Gilgo Beach murders new search underway
Law enforcement are conduction a new search at the home of Rex Heuermann, a suspect of the Gilgo Beach murders. (Credit: FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg)
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. – Long Island police have returned to the Massapequa Park home of suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann.
His wife Asa Ellerup, who filed for divorce shortly after his arrest last summer, and their adult children were not home at the time, according to her lawyer, Bob Macedonio.
Investigators from both the New York State Police and Suffolk County were on the scene with command tents Monday. At least a half dozen law enforcement agents were seen in the Heuermann driveway, some wearing rubber gloves, while others carried white cardboard document boxes into the home.
The bucolic Long Island suburb quickly became a hot bed of activity with police vehicles and media agencies swarming the streets as helicopters hovered by air.
NEW YORK POLICE SEARCH OF LONG ISLAND FOREST COULD BE LINKED TO GILGO BEACH MURDERS
Police return to the home of Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann in Massepequa, N.Y on Monday May 20, 2024. (Michael Ruiz / Fox News Digital)
Investigators are believed to have obtained a new search warrant for the home, where they spent nearly two weeks searching last year.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said, "As District Attorney Tierney has previously stated, the work of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force is continuing. We do not comment on investigative steps while ongoing."
Police return to the home of Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann in Massepequa, N.Y on Monday May 20, 2024. (Michael Ruiz / Fox News Digital)
The latest search comes weeks after police K-9s were seen digging through the forest in Manorville, about 40 miles away, in an investigation that may be related.
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Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann appears in Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom next to his attorney Michael Brown in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (James Carbone/Newsday)
Heuermann is accused of killing four women whose remains were found in the brush along a quiet stretch of Ocean Parkway in 2010 – Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; Amber Costello, 27; and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
The "Gilgo Four," as Heuermann's alleged victims have become known, were among 11 bodies discovered after police received a haunting 911 call from Shannan Gilbert in 2010.
The "Gilgo Four" clockwise from top left: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. The background shows a wooden cross in the marsh next to Gilgo Beach, New York, where their remains were found in the brush just yards from Ocean Parkway. (Suffolk County Police Department/Mega for Fox News Digital)
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Two of the other victims, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack, were dismembered and dumped in separate locations. Police first discovered their partial remains in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Additional remains of both victims were uncovered in the search for Gilbert in 2011.
Police serve a search warrant at the home of Rex Heuermann in Massapequa Park on Long Island, NY Monday, May 20, 2024. Paperwork and tables are being set up to review the evidence that is being brought out of the house. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Heuermann faces three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the Gilgo Four murders and has not been named a suspect in the other deaths.
John Ray, an attorney for Gilbert's family and for several other women who have accused Heuermann of wrongdoing, questioned the need for a search warrant on the hope, now occupied by Ellerup and the adult children, if she is cooperating with the investigation and was publicly cleared of wrongdoing by the district attorney's office.
"It could've been a phone call to the lawyer if things were on the up and up," he told Fox News Digital. "[But] they needed a warrant and didn't get her permission."
Macedonio, Ellerup's lawyer, said his client had not been asked in advance.
"Any request that's been made of Asa, she has complied with," he said.
Police serve a search warrant at the home of Rex Heuermann in Massapequa Park on Long Island, NY Monday, May 20, 2024. Paperwork and tables are being set up to review the evidence that is being brought out of the house. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
Ray, who has disputed prosecutors' stance that Ellerup has no connection to the slayings, speculated that something could have been brought into the house after Heuermann's arrest.
Tierney said last year that the suspect's wife was out of town during each of the murders and that investigators do not believe she assisted her husband in the crimes.
Heuermann was born and raised in Massapequa Park, New York.
He bought his childhood home from his mother in the 1990s and moved his family there.
A general view of Rex Heuermann’s house in Massapequa Park, New York on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Signs that read "No Stopping No Standing Any Time" are visible in the front yard of Heuermann’s home. Heuermann was arrested earlier this month for the deaths of three women, with police executing search warrants at his home for over a week. (MEGA for Fox News Digital )
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Neighbors described him as a quiet businessman who carried a briefcase to the nearby train station, wearing a three-piece suit to head into his Manhattan office, where he was an architect.
Several came out to watch the police activity and told Fox News Digital they were getting annoyed by the attention to their typically quiet suburban community.
Police serve a search warrant at the home of Rex Heuermann in Massapequa Park on Long Island, NY Monday, May 20, 2024. Paperwork and tables are being set up to review the evidence that is being brought out of the house. (Kevin C. Downs for Fox News Digital)
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They said police arrived sometime before 8:45 a.m. and resumed their search.
It was not immediately clear what kind of evidence investigators were seeking.
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