Las Vegas Police Probe Possible Ties To Accused Gilgo Killer

MASSAPEQUA PARK, NY — The vehicle that connected Rex Heuermann, 59, of Massepequa Park, with the murder case of three sex workers in the Gilgo Beach serial killings was impounded by law enforcement on Tuesday, reports say.

A Chevy Avalanche connected to Heuermann was covered in a tarp and strapped to the back of a NYSP tow truck that rolled into the impound lot of the Chester County Sheriff's Office during Tuesday afternoon's press conference in South Carolina, Fox News reported.

Heuermann was charged with six counts of murder on Friday in the deaths of Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman, whose remains were found in 2010 off Ocean Parkway.

One witness who is believed to have seen Heuermann told police how Amber Costello had tricked him out of money and that they saw him get into a Chevrolet Avalanche, which was later traced to him by its car registration.

Heuermann is believed to have picked up Costello the second and final time in the Chevy.

The update comes after his DNA was entered into a statewide database to see if it matches any other unsolved crimes, according to a report.

Las Vegas and Long Island law enforcement also continue to investigate the case.

Suffolk County Police executed a search at another storage facility in Amityville on Tuesday, in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders investigation, News 12 reported. It wasn't immediately clear who the storage unit belongs to.

See also: Evidence Seized From Gilgo Beach Suspect's Home So Far

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department also said in a statement to Patch they are looking into the case:

"We are aware of Rex Heuermann’s connection to Las Vegas We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement."

Additionally, investigators have seized several pieces of evidence from Heuermann's home, including guns, a child-like doll and a haunting portrait of a woman, according to reports.

Investigators are looking into whether he is tied to the killings of the six other Gilgo Beach victims, News12 reported.

"Is It In The News?"

The Massapequa Park resident faces three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of sex workers Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2010, prosecutors said.

He was arrested on Thursday in New York City.

According to CNN, which cited an anonymous source, Heuermann reportedly asked one question to jailers:"Is it in the news?"

See also: Accused Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Asked 1 Question To Jailers: Report

Mitochondrial Analysis

In a press conference on Friday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said that mitochondrial analysis was used to link Heuermann with the three women.

Dr. Deborah Silva, professor and director of the Forensic Science Program at Hofstra University, spoke with Patch about mitochondrial analysis and its importance in forensic investigations.

Silva said that laboratory technicians are not always able to get data from nuclear DNA.
"We only have one nucleolus in the cell with 23 pairs of chromosomes," she said. "But yet, we have thousands of mitochondria in our cells."

When a sample is degraded, its nuclear DNA quality is more likely to be of a low quality, she said. In a case such as this, it's easier to obtain data by obtaining mitochindial analyisis, or mtDNA.

See also: What Is Mitochondrial Analysis? Forensic Expert Explains

Heuremann is also a person of interest in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, whose remains were found near the other three women in December 2010. Their remains were also found in similar fashion — each were bonded and wrapped in camouflage burlap bags usually used for hunting, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Friday. The four women were nicknamed the "Gilgo Four."

During the initial examination of Waterman's remains, police found a male hair at the bottom of the burlap used to wrap her. All three women were bound with belts, Tierney said.
Hair was found on all of them, but due to the amount of time their bodies were exposed to the elements, the evidence degraded, and a typical DNA analysis could not be performed. In 2022, forensics used mitochondrial analysis to identify the DNA.
"The technology wasn't there for mitochondrial DNA," Tierney said.

A Psychiatrist Analysis

Also, this week, a California forensic psychiatrist told Patch that Heuermann could be "a sexual sadist" based on evidence that surfaced. Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Los Angeles-based psychiatrist who attended Stony Brook University, told Patch she found it troubling that Heuermann, according to prosecutors, kept a close eye on the victims' families.

See also: Psychiatrist: Accused Gilgo Beach Killer Appears To Be 'Sexual Sadist'

Since 2010, at least 11 sets of remains have been found, believed to be related to the Gilgo Beach killings. Police have searched for a serial killer ever since. At least four of the killings included strangulation, and two showed signs of blunt-force trauma. The cause of death remains inconclusive for some victims.

On Jan. 26, a surveillance team recovered a pizza box thrown out by Heuermann in Manhattan. A swab taken from the pizza crust matched the DNA from the hair found in the burlap.

Female hairs were also found on the women's remains, court documents said.

On July 21, 2022, undercover officers retrieved 11 bottles in front of Heuermann's home, left in a trash receptacle, left out for collection. Forensics swabbed the bottles to obtain the DNA profile of Heuermann's wife.

The swabs of Heuermann's wife were then matched with the female hairs found on the women's remains.

His wife and children were out of the country at the time of the women's deaths, court documents said.

At a press conference on Friday, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said that the investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings isn't over.

"Even with this arrest, we're not done," he said. "There's more work to do in this investigation regarding the other victims, the Gilgo Beach bodies that were discovered."

He also encouraged anyone with more information to call the Gilgo Beach hotline: 1-800-220-TIPS or to submit at tip on the Gilgo News website.

"He Would Stand Over The Fence"

Multiple people have come forward to share stories about Heuermann, including longtime neighbor Etienne DeVilliers, who lived next door for 28 years.

"My wife would sunbathe in the backyard," said DeVilliers, a former FDNY firefighter. "He would stand over the fence, and he would try to start conversations with her."

A 25-year-old woman said she had chilling encounters with Heuermann earlier this month.
She told the New York Post that Heuermann "popped" out at her multiple times at Brady Park, near his First Avenue home in Massapequa Park.

"He had very dirty clothes on. He popped right out of the woods. Everywhere I went in the woods, he would pop out," the woman told the Post.

When she saw his picture on Friday after the arrest, she screamed, recognizing him.

In another encounter, a retired police officer reported having a confrontation with him on a Long Island Rail Road train days before his arrest, Fox News reported.

See also: Gilgo Beach Killings Suspect Had Confrontation With Ex-Cop: Report

The former officer said Heuermann presented himself as a bully, according to the outlet.

Patch reached out to Michael Brown, Heuermann's attorney, multiple times for comment.