Over a decade ago
Oak Beach residents living along Ocean Parkway, on Gilgo Beach, Long Island, New York can now breathe a sigh of relief. The arrest of potential serial killer, Rex Heuermann, an architect and father of two living in New Jersey. The arrest came after a decade-plus of investigating the grisly murders of three women who had disappeared in 2010 and a fourth found nearby with her disappearance dating as far as 2007. Altogether there are an additional six corpses discovered along the same road spanning two counties with further identification and cause of death awaiting to be released. The New York Suffolk County District Attorney’s announcement of Heuermann’s arrest and charges related to the three victims have been formerly rendered. Heuermann was charged with various counts for the murder of three victims.
Mitochondrial DNA was key evidence in identifying him as the killer. There were hair strands of him or his wife on the tape that bound the victim’s legs and hands or in the burlap sack the women were wrapped in. In 2010, the technology did not exist to break down the genes and under the new Mitochondrial DNA process, this can be achieved. The District Attorney briefed also disclosed to the public there was a partial identification as early as 2010 when one of the victim’s rendezvous with Heuermann was interrupted by friends of hers. They were able to give a limited facial, body, and vehicle description of him. In March 2022 a task force met to lay the groundwork for the investigation going forward and Heuermann was a suspect then. Heuermann is reported to be six foot four inches tall and of large stature. All this led to authorities identifying the type of vintage vehicle he drove. Where they started surveillance of his home. They were also able to collect DNA evidence from a piece of pizza he had eaten and discarded in a trashcan nearby. Some sporadic communication success in tracking down phone calls to these women and the microwave stations the calls came from. After the disappearance and on at least one occasion he called the victim’s family to relish and torment their loved one’s death. All these factors and the use of burner cell phones led to several subpoenas being issued to a variety of entities. His wife’s hair strands present with the bodies do not implicate her since it is known that she was out of town during some of the murders.