the records of several burner phones used to contact the deceased victims, leading them back to the disgraced architect. Subsequently, they discovered his search history, which revealed that he was googling questions about the status of the investigation.

Upon searching his home, officials also discovered permits for over 90 firearms. It remains unknown whether they were connected to the murders.

"We knew that this person would be watching, and we didn’t want to give him any insight into what we were doing. And we also didn’t want him to know just how close we were getting,” Tierney said.

According to his legal team, Rex Heuermann denies all the charges leveled against him. The case is currently ongoing.