A person has been charged with murdering three ladies linked to the unsolved killings of 11 individuals, which was the topic of the Netflix movie Lost Girls.
Wealthy architect Rex Heuermann, 59, was arrested because the prime suspect within the historic Gilgo Beach murders – through which human stays have been discovered alongside a New York seaside freeway greater than a decade in the past.
He is charged with the homicide of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27, whose stays have been found in the course of the seek for one other lacking feminine in 2010.
He pleaded not responsible to all three fees, NBC reported.
It is believed 11 people fell sufferer to the murders, many younger feminine intercourse employees. Their stays have been found in 2010 and 2011.
The New York-based architect lives in Massapequa, a neighborhood in Long Island round 15 miles away from the place the sufferer’s stays have been discovered.
Detectives who tailed the suspect recovered DNA from a pizza crust he threw away, then matched it to a hair discovered on a restraint used within the killings, police stated.
Another key a part of what led to his arrest was his automobile – a Chevrolet Avalanche – which a witness recognized the killer was driving after the disappearance of Ms Costello, in line with NBC.
Heuermann was taken into custody late on Thursday after his home was raided by police. His “first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche” was additionally towed away from the scene, NBC reported.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks among us – a predator that ruined families,” Suffolk County police Commissioner Rodney Harrison stated.
Police additionally believed that the suspect was from Long Island due to a cell phone tower ping – which got here from Ms Barthelemy’s cellphone after her demise.
A person who stated he was the killer used the cellphone to name and taunt Ms Barthelemy’s sister after she had disappeared in 2009.
The particular person allegedly claimed to have killed Ms Barthelemy, associated particulars of her homicide and made sexually specific feedback down the cellphone.
It was beforehand reported that the identical cellphone briefly pinged off a tower within the city of Massapequa – the place Heuermann lives.
The Gilgo Beach investigation started after police launched a seek for 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert following her disappearance within the coastal neighborhood of Oak Beach in 2010.
The physique of a distinct lady – Ms Barthelemy – was then found by a police canine and officer in the course of the search. Within days, three different our bodies have been discovered, all inside a brief distance of each other.
The victims included Ms Waterman, Ms Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
Several of the our bodies have been present in thickets alongside the sandy stretch of land.
By 2011, police had found 4 further units of human stays, these of Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, 24, a feminine toddler and an unidentified Asian man.
Ms Gilbert’s stays have been lastly found in December 2011, 5km (3 miles) east of the opposite discoveries.
Police have been left puzzled as to how the victims have been killed, and in 2020, the unsolved murders turned the topic of the Netflix movie “Lost Girls”.
Heuermann’s fees come after a process power, made up of the FBI, New York State Police and Suffolk County authorities was arrange in February 2020 to “reinvigorate” the investigation.
In May 2022, police launched 911 audio associated to Ms Gilbert’s disappearance. She initially referred to as police from inside the house of a consumer shortly earlier than 5am.
“There is somebody after me,” she advised the dispatcher a number of occasions. “Somebody’s after me – please,” she stated.
On Friday morning, the district lawyer stated there had been a “significant development in the case” however declined to remark any additional.
Neighbours of Heuermann advised NBC that the household “kept to themselves” and have been “like loners”.
Patrica Maressa, 64, stated Heuermann lived within the residence together with his spouse, a son and a daughter. He labored at a Manhattan structure agency and was a member of an NYC-based networking group often known as The Dream Team, NBC reported.
Content Source: information.sky.com