Cooler removed from Gilgo Beach suspect’s Long Island home
Police removed a cooler from the Long Island home of the suspect arrested in connection to the notorious Gilgo Beach murders Friday morning, a source told The Post.
State and Suffolk County authorities swarmed the home of Rex Heuermann, 59, on 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park after his arrest in the early hours, multiple sources said.
Heuermann, a married dad of two and an architect who runs RH Architects in New York City, is expected to appear in court later Friday.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m. — hours after the initial, early-morning arrest — at least eight investigators in forensic gear were still milling around the home near a quiet suburban intersection.
Heuermann had been on the special Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force’s radar for at least a year, sources told The Post.
He was finally arrested after being linked to the so-called “Gilgo Four” through DNA, the sources explained.
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It is unclear if police believe the cooler is tied to the Gilgo Four killings, or is possibly connected to additional crimes.
Suffolk County officials and the FBI confirmed that they will announce a “significant development” in the case at a press conference scheduled for 4 p.m., according to a joint news release.
Who is Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann?
A suspected serial killer has been arrested over the notorious Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island, The Post can confirm.
Rex Heuermann, 59, a married dad of two and architect at a New York City firm, has a home on 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park, sources told The Post.
His arrest is tied to the “Gilgo Four,” four women — Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25 — found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in 2010.
The body of Barthelemy was first found along Ocean Parkway on Dec. 11, 2010, sparking fears of a serial killer in the area.
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By spring 2011, the number of bodies had climbed to 10, including eight women as well as an unidentified man and toddler.
Heuermann’s arrest comes after Suffolk County’s new police commissioner created a special Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force in February 2022.
Heuermann’s arrest marks the first major break in the case, which first made headlines when the bodies of four young women were discovered wrapped in burlap along a strip of Ocean Parkway in late 2010.
Heuermann is not believed to be connected to the additional six bodies that were eventually discovered nearby, multiple sources told The Post on Friday.
“He grew up here. I never thought he was anything but a businessman. Average guy who had a family and went to work,” neighbor Barry Auslander, 72, told The Post of the shocking arrest.
“You don’t expect something like this to happen in a town like Massapequa. This is as suburban as it gets,” another added.
