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After more than a decade, an arrest has finally been made in the “Long Island Serial Killer” case and a suspect has been taken into custody.
Police in New York believe that they may have finally solved who murdered between 10 and 18 people over a period of nearly 26 years.
In 2010 and 2011, 10 women’s bodies were found on Long Island’s Gilgo Beach.
Four were found within a quarter of a mile of each other in December 2010 after the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old escort from New Jersey, which led police to search an area near Gilgo and Oak Beach.
In March and April 2011, six more female bodies were discovered in Suffolk and Nassau counties.
On Friday, Suffolk County Police confirmed to CBS News that they finally have a suspect in custody for the murders.
The possible breakthrough in the hunt for a suspect in what’s become known as “the Long Island serial killer” case came a little more than a year after police released audio of a 911 call made by Shannan Gilbert just before she vanished in 2010.
Investigators were searching for Gilbert when they found other remains on Gilgo Beach in December that year — women in their 20s whose remains had been wrapped in burlap sacks. Known as the Gilgo Four, they were later identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, abducted in 2007; Melissa Barthelemy in 2009; and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, who went missing in 2010. Six more sets of remains were found along Ocean Parkway the following spring.
The Suffolk County Police Department released the full audio of Gilbert’s 911 call last year, as well as maps and other images showing what authorities believe happened on May 1, 2010, the night she disappeared.
NBC News reports that the suspect was identified on Friday as Rex Heuermann.
Heuermann is reportedly from Massapequa Park, located in Suffolk County and near Nassau County.
Neighbors told News 12 Long Island that Heuermann has a wife and two kids and has lived in Massapequa Park his entire life.
Seven other women and one man are also suspected to have been murdered by the “Long Island Serial Killer.”
In 2017, Suffolk County prosecutors stated that a man named John Bittrolff was a suspect in the killings after being convicted of murdering two prostitutes and being a suspect in the murder of a third victim. He was never charged with any of the “Long Island Serial Killer” crimes.