Long Island Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann is arrested
Police in New York have arrested Rex Heuermann in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders, in which 11 sets of human remains were found strewn along a suburban beach highway in Long Island in 2010 and 2011.
Coverage for this event has ended.
A Suffolk County Crime Lab detective carries items out of 385 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on Friday, July 14, 2023. Rex Heuermann’s architecture firm, RH Consultants, is located within the office building.
Suffolk County Crime Lab detectives were seen carrying items out of suspect Rex Heuermann's office on Friday.
Heuermann is an architect who worked in Manhattan and lives in Long Island.
Heuermann is charged with six counts of murder: one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder for each of the three victims.
Those victims have been identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
The three victims were found at Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Click here to see more pictures of detectives leaving Heuermann's office.
Rex Heuermann's mugshot
The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office released Rex Heuermann's mugshot on Friday night.
Heuermann is charged with six counts of murder: one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder for each of the three victims.
Those victims have been identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Editor's note: This story contains some graphic details.
Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann made thousands of explicit Google searches for child pornography and other disturbing media, according to law enforcement officials.
Heuermann is charged with six counts of murder: one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder for each of the three victims.
Those victims have been identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts.Officials detailed in a bail application that Heuermann made "thousands" of Google searches for various explicit pornography and also searched for nearby sex workers.
Fox News Digital is not describing many of the Google searches due to their explicit nature.
Click here to read more
Police in New York arrested Long Island's Gilgo Beach serial murder suspect Rex Heuermann with the help of DNA from a discarded pizza box, according to a bail application.
Rex Heuermann is charged with six counts of murder: one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder for each of the three victims. Those victims have been identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Authorities said 11 sets of human remains were found on a beach highway in Long Island between 2010 and 2011. The bail application made public Friday explains that police also recovered male hair from a burlap they said was used to wrap Waterman's body in 2010.
At the time, analysis revealed that the hair found "Caucasian/European characteristics" but wasn't suitable for further DNA testing.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Suffolk County Police officers were seen exiting Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann's office in Manhattan on Friday afternoon carrying a crowbar and sledgehammer.
Suffolk County Police officers were seen exiting Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann's office in Manhattan on Friday afternoon carrying a crowbar and sledgehammer, pictures taken by Fox News Digital show.
Heuermann is an architect who worked in Manhattan and lives in Long Island.
Rex Heuermann is charged with six counts of murder: one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder for each of the three victims. Those victims have been identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The three victims were found at Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
Picture of pizza box
Police in New York were able to arrest Long Island Gilgo Beach serial murder suspect Rex Heuermann with the help of DNA from a discarded pizza box, according to a bail application.
Officials wrote in the bail application that police recovered male hair from the "'bottom of the burlap'" used to wrap Megan Waterman when her body was found in 2010.
After discovering the vehicle registered to Heuermann, a surveillance team saw him throwing away a pizza box. The pizza box was sent to the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory for analysis, where a swab was collected from the pizza crust on March 23.
A portion of the hair found on Waterman was also sent for analysis on April 28.
On or around June 12, it was determined that the DNA found on the hair and crust have the "same" profile, and excluded 99.96% of the North American population.
Heuermann's DNA could not be excluded from the male hair found near Waterman's body, police wrote in the bail application.
Rex Heuermann
Rex Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the six counts of first and second degree murder filed against him.
He is charged with first and second degree murder for the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello - amounting to six counts.
The three victims were found at Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
Heuermann is being represented by court-appointed attorney Michael Brown, Fox News Digital has learned.
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
Rex Heuermann is being charged Friday with three counts of murder in the first degree and three counts of murder in the 2nd degree following his arrest in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders, according to court documents.
The counts are in related to the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, three of the victims found in Gilgo Beach in December 2010.
Heuermann is expected to appear in court in Yaphank, New York, on Friday afternoon for an arraignment. He was taken into custody last night in Manhattan, according to Suffolk County Police, and investigators are now searching a home in Massapequa Park in Long Island, about a 25-minute drive from where New York authorities discovered 11 sets of human remains strewn along a suburban beach highway in 2010 and 2011.
"I've lived with the Gilgo Beach investigation for my entire tenure as county executive, and I can tell you that during that time, the focus for me, members of our team have been on bringing justice for these victims and closure to these families who have suffered," Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone earlier told reporters gathered outside the home Friday in Massapequa Park.
"Today's developments take us a major step forward in doing exactly that," he said, adding, "I want the public to know the message to the public is that we have never stopped working on this case."
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Actor Billy Baldwin has tweeted Friday that Rex Heuermann, the suspect arrested in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders, was his classmate in high school.
"Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann," he wrote.
"Berner High School, Massapequa, New York, Class of 1981," the tweet added.
"Mind-boggling… Massapequa is in shock," Baldwin also said.
In a February 2022, YouTube video interview with Bonjour Realty, Heuermann describes himself as an "architect," "architect consultant" and a "troubleshooter."
"Born and raised on Long Island. Then working in Manhattan since 1987," Heuermann says in the video. "…When a job that should've been routine suddenly becomes not routine, I get the phone call."
Heuermann, 59, is tied to at least 11 murders after New York authorities discovered 11 sets of human remains strewn along a suburban Long Island beach highway between 2010 and 2011. The identified victims have been named as Shannan Gilbert, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack.
Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Retired NYPD inspector Paul Mauro explains what clues could have helped Long Island police break the cold case and make an arrest on ‘America’s Newsroom.’
Rex Heuermann, 59, has been arrested in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders. (Jeffrey Simon Architecture & Design)
New York authorities on Friday named Rex Heuermann as the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer.
Heuermann, 59, is tied to at least 11 murders after New York authorities discovered 11 sets of human remains strewn along a suburban Long Island beach highway between 2010 and 2011. The identified victims have been named as Shannan Gilbert, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack.
Heuermann is a married father of two and architect living on Long Island and working in Manhattan at his firm, RH Consultants & Associates.
Neighbors described the suspect to Fox News Digital as the "neighborhood creep" as police vehicles swarmed his Massapequa Park home Friday morning.
Former neighbor Carol Bergen told Fox News Digital that Heuermann once asked her brother if he cried at their father's funeral after he died.
Massapequa Park is a clean-cut neighborhood where residents keep up with manicured landscaping and hang American flags off their front porches. Several homeowners in Heuermann's neighborhood are local police officers, and a closed police academy is located down the street from the suspect's home.
Suffolk County police stationed outside of a home in Massapequa Park, N.Y., on Friday, July 14, 2023. The home is believed to be occupied by a suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. – Police in New York's Long Island arrested suspect Rex Heuermann on Thursday evening in connection with the Gilgo Beach serial killer case, Fox News has confirmed.
Heuermann is expected to appear in court in Yaphank, New York, on Friday afternoon for an arraignment. He was taken into custody last night in Manhattan, according to Suffolk County Police, and investigators are now searching a home in Massapequa Park in Long Island, about a 25-minute drive from where New York authorities discovered 11 sets of human remains strewn along a suburban beach highway in 2010 and 2011.
"I've lived with the Gilgo Beach investigation for my entire tenure as county executive, and I can tell you that during that time, the focus for me, members of our team have been on bringing justice for these victims and closure to these families who have suffered," Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone told reporters gathered outside the home Friday in Massapequa Park.
"Today's developments take us a major step forward in doing exactly that," he said, adding, "I want the public to know the message to the public is that we have never stopped working on this case."
Fox News can confirm that the large police presence in Massapequa Park is connected to the Gilgo Beach developments. The law enforcement activity has drawn neighbors out of their homes in the suburban village, despite the rainy weather in the area Friday morning.
Heuermann is a married father of two and an architect living on Long Island and working in Manhattan.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Live Coverage begins here