LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: In the small town of Massapequa Park, nestled just north of Gilgo Beach, a peaceful community was shattered by a series of heinous crimes known as the Gilgo Beach murders. Over the decade, ten women and a toddler lost their lives, leaving a trail of unanswered questions and a community in fear. Now police have claimed a breakthrough by arresting a suspect named Rex Heuermann.
The first four victims, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27 were discovered in December 2010. These young women, known as the 'Gilgo Four,' were found a quarter mile from one another near the beach within days.
The first four victims were all sex workers
They had all been involved in sex work and had advertised their services on Craigslist as per Daily Mail. The cops stumbled on the bodies while investigating a case of a missing woman Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker, who had vanished in May 2010 after leaving a client’s house in Oak Beach. Gilbert as per Suffolk County Police vanished after dialing 911.
Even as Gilbert remained missing, discovering four bodies, concealed in burlap sacks, shocked the community. Some of these women had been missing for up to three years before their remains were found that year.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes
Brainard-Barnes, 25 was last heard from on July 9, 2007, and she was reported missing on July 14 that year. She lived in Connecticut and she used to go to Manhattan for work. She is believed to be the first victim in what is known as the "Gilgo Four." She was known to advertise under the names Juliana or Marie. Her body was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway during the search for Shannan Gilbert.
Melissa Barthelemy
The second victim, Melissa Barthelemy was last seen in her apartment at 1149 Underhill Ave in the Bronx on July 12, 2009. She used the aliases Chloe and VerySexyChloe and would work in Bars and restaurants in Manhattan to meet clients. On the night of her final sighting, Barthelemy told a friend she was going to see a man and would be back in the morning. On December 11, 2010, Barthelemy’s skeletal remains were found on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, during the search for another missing sex worker, Shannan Gilbert.
Megan Waterman
The third victim Megan Waterman, 22 was last seen on June 6, 2010 she was a resident of Scarborough, Maine. She worked under the alias Lexxy and Sexy Lexi. She was last seen on June 6, 2010. She had a three-year-old daughter by the time she vanished. The fourth victim of the 'Gilgo Four'. Waterman was known to stay at other hotels and motels on Long Island. Waterman was reported missing to the Scarborough Maine Police Department on June 8, 2010. Family members felt it was unlike her not to call them to check on her then-three-year-old daughter. Waterman’s body was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, during the search for missing person Shannan Gilbert.
Amber Lynn Costello
Amber Lynn Costello, 27, is a West Babylon resident. Costello a heroin addict, lived at the house with another female and two men, who were also heroin addicts. She had moved to Newyork from Clearwater Florida after completing 28-day rehab, however, she had relapsed. She would use the names Carolina or Mia for work to support her and her friends' heroin addiction, She had been last seen on September 2, 2010. As per a report on Fox5, Costello did "in-calls" at her home, as well as "out-calls." When Costello would meet clients at her home, the two male roommates would often arrange a scam, during which, once a client had paid money, and before any sex acts occurred, they would confront the client saying Costello was their girlfriend and the client would flee. Costello was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, during the search for missing person Shannan Gilbert.
Other victims
The remains of Jessica Taylor, 20 an escort in New York City as per the New York Post were first found in a wooden area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her additional remains were found on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway which was initially labeled as “Jane Doe No. 5”. Valerie Mack, 24 an escort from Philadelphia was last seen in 2000 summer Port Republic, New Jersey. She would use the alias, Melissa Taylor. Using the FBI’s advanced DNA methods, Mack’s partial skeleton found in Manorville (Sep 2000) and Ocean Parkway (Apr 2011) was identified in May 2020.
Besides these, an unidentified Asain man's remains were also found along Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011. He is estimated to be between 17 and 23 at the time of his death. It is believed that he died five to 10 years before the discovery of his body.
Police found the remains of a two-year-old and her mother, who had been missing since 1997, near the burial sites of two other victims of a serial killer in Long Island in 2011. The mother was nicknamed “Peaches” because of a tattoo on her breast. Two sets of remains found in 2011 and 1996 on Long Island and Fire Island were linked by DNA to the same unidentified white woman with scars, known as “Jane Doe No. 7”.
These new revelations only deepened the urgency to bring the perpetrator to justice.Gilbert, whose search led to the series of horrific killings was found in December 2011 in marsh about a half-mile from where she was last seen. Even as her death was announced as accidental an independent autopsy performed for Gilbert’s family in 2016 concluded her death was "consistent with homicidal strangulation," family lawyer John Ray said.
