RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A man suspected in Long Island’s Gilgo Beach cold case murders is expected to face new charges next week in connection with the killing of a fourth woman, a source familiar with the matter confirmed. 60-year-old Rex Heuermann is scheduled to appear in Suffolk County Court Tuesday morning, according to multiple sources. He was previously arrested in July 2023 and charged in the slayings of three women whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach, on the south shore of Long Island, in December 2010.
Suffolk County prosecutors had previously identified Heuermann as the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were also found in the Gilgo beach area. He has pleaded not guilty to the murders and has been held without bail in the Suffolk County Jail since his arrest.
Evidence led investigators to Heuermann as a suspect when they began an extensive review of the case in 2022. FBI analysts were able to compare the cell site data of the victims’ cellphones and data from multiple prepaid, anonymous burner phones the suspect used to communicate with each of the victims.
In all, the bodies of at least 10 victims were found in the area beginning in late-2010, and investigators were searching for a missing woman named Shannen Gilbert when they found other remains on Gilgo Beach. The victims, known as the Gilgo Four, were later identified as Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
Heuermann’s upcoming court appearance raises the possibility of new developments in a case that has long baffled investigators and unsettled the Long Island community. The anticipation builds as the legal proceedings continue in this high-profile investigation, with the hope that justice will prevail for the victims and their families.