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

LONG ISLAND, NY — For more than a decade, a cloud of mystery has shrouded the circumstances surrounding the Gilgo Beach murders — Shannan Gilbert went missing in May 2010; a desperate search to find her led to the the grisly discovery of 10 additional sets of human remains.

On Friday, Suffolk County police had a suspect in custody in connection with the Gilgo Beach killings.

Rex Heuermann, of Massapequa Park, was taken into custody by Suffolk County, Nassau County, and state police.

Shannan Gilbert's remains were found in 2011 in Oak Beach; Gilbert was a New Jersey escort who disappeared 10 years ago after meeting a client for sex on Oak Beach, leading to the discoveries of the 10 sets of human remains.

The search for Gilbert first led to the bodies of four other sex workers, all of whom were strangled and stuffed in burlap bags.

Police have been searching for a serial killer ever since. Rumors have swirled across Long Island for years, with the names of possible suspects fueling speculation and fear.

Last year, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison released videotape evidence of victim Megan Waterman, 22, and 911 audio of Shannan Gilbert from the night she disappeared, in hopes of enlisting the public’s assistance in solving the murders.

Below is a timeline of key events leading up to Friday's arrest in the Gilgo case:

April 20, 1996: Human remains were located in Davis Park on Fire Island, Suffolk County Police said. DNA later linked these remains to another set of remains located on April 11, 2011, along Ocean Parkway, in Nassau County. These remains, known as Jane Doe #7, have not been identified.

November 19, 2000: Remains of Manorville Jane Doe/Jane Doe #6, who was later identified as Valerie Mack, are discovered in Manorville.

July 26, 2003 — The remains of Jessica Taylor, an escort working in New York City, were located in a wooded area in Manorville. Additional remains of Taylor were discovered March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway, during the search for Shannan Gilbert.

Dec. 11, 2010 — The skeletal remains of Melissa Barthelemy were discovered along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach on December 11, 2010. Barthelemy's discovery garnered widespread news coverage and was the first set of remains found during the search for Shannan Gilbert.

Dec. 13, 2010 — The skeletal remains of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who advertised escort services on Craigslist, were discovered along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach.

Dec. 13, 2010 — The skeletal remains of Amber Lynn Costello, who advertised escort services on Craigslist, were discovered in an area off Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach. Costello was last seen leaving her North Babylon home in early September 2010.

Dec. 13, 2010 — The skeletal remains of Megan Waterman, who advertised escort services on Craigslist, were discovered along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach. Waterman was last seen in early June 2010 at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge, New York.

March 29, 2011 — Jane Doe No. 5 remains found east of the Gilgo Beach Four.

April 4, 2011 — The skeletal remains of an Asian male were discovered along Ocean Parkway. It is estimated that the male was between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. He was about 5-feet, 6-inches tall with poor dental health. The timing of his death is believed to be approximately five to 10 years prior to the discovery.

April 4, 2011 — The remains of Jane Doe No. 6 were found. In 2020, those remains were identified as belonging to Valerie Mack. Mack, an escort whose last known whereabouts was in Philadelphia in 2000, was identified through genetic genealogy in 2020 as the victim whose remains were discovered on two separate occasions, in Manorville in 2000 and in Oak Beach in 2011.

April 4, 2011 — The skeletal remains of a female toddler were discovered along Ocean Parkway in close proximity to Valerie Mack. It is believed the toddler was about 2 years old at the time of death, and are likely non-Caucasian. DNA analysis later identified the unidentified toddler to be the child of the victim "Peaches," whose remains were found in Nassau County.

April 11, 2011: The investigation uncovered two additional sets of remains along Ocean Parkway in Nassau County. One set, through DNA analysis, was confirmed to be the mother of the female toddler. The mother’s partial remains were first discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997 and she has become known as “Peaches” due to a bitten heart-shaped tattoo of a peach on her body, police said. The other set discovered in Nassau County was genetically matched with remains discovered in 1996 in Davis Park on Fire Island, significantly expanding the timeline and geographic reach of the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation, police said.

Dec. 13, 2011 — Shannan Gilbert's remains found.

Jan. 16, 2020 — New belt buckle evidence revealed.

Jan. 28, 2020 - Netflix film about the murders debuts.

May 28, 2020 - Police identify remains of Jane Doe No. 6 as Valerie Mack

According to a full history released by Suffolk County Police, years before the 2010 discovery of one set of human remains at Oak Beach in Suffolk County, 10 people fell victim to suspected homicide. Multiple females, one male, and a toddler were killed between 1996 and 2010.

On the evening of May 1, 2010, 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert disappeared, reportedly running through the gated community of Oak Beach after leaving the home of a client. Gilbert was driven to Oak Beach by a driver, who later received a call from the client to take Gilbert home after she reportedly became irrational and erratic. Although multiple searches were conducted in the vicinity of where Gilbert was last seen, her body was not discovered until 18 months after she was first reported missing, police said.

On December 11, 2010, eight months after the search for Gilbert began, a Suffolk County Police Department canine unit continued the searched for Gilbert near her last known whereabouts. Instead of Gilbert, however, they uncovered human remains (Jane Doe #1) that were later identified as 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, police said.

Two days after the discovery of Barthelemy, three additional victims (initially designated as Jane Does #2, 3, and 4) were located along Ocean Parkway, police said. The remains were later identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Megan Waterman, 22. All four women worked as Craigslist escorts and were last seen between July 2007 and September 2010.

Several months later, the remains of another woman who worked as an escort were discovered several miles east of where the Gilgo Beach Four were found. This set of partial skeletal remains, unearthed on March 29, 2011, was known as Jane Doe #5, police said.

The discovery of these remains led to the first connection between the Gilgo homicides and Manorville. The investigation matched the remains of Jane Doe #5 to identified partial remains of Jessica Taylor, previously discovered in Manorville on July 26, 2003. She also worked as an escort, police said.

Following the connection between Gilgo Beach and Manorville through the discovery of Jessica Taylor’s remains, the investigation into Shannan Gilbert’s disappearance expanded yet again, police said.

On April 4, 2011, three more sets of remains were found on Ocean Parkway in Suffolk County. One set was that of a female toddler, another was a yet-to-be-identified Asian male, the third was initially referred to as Jane Doe #6, police said.

A week later, the investigation uncovered two additional sets of remains along Ocean Parkway in Nassau County. One set, through DNA analysis, was confirmed to be the mother of the female toddler. The mother’s partial remains were first discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997 and she has become known as “Peaches” due to a bitten heart-shaped tattoo of a peach on her body, police said. The other set discovered in Nassau County was genetically matched with remains discovered in 1996 in Davis Park on Fire Island.

Originally known as Manorville Jane Doe, Jane Doe #6, found on April 4, 2011, was confirmed by the Suffolk County Police Department’s homicide unit to match with remains discovered in Manorville on November 19, 2000. Recreational hunters came across these remains, a white female with brown hair, located off of Halsey Manor Road in a wooded area.

The investigation determined that these remains had been in this location since the end of 2000.
Most significantly, in May 2020, Jane Doe #6 was identified as Valerie Mark. Mack’s remains were identified with the assistance of the FBI, using advanced forensic DNA technology.

Mack, who disappeared at the age of 24 while living in Philadelphia, worked as an escort, but is confirmed to have worked in Philadelphia and not New York. Mack also used the alias of ‘Melissa Taylor,' police said.

Mack’s family members provided additional DNA samples, and confirmed that they last saw Mack in the spring and summer of 2000 in Port Republic in New Jersey. While she was not reported missing, this information aligned with the previous determination that Mack’s remains were dumped in Manorville in 2000, police said.

In early December 2011, Suffolk County Police found Shannan Gilbert’s purse and mobile phone in Oak Beach marshland. Two days later, a quarter-mile east of her belongings, Gilbert’s remains were located, police said.

In 2020, for the first time, police released the "significant piece of evidence," in the Gilgo Beach murders — a black belt embossed with the letters "HM" or "WH,"; the letters are 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. The belt was found at the initial stages of the investigation at a crime scene and 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.

Hart said the investigation was one of the most "well-known and complex that this department has ever undertaken ... We will remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver justice and in doing so, give a sense of closure," Hart said.

To continue sharing information, SCPD then launched a new website devoted exclusively to the Gilgo Beach murders, providing an avenue for the public to share tips, Gilgonews.com.

At the event, Hart detailed the timeline of the years since 10 sets of remains were found.

For the first time, Hart said, new scientific technology would be used; the SCPD was granted an appeal by the New York State Department of Health to provide the FBI with DNA samples that will be given to genetic genealogy databases, with an eye toward identifying possible relatives of those found murdered and unidentified; it is unclear how long the process will take.

When asked if there had been multiple killers, she said, "It's important as an investigating team to keep our minds open to all avenues, that we don't marry ourselves to one. We have to keep our minds open and go where the facts take us."

John Ray, a Miller Place attorney for victim Shannan Gilbert's family said at the time that he would demand that SCPD release to the public immediately the four 911 tapes made when Gilbert disappeared in 2010.

"I have fought alone, in court for nearly four years to compel SCPD to release the 911 tapes. SCPD has relentlessly stonewalled against me and the public, and refused to release them, even though the State Supreme Court ordered the police to release the tapes to me. SCPD has defied the court," Ray said at the time.

Ray also brought up former ex-Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, a detective who "had a lot to say about this investigation when Shannan first disappeared." Eight days after Gilbert was found, he was appointed chief of police, Ray said. "

The news came just days before Netflix debuted a new movie filmed on the North Fork in 2018 about the murders.

The Netlix movie "also puts them on the spot," Ray said. "What they really need to do is give it up, do the right thing, clear out the old dead wood that has been investigating this case for years and put in new people, new voices, a new mindset and share information with me and with the public."