Arrest Made In Long Island Serial Killer Case Sparked By NJ Victim

NEW JERSEY — Officials formally charged the suspect in a decade-long hunt for a serial killer accused of killing sex workers, which began after a New Jersey escort disappeared on Long Island.

The disappearance of 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert in 2010 led to the discoveries of at least 11 sets of remains along Ocean Parkway over a 10-year-long period, as Patch reported previously. The string of killings is also referred to as the Gilgo Beach Murders.

A suspect, 59-year-old Rex Heuermann of Massapequa Park, was taken into custody by New York State Police and officers from Suffolk and Nassau counties Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of murder on Friday. Read more — Gilgo Beach Killing Suspect Pleads Not Guilty; New Details Emerge

Related article — Gilgo Beach Killer Timeline: All You Need To Know Leading Up To Arrest

Gilbert's remains were found in 2011 in Oak Beach. The initial search for the Jersey City woman led to the bodies of four other sex workers, all of whom were strangled and stuffed in burlap bags.

At least four of the 11 killings included strangulation, officials said. Two showed signs of blunt-force trauma. The cause of death remains inconclusive for some victims.

Police have been searching for a serial killer ever since. A Netflix movie, "Lost Girls," was made about the case.

Last year, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison shared 911 audio of Shannan Gilbert from the night she disappeared to enlist the public’s assistance in solving the murders.

In 2020, police released a black belt embossed with the letters "HM" or "WH," the first piece of evidence released by police. The belt was found at the initial stages of the investigation at a crime scene. It is believed to have been handled by the suspect and did not belong to the victims, then-Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said at a press conference.

Neighbors expressed shock to Patch and the Associated Press on Friday, after law enforcement officers swarmed a small red house in the suburb about 40 miles east of midtown Manhattan. Dozens of neighbors watched, along with police and media, as investigators in protective suits gathered outside the front porch, which The Associated Press described as being in disrepair, with its roof propped up by 2-by-4s.

Heuermann, an architect and owner of the Manhattan-based RH Consulting, is a building facilitator for the city's Department of Building, helping clients navigate the complicated construction process, according to an interview that Bonjour Realty conducted with him last year.

Neighbors told Patch and the AP that the home belonged to a family that had long kept to themselves.

“I passed the house all the time. I never really [saw] anybody outside," a 20-year-old neighbor, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 15 years, told Patch. They did not want to be identified.

"It’s just a house you don’t go to," the neighbor continued. "Trick or treating, you just stay away. You just know that there’s danger there. Parents were always like, ‘Don’t go up the street too far.’”

The dilapidated property stands out in the row of single family homes and well-maintained lawns, according to the AP.

“This house sticks out like a sore thumb. There were overgrown shrubs, there was always wood in front of the house,” Gabriella Libardi, a 24-year-old teacher, told the AP. “It was very creepy. I wouldn’t send my child there.”

Another neighbor, Barry Auslander, told the AP the man who lived in the house took the train daily to New York City and wore a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase.

“It was weird. He looked like a businessman,” said Auslander. “But his house is a dump.”

With additional reporting by the Patch team in Long Island.