Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Rex Heuermann Admits to Eight Murders in Court
The serial killer's wife and daughter were present in court as he confessed to killing eight women, bringing a dramatic end to a long-running investigation. Police initially uncovered human remains in 2010 while searching for a missing woman near New York's Gilgo Beach, quickly suspecting a serial killer was at work. Over the years, DNA analysis and other evidence helped identify victims and link cases, culminating in the arrest and guilty plea of Rex Heuermann.
Timeline of the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Investigation
Here is a detailed chronology of key events that led to Heuermann's arrest and confession:
- November 20, 1993: Hunters found the body of Sandra Costilla, 28, in North Sea, Hamptons. She had been living in New York City.
- April 20, 1996: Partial remains of Karen Vergata were discovered on Fire Island. Her identity remained unknown until 2022, when DNA analysis identified her as a 34-year-old sex worker.
- June 28, 1997: Partial remains of a woman, nicknamed "Peaches" due to a tattoo, were found in West Hempstead. In 2025, she was identified as Tanya Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran from Brooklyn.
- September 2000: Partial skeletal remains of Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old escort from Philadelphia, were found in Manorville, New York.
- July 26, 2003: Partial skeletal remains of Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old escort, were discovered in Manorville.
- July 9, 2007: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, was last heard from while leaving a hotel to meet a client in New York. Cellphone records placed her on Long Island.
- July 10, 2009: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was last seen at her Bronx apartment before heading to Long Island. Taunting calls were later made from her phone to relatives.
Disappearance Sparks Police Search
May 1, 2010: Shannan Gilbert, a sex worker, vanished in Oak Beach after fleeing a client's house. A 911 call captured her distress, but she refused help and ran into the night.
June 6, 2010: Megan Waterman, 22, was last seen at a motel in Hauppauge, New York, after traveling from Maine for sex work.
September 2, 2010: Amber Lynn Costello, 27, left her West Babylon home to meet a client, with a friend noting the client drove a Chevrolet Avalanche.
Surprise Discovery of Remains
December 11, 2010: A police officer and dog found human remains along Ocean Parkway during a training exercise, initially thought to be Gilbert but later identified as Barthelemy.
December 13, 2010: The bodies of Costello, Brainard-Barnes, and Waterman were discovered on the same stretch of Ocean Parkway.
December 14, 2010: Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer announced the findings, suggesting a serial killer might be responsible, and expanded the search.
March 29, 2011: Additional remains of Jessica Taylor were found along Ocean Parkway.
April 4, 2011: More remains of Valerie Mack were discovered, along with those of a 2-year-old girl, Tatiana Dykes, and an unidentified Asian male.
April 11, 2011: Further remains of Karen Vergata and Tanya Jackson were located along the parkway.
December 13, 2011: Gilbert's skeletal remains were found in a tidal marsh near Oak Beach, with police ruling her death an accidental drowning.
Cold Case Thaws with New Task Force
January 2022: The Suffolk County district attorney formed a new task force to reinvestigate the Gilgo Beach killings.
July 13, 2023: Rex Heuermann was arrested and charged with murdering Costello, Waterman, and Barthelemy, based on mobile phone data and DNA evidence.
January 16, 2024: Heuermann was charged in Brainard-Barnes's death after a hair found with her corpse matched DNA from his wife.
May 20, 2024: Investigators conducted a week-long search of Heuermann's home.
June 6, 2024: Heuermann was charged with murdering Costilla and Taylor.
December 17, 2024: An indictment was unsealed charging Heuermann in Mack's death.
December 18, 2025: Andrew Dykes pleaded not guilty to killing Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes in a separate case, though the investigation benefited from resources allocated to the serial killer probe.
Final Confession and Sentencing
April 8, 2026: Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder for the killings of Barthelemy, Brainard-Barnes, Costello, Costilla, Mack, Taylor, and Waterman. He also admitted in court to killing Karen Vergata. His sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2026, marking the conclusion of a decades-long investigation that haunted Long Island.



