LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect from Long Island, was detained by authorities in New York in relation to a series of homicides known as the Gilgo Beach murders. According to authorities, Heuermann was detained on Thursday night, July 14, in New York City close to his Fifth Avenue workplace.
Currently behind bars on Long Island, Heuermann faces charges of first and second-degree murder in relation to the deaths of three Gilgo Beach victims: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Additionally, he is the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. While the murders took place more than a decade ago, the shocking case is finally inching towards closure with Heuermann's arrest. Cops say that Heuermann had been on their radar for a long time. They arrested him now because they did not want the alleged killer to be roaming the streets, waiting for another victim to turn up dead. But that brings us to the question, how long was Heuermann under police surveillance?
How long was Rex Heuermann under surveillance?
After nearly 13 years, Heuermann was arrested for the Gilgo Beach serial killings. In January 2022, Suffolk County prosecutors assembled an "experienced team of investigators, analysts, and prosecutors," with local police and FBI to try and solve the cold case. However, on March 14, 2022, two months after cops renewed the investigation, they discovered a green Chevrolet Avalanche that was registered in Heuermann's name. This comes after a pimp for one of the victims,who were mostly sex workers, allegedly told cops that the suspect's car was a green Chevrolet Avalanche in a meeting in the spring of 2022.
Court documents revealed in the light of the recent arrest that there was over 16 months of surveillance and investigation into Heuermann which ultimately led to his arrest. Heuermann was connected to the killings after DNA samples found on the victim's body matched his DNA, which cops recovered from a pizza crust he ate and then discarded in a garbage bin. Additionally, it was reported that Heuermann was spotted interacting with sex workers during the last year while being monitored by the police, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. Considering how all his victims were sex workers and the alleged killer used burner phones to connect with them, the cops kept Heuermann under tight surveillance. He could also be seen on Google Maps street view chatting with an unidentified woman in June 2022. In those pictures the architect appeared to be wearing the same light blue dress shirt he wore in surveillance images released by the police and had the same over-the-shoulder brown bag he had on him when he was arrested.
According to reports, Heuermann called the sex workers using burner phones. In addition to this, authorities claim he recently harassed a female rider in a park while under surveillance, as per Pix11. As the Gilgo Beach murders have grabbed headlines after Heuermann's arrest, Internet sleuths have started speculating about his case.
'Rex Heuermann is known to have up to 7 burner phones'
The same topic of surveillance and the burner phone sparked a discussion on Twitter. One social media user wrote, "That is actually true and happens more then ppl think. They often have them under surveillance for weeks or months for several reasons. But yea, very common." A different user spilled a theory and wrote, "#RexHeuermann is known to have up to 7 burner phones (at least so far). LE has stated in the cases he's been charged for, he used a separate burner phone for each, then discarded it afterwards. I'd say based on that, there's a whole lot more to come"... #GilgoBeach #Giglo
Another user speculated about his burner phone and wrote, "And googling "why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the long island serial killer." However, all these statements are arbitrary theories made by online sleuths without concrete evidence. The police and authorities are working on the case, and Heuermann is currently behind bars, charged with first-degree murder. One wrote: "Love watching this unravel, I hope after all these years the families have received some kind of clarity from the justice that’s being served on this case." Another social media user and true crime enthusiast wrote on Twitter: "I find it amusing that authorities were already conducting surveillance on him while he was purchasing minutes for his burner phone to look up the status of his own investigation. Doesn’t get better than that."
