Long Island Serial Killer suspect: Rex Heuermann, an American millionaire businessman, is accused and arrested for murdering Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, and Melissa Barthelemy decades ago. His biography and crime charges explored.
More than a decade after the bodies of various young women began piling up around Gilgo Beach in Long Island, New York, a suspect has been taken into custody, a law enforcement source confirms to PEOPLE.
Rex Heuermann, an architect with an office in Manhattan, has been identified as the suspect, the source confirms.
It is not clear if Heuermann has been charged.
News 12 Long Island was the first to report the arrest.
The killings, dubbed the “Long Island Serial Killer” case, first came to light in December 2010 when the bodies of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes were found wrapped in burlap and placed within about 500 feet of one another, buried in the marsh on Gilgo Beach. All four women had worked as online escorts and had been missing between 2007 and 2010.
Their remains were uncovered accidentally as police searched for 24-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert, who went missing after visiting a client, whom she met on Craigslist, in the gated community of Oak Beach, and then fleeing the man’s home. Her remains were found in December 2011.
In March 2011, two months after police identified the remains of the four online escorts, the remains of six more bodies were unearthed along the beach.
Four of those remains were women, one was a female toddler and one was an Asian male wearing women’s clothing. Two sets of the remains were later linked to the dismembered torsos of women first discovered in Manorville, about 40 miles away.
Profile Summary
| Celebrated Name: | Long Island Serial Killer |
| Net Worth: | $5-$7 million |
| Profession: | Architect |
| Full Real Name: | Rex Heuermann |
| Date of Birth: | 1963 |
| Age: | 59 |
| Birthplace: | Long Island, New York |
| Current Residence: | 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park |
| Parents: | Mother: Dolores Father: Theodore |
| Siblings: | Brother: Craig Heuermann |
| Partner: | Current Wife: Asa Ellerup Ex-wife: Elizabeth Ryan |
| Children: | 2 kids; daughter named Victoria; son’s name unknown |
Below are 10 things we know about the suspect
Who is Rex Heuermann?
Rex Heuermann is an architect at a New York City firm with an office in Manhattan and the main suspect “Long Island Serial Killer.” It’s been 13 years since police began investigating the case and the breakthrough families have been waiting for may have finally come.
It is not clear if Heuermann has been charged.
How old is Gilgo Beach Killer?
Heuermann is 59 years old and was born in 1963. He is white.
Who is Rex Heuermann’s wife?
Rex Heuermann has been married twice and his current marriage is to Asa Ellerup with his first wife being Elizabeth Ryan who they tied the knot in 1990.
His ex-wife Elizabeth Ryan was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom.
Asa Ellerup, 59, is the second wife of Rex Heuermann. Prior to Rex’s arrest, Asa reportedly lived in the same Massapequa Park home as Rex. She reportedly attended Farmingdale High School and previously worked at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
New York authorities said the family of Long Island Serial Killer suspect Rex Heuermann was out of state at the time of the three murders he is accused of.
Does Rex Heuermann have any children?
Aside from being a husband, Rex is a father of two; he has a son and a daughter.
His 26-year-old daughter Victoria was listed as one of just four key members of his “team”. Victoria is an artist who graduated from the New York Institute of Technology, per LinkedIn. Earlier, she used to work at Macy’s from July 2017 to December 2019, having also volunteered in the animal welfare sector in Bideawee for three years. Victoria even has an artistically curated portfolio of her artworks on her LinkedIn profile.
Rex is also a father to a son who is described as a “partially disabled kid,” by their neighbors as per New York Post. His name is unknown, with many neighbors believing he is probably Rex’s stepson. Their neighbor Etienne DeVilliers described his son to the news outlet, stating, “He has a partially disabled kid. A very nice kid.” DeVilliers said, “We spoke frequently, every day. And his kid is a nice kid, a special needs kid,” to CBS News.
Who are Rex Heuermann’s parents?
Heuermann was born to Dolores and Theodore, as per the New York Post. Theodore died in 1975 when he was 50 years of age and Heuermann was 11. His mother, now 93, is still alive.
While nothing much about his parents is known, Heuermann once claimed that his father was an “aerospace engineer who built satellites.” He also said that he was an accomplished cabinet maker too. While speaking about his father, Heuermann revealed a piece of interesting information. He said that he too learned the art of cabinet-making from his father and has acquired the knowledge of relying on “a hammer” whenever he needed to “persuade something.” Heuermann is said to have bought the 1st Avenue home from Dolores in 1994 for $170,000. The same year, he also started his company, RH Architecture Design, in Manhattan.
Does Rex Heuermann have any siblings?
He has a brother whose name is Craig Heuermann. Rex is older than Craig but they share one thing – a crime history. The youngest brother of the Gilgo Beach murder suspect was once convicted of killing a cop in a fatal crash. Craig Heuermann began serving a three-year prison sentence for the charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Where did Rex Heuermann live?
Rex Heuermann lives in his house on 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park, about 15 miles from Gilgo Beach.
How tall is Rex Heuermann?
Suspected Island serial killer, Rex Heuermann stands at a height of 5 feet 7 inches or 173 n centimetres. About his weight, he weighs around 82 Kilograms and 180 pounds.
What is Rex Heuermann’s net worth?
Rex Heuermann is estimated to have a net worth between $5 million and $7 million. He is a millionaire due to his professional work. Rex Heuermann is an architect at a New York firm. He owned a Chevrolet Avalanche truck at the time of the killings, prosecutors said.
Billy Baldwin says he was High School classmates with Long Island Serial Killer suspect
The suspect police arrested in the Long Island Serial Killer case has a unique tie to Hollywood, one actor revealed Friday morning as news broke about the case.
“Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann,” actor Billy Baldwin tweeted.
Baldwin, the second-youngest Baldwin brother, said he and Heuermann graduated together from Berner High School in Massapequa, N.Y., as part of the class of 1981.
Facts about his crime
Who are Rex Heuermann’s victims?
He has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy, and Megan Waterman
How was Heuermann caught?
Court documents released on Friday (July 14) reveal how police caught the man they believe is the so-called “Long Island serial killer,” using cell phone records, a witness report of a pickup truck, and DNA obtained from uneaten pizza crust.
At a press conference Friday, authorities said Heuermann was allegedly linked to the killings by cellular data from his burner phones, his car, and hairs reportedly found at the crime scene.
“Rex Heuermann is a demon that walks among us,” Suffolk County Police Commission Rodney Harrison claimed at the press conference. “A predator that ruined families. If not for the members of this task force he would still be on the streets today. Even with the arrest, we are still not done.”
According to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, investigators focused on Heuermann after a witness who knew Costello connected a Chevrolet Avalanche owned by Heuermann to the case.
Authorities alleged Heuermann communicated with his victims using burner phones and would dispose of the phones shortly after their deaths.
The First Body Was Discovered in 2010
Investigators first came upon the bodies of four sex workers in the marsh at Gilgo Beach: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.
Initially, authorities had been looking for Shannan Gilbert — another sex worker who escaped from a home and called 911. After police made the discoveries of the initial four bodies, they uncovered more human remains near beaches in Nassau and Suffolk Counties — including those of Gilbert.
At Least 10 Bodies Have Been Found Along Beaches in Long Island
Investigators have uncovered the remains of at least 10 people, though they have said not all of them are believed to be connected to the same killer.
Those victims include a toddler and an Asian man who was wearing women’s clothing and appeared to be brutally beaten.
There’s a Netflix Movie and a Book About the Case
The case gained notoriety after it became the focus of author Robert Kolker’s 2013 bestselling nonfiction book Lost Girls. The book was later turned into a true crime Netflix movie of the same name, released in 2020 and starring Amy Ryan, Gabriel Bryne, and Lola Kirke.
A Black Belt with Initials Had Been a Clue, Police Said
There have been few clues for police to work off over the years. However, a black belt recovered at one of the crime scenes appeared to be a clue when Suffolk County police released an image of it in 2020. The black leather belt was imprinted with the letters “WH” or “HM,” which were thought to possibly be the initials of the killer.
At a press conference, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said the belt was “handled by the suspect and didn’t belong to any of the victims.”
The Killer Possibly Taunted Victims’ Friends, Families
A close friend of Brainard-Barnes, the sex worker who vanished in 2007 and because the first known victim once her body was found, told PEOPLE she received a mysterious phone call from a man who taunted her about her friend’s disappearance. “[The man] said she was at a whorehouse in Queens,” friend Sara Karnes told PEOPLE. “And he described her to a T to me.”
But that wasn’t the only taunting phone call.
The sister of Barthelemy, who disappeared in 2009 and is the second-known victim in the case, said she received a call as well. “He was very calm,” Barthelemy’s mom, Lynn, told PEOPLE. “The last call he said he had killed her.”
More on the incident as he reportedly searched online to see progress on the investigation.
Authorities also said that they discovered that Heuermann allegedly paid close attention to the case and searched on the Internet about how the investigation was going.
He was also allegedly “compulsively” searching for information about the victims and their relatives. “Their sisters, their children and he was trying to locate the individuals,” Tierney
They also allegedly found images of women being abused and raped on his devices, authorities said.
Police said the initial tip about the Chevrolet Avalanche led to a “comprehensive investigation of [Heuermann] which consisted of over 300 subpoenas, search warrants and other legal processes to obtain evidence,” according to the criminal complaint against him.
Police also found cellphone billing records that corresponded with cell site locations for burner phones used to arrange meetings with the victims, the complaint alleges.
Heuremann, police said, also lived in Massapequa Park — the town where the victims allegedly disappeared from.
The Gilgo Beach case dubbed the “Long Island Serial Killer” case, traces back to the discovery of multiple bodies starting in December 2010. Authorities eventually unearthed 10 sets of remains in the area and have said they believe at least four of the deaths — all of the women — are linked, raising the specter of one or more serial killers using the area as a dumping ground.
Investigators first came upon the bodies of four sex workers in the marsh at Gilgo Beach. The remains were later identified as belonging to Costello, Barthelemy, Waterman, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. (Heuermann has not been charged in connection with Brainard-Barnes’ death.)
All four women had worked as online escorts and had been missing between 2007 and 2010.
Brainard-Barnes, 25, disappeared first — in July 2007, from New York City — after checking out from a Super 8 motel.
Barthelemy, 24, was last seen walking away from her Bronx apartment in 2009.
Waterman disappeared from a Holiday Inn Express room she was sharing with her boyfriend Akeem Cruz in Hauppauge after she placed an ad on Craigslist on June 5, 2010.
Costello negotiated a $1,500 date with her alleged killer before she walked out of her Long Island home on Sept. 2, 2010.
Initially, authorities had been looking for Shannan Gilbert — another sex worker who escaped from a home and called 911. After police made the discoveries of the initial four bodies, they uncovered more human remains near beaches in Nassau and Suffolk Counties — including those of Gilbert.