More than a decade after multiple bodies were discovered along Gilgo Beach in Long Island, N.Y., authorities finally identified a suspect following a lengthy investigation: Rex Heuermann. The Manhattan architect now stands accused of murdering seven women. So where is the alleged Long Island Serial Killer now, and what’s the latest on his trial?
The case against the Long Island Serial Killer has drawn increased media attention following the release of Netflix’s new docuseries, Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer. The series delves into the years-long investigation that ultimately led to Heuermann’s high-profile arrest in 2023, while also examining how the stigma surrounding the victims’ work as escorts may have slowed the pace of the case.
“These family members were never going to give up. These women knew that there was a need to shake [up] the establishment to get attention for this case,” Director Liz Garbus told Netflix’s Tudum. “Of course, they shouldn’t have [had] to work so hard. The system should work to protect them and should’ve protected their family members. But at the end of the day, their voices really mattered.”
The three-episode documentary features interviews with journalists, law enforcement officials, the victims’ loved ones and those connected to the accused. It also includes reenactments designed to help viewers connect with the real people behind the case. As you watch, read on to learn what happened to the main suspect Rex Heuermann — including what he’s accused of and where he is now in 2025.
Who Is Rex Heuermann?
Rex Heuermann was born and raised on Long Island and attended Berner High School in Massapequa Park. Former classmates told The New York Times in 2023 that he had a troubled home life and was bullied for being a loner. One person described him as “everybody’s punching bag” because he never fit in with any specific clique.
Heuermann studied architectural technology at the New York Institute of Technology before launching his own architectural consulting firm in Manhattan. In the 1990s, he purchased his childhood home in Massapequa Park and married Asa Ellerup — though he later admitted in a deposition that he had been married once before.
He, Ellerup, their daughter, and Heuermann’s stepson have lived in the house ever since. According to the Long Island Press, neighbors described the family as distant and the home as creepy. “The family is very to themselves, quiet,” neighbor Frankie Musto told the site. “We never saw anything suspicious.”
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison told CNN that when Ellerup and her daughter were informed about the crimes Heuermann was accused of, the pair were “shocked, they were disgusted, they were embarrassed.”
What Did Rex Heuermann Do?
Rex Heuermann is accused of murdering the Gilgo Beach Four — Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes — all escorts in their early to mid-20s who disappeared between 2007 and 2010. Their bodies were discovered in December 2010, bound with belts or tape and wrapped in burlap, lying in close proximity along a stretch of Gilgo Beach.
Following the discovery of the Gilgo Beach Four, police uncovered six additional sets of remains while searching for 24-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert. Gilbert had vanished after meeting a client she found on Craigslist in the community of Oak Beach, Long Island. Authorities said they did not believe her death was connected to the Gilgo Beach Four and suggested she may have gotten lost in the marshland and died from exposure or accidental drowning, according to People.
How Was Rex Heuermann Caught?
The Suffolk County Police Department and District Attorney’s Office, working alongside the FBI and New York State Police, began surveilling Heuermann and his family for several months after identifying him as a suspect in early 2022.
Authorities eventually tracked down Heuermann using his Chevrolet Avalanche. An eyewitness had previously reported seeing a Chevy Avalanche, later found to be registered to Heuermann, driving away from the area where Costello was last seen the day before she disappeared.
The Chevrolet Avalanche ultimately led investigators to Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park and his office in Midtown Manhattan. Another key piece of evidence came when authorities observed Heuermann adding minutes to a burner phone, which matched the movements of burner phones used during the murders. Additionally, DNA recovered from a discarded pizza crust linked Heuermann to the crimes, matching his genetic profile to his wife’s hair, which was found on several of the victims, according to Netflix’s Tudum.
In July 2023, Heuermann was arrested and charged with the murders of Barthelemy, Waterman, and Costello. Six months later, in January 2024, he was additionally charged with the murder of Brainard-Barnes.
In 2024, Heuermann was also charged with the murders of two additional women killed a decade apart on Long Island: Sandra Costilla in 1993 and Jessica Taylor in 2003. According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, DNA from hair found near both victims’ remains, as well as evidence linked to his pickup truck, connected him to the killings, CBS reported.
Several other bodies found in the Gilgo Beach area are also believed to be connected to the Long Island Serial Killer.
Where Is Rex Heuermann Now?
As of April 1, 2025, Heuermann is being held in a 60-square-foot cell at Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, N.Y., as he awaits trial. While no official trial date has been set, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told ABC7 the case is “heading toward the trial phase,” with Heuermann now facing a single indictment that includes seven murder charges.
In a March 2025 exclusive interview with People, Suffolk County Sheriff Dr. Errol D. Toulon Jr. shared that Heuermann has “become more acclimated with jail life,” since entering the facility.
“For the most part, it just seems like this is a new way of life for him,” Toulon told the publication. “In the beginning he was a little bit more starry-eyed as to his surroundings. Life has transformed over the last several months. He receives visits, he makes phone calls, and he doesn’t congregate with the rest of the population because of the crimes he’s accused of.”
He continued, “I think he lived this double life, and he used the anonymity of phones and computers to shield himself from the rest of society. Unfortunately for him — and fortunately for the rest of us — he wasn’t successful.”
Less than a week after Heuermann’s arrest in 2023, his wife filed for divorce. However, she has since begun visiting him about once a week and is also participating in a multi-part documentary that will follow her journey throughout Heuermann’s upcoming trial.
“Within the first three or four months [of his incarceration] she did not visit him,” he said. “Maybe in the last two months she started visiting more frequently.”
In late March, Heuermann and his wife finalized a divorce settlement. According to prosecutors from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Ellerup and the couple’s children were out of town at the time the victims were killed, ABC7 reported.
“She has a difficult time throughout this whole process believing the husband that she was married to for 29 years now was capable of committing these horrific acts,” Ellerup’s attorney Robert Macedonio said. “It is even more concerning that her hair and her daughter’s hair were found on some of these victims. So, this process is very important to getting closure for her and her family.”
Gone Girls The Long Island Serial Killer is now streaming. Watch the official trailer below.
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