Police confirm vault found in Gilgo murder suspect's home
Fox Nation host Nancy Grace analyzes the latest details in the investigation of the suspected Long Island serial killer, Rex Heuermann.
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. – The New York prosecutor handling the Long Island serial killer case visited the suspect's house Tuesday, where police have been executing search warrants for more than a week.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said outside the Massapequa Park, New York, home of Gilgo Beach killings suspect Rex Heuermann that police had effectively concluded their search of the property Tuesday.
"The evidence doesn't point one way or the other that someone was killed in the house," he told reporters. "We have obtained a massive amount of material that has to be cataloged and analyzed."
While Tierney said it was too early to discuss what investigators had found inside during more than a week of searching, he revealed what police were looking for.
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Accused Long Island killer Rex Heuermann (inset). In the background is Gilgo Beach, where four victims' bodies were found in 2010. (Jeffrey Simon Architecture & Design/Mega)
"We were looking for tangible items of evidence as well as trace evidence including blood and DNA and hair fibers," he told reporters. "That is a process that it takes a while."
No human remains were found at the home, Tierney added, but investigators were still sorting through trace evidence recovered inside and from the backyard.
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Suffolk police arrested Heuermann near his Manhattan office on July 14 on a half-dozen murder charges in connection with three of the four Gilgo deaths – Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.
Clockwise from top left, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Megan Waterman, 22 and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, disappeared after meeting with a client on Craigslist. The remains of the women were found in December 2010 at Gilgo Beach on Long Island. (Suffolk County Police Department)
At the time, they said he remained the prime suspect in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, whose remains they found near the other three.
He pleaded not guilty the following day at his arraignment.
Rex Heuermann is charged with murder. (Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
When Tierney and Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison both took office in early 2022, they announced a new task force to crack the unsolved Gilgo Beach murders.
The "Gilgo Four" victims' remains were among a shocking 11 sets of human remains discovered as part of a search for Shannan Gilbert, who placed a harrowing 911 call and then vanished into the marsh.
Police have since said that they believe Gilbert's death is not connected to the others and may have been accidental.
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The new task force quickly zeroed in on Heuermann after they linked data from his phone, numerous burner phones and the victims' phones to the suspect vehicle and cell towers near his home on Long Island and office in New York City.
They first found his name in March of last year, just six weeks into the new investigation, and plucked him off the street in Manhattan earlier this month after building their cases and amid concerns he could strike again.
Rex Heuermann is led into Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Complex in Riverhead, New York, on Friday, July 14, 2023. The 59-year-old is being charged with three counts of murder in relation to the deaths of victims found on Gilgo Beach. (Matt Agudo/Splash for Fox News Digital)
Heuermann's wife, Asa Ellerup, retained a high-powered Long Island defense lawyer and filed for divorce less than a week after learning of the charges against her husband.
Police in other states, including Nevada, South Carolina and New Jersey, are looking into Heuermann for possible connections to unsolved cases in those places.
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He is due back in court Aug. 1 and faces up to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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