Detectives examining vaults related to Rex Heuermann

Investigators are also investigating whether Mr. Houermann’s DNA (derived from his discarded pizza crust and linked to genetic material found in the remains of Gilgo Beach victims) links him to other unsolved cases. was also investigating.

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Heuermann, 59, has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said authorities are working to indict him in the death of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard Burns.

Most of the victims were young women who were sex workers. Their deaths puzzled investigators for a long time, but the mystery caught the public’s attention and led to a 2020 Netflix movie. lost girls.

Harrison, the former chief of detectives and chief of the New York Police Department, made solving the Gilgo Beach murders one of his top priorities when he was appointed chief of police in January 2022.

Harrison soon formed the Gilgo Beach Murder Investigation Task Force and persuaded the FBI, state police, and local authorities to commit top investigators to the effort full-time. Harrison appointed Lieutenant Detective Kevin Baylor, a longtime Gilgo Beach investigator, to lead the investigation.

Crime lab personnel remove the box as law enforcement searches Rex Hoierman’s home in Massapequa Park, New York.credit: APs

“His goal was not to advance the case, but to solve the case,” said Carter, who moved from the New York Police Department to the Suffolk County Police Department with Harrison.

Special Committee investigators began working in a dedicated space at the Suffolk County Police Facility to share ideas and information. It was an open space without an office.

Within six weeks of the initial meeting, Special Commission investigators identified Heuermann as a suspect. A vehicle registry database was used to link him to the Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared.

Some of the victims are believed to have disappeared from Massapequa Park, and their cellphones were found to be dialing into a communications tower in the area.

A mugshot of Rex Heuermann after his arrest.

A mugshot of Rex Heuermann after his arrest.credit: APs

The discovery of the truck made other investigative tools available.

A grand jury approved more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, allowing the task force to delve deeper into Mr. Houermann’s life. They collected billing records from the burner phone that Heuermann allegedly used to arrange visits with victims, retested the DNA found in the bodies, and investigated the Gilgo Beach murders and new investigations. I scrutinized Heuermann’s Internet search history, which had shown a keen interest.

In January, a special investigative team tracking Mr. Houermann in Manhattan watched him dump leftovers from his lunch—a box of half-eaten pizza crusts—into a sidewalk trash can. Investigators rushed over, grabbed the box, and sent it to a crime lab, where they found DNA from Mr. Heuermann’s afternoon shopping and a man’s hair found on the burlap used to restrain one of the victims. matched.

The test results came out on Tuesday, two days before Mr Heuermann’s arrest.

Police are combing vaults related to Rex Heuermann and using DNA evidence to confirm his links to other unsolved cases. One of his in a unit near Massapequa Park on Long Island. credit: google map

“There were some questions about the task force, which is that the task of the task force is complete because it affected the arrest,” Carter said. “Everything is still in its early stages.

“There are still many victims and we need to continue our efforts to bring them all justice,” he added. “This is very important to all of us and very important to Suffolk County Police.”

APs

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/long-island-detectives-combing-through-storage-units-linked-to-rex-heuermann-20230718-p5dp25.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_world Detectives examining vaults related to Rex Heuermann

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