Midtown Architect Arrested In LI Beach Serial Killings: Reports

MIDTOWN, NY — Serial killings on a Long Island beach have been tied to the founder of a Midtown architecture firm whose portfolio includes the new Soho Target and an Upper East Side showroom, according to multiple reports.

Update: Gilgo Beach Killing Suspect Pleads Not Guilty; New Details Emerge

Rex Heuermann, owner of RH Consultants and Associates, was arrested by Suffolk County, Nassau County, and state police News 12 reported Friday morning.

At least 11 sets of remains were found along Ocean Parkway over a decade-long period, but according to the New York Post, the arrest is tied specifically to the so-called "Gilgo Four," four women found wrapped in burlap in 2010.

Heuermann, 59, founded RH Consultants and Associates in 1984. It's offices are located on Fifth Avenue and East 36th Street.

Clients include Catholic Charities, the city's Department of Environmental Protection and multiple airlines at John F. Kennedy Airport, according to the firm website.

Its portfolio includes Target's new SoHo location, a Bronx Foot Locker near Yankee Stadium, a Savior Beds NYC Showroom on the Upper East Side and Bellami Beauty Bar in the Meatpacking District.

Heuermann's name also appears in a New York Daily News story from 2007 about a crumbling apartment building in Harlem.

Two dozen families were forced to leave the building at 305 W. 150th St. as the city investigated whether Heuermann, hired to renovate, had falsely identified it as vacant, the News reported at the time.

Three years later, investigators discovered the bodies of the "Gilgo Four."

Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was found on Dec. 11, 2010. Days later, investigators also found Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, wrapped in plastic just a few hundred feet apart along the beach.

Barthelemy's body was discovered as police searched for Shannan Gilbert, a missing New Jersey escort, whose body was found in Oak Beach in 2011.

In 2020, the Suffolk County Police Department released a new website devoted exclusively to the Gilgo Beach murders, providing an avenue for the public to share tips, Gilgonews.com.

The latest update is a video, released in May 2022, of 911 calls Gilbert made shortly before her death.

"At times, Shannon is speaking calmly but slurring her words," Lieutenant Kevin Byron said. "At times, she is screaming."

Additional reporting provided by Maureen Mullarkey.