Gilgo Beach serial killings
| Long Island serial killings | |
|---|---|
An aerial view of the Ocean Parkway road where 10 of the 11 bodies linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killings were found buried in the shrubbery, marshes and trees along this transport route. | |
| Location | Suffolk County, New York, United States |
| Criminal information | |
Reward amount | $50,000 |
Capture status | Suspect in custody |
Attack type | Serial killing, murder of prostitutes |
| Victims | 11+ |
| Accused | Rex Heuermann |
| Charges |
|
The Gilgo Beach serial killings were part of a series of murders on Long Island, New York, spanning from 1993 to 2011. Many of the victims' remains were found over a period of months in late 2010 and 2011 during a police search of the area along Ocean Parkway, a road near the remote beach town of Gilgo in southern Suffolk County, New York.
In December 2010, the remains of four victims – Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello; designated "The Gilgo Four" – were found within a quarter of a mile of each other near Gilgo Beach. Six more sets of remains, believed to predate those four, were found in March and April 2011 in Suffolk and Nassau counties. Not all of the victims are believed by police to have been murdered by the same person.
The original search was prompted by the May 2010 disappearance of Shannan Gilbert in Oak Beach. Like most of the later identified victims, Gilbert engaged in sex work and advertised on Craigslist. Her remains were found approximately 9 miles (14 km) northeast of where the ten sets of remains had been found, but her cause of death is disputed.
Between July 2023 and December 2024, Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan-based architect and resident of Massapequa Park, Long Island, was charged with seven of the Gilgo Beach murders, including those of the Gilgo Four as well as the murders of Sandra Costilla, Valerie Mack, and Jessica Taylor.