The investigation into accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann expanded into South Carolina and Las Vegas this week as New York investigators impounded a Chevrolet Avalanche that has been connected with one of the murders.
Deputies in Chester County, South Carolina, told FOX Carolina they assisted the Suffolk County Police Department in obtaining a court order to seize the car from property that the 59-year-old architect reportedly bought two years ago. The property is next door to his brother, Craig Heuermann. The suspect reportedly planned to retire there.
Heuermann was arrested on July 13 and charged with the death of three of the four women known collectively as the Gilgo 4. The bodies were found within days of each other on Gilgo Beach in December 2010. All four women were buried in burlap sacks.
Heuermann has been charged with six counts of murder in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and is the prime suspect in the death of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department confirmed that it was looking into a connection between Heuermann and their city, ABC News reported.
“We are aware of Rex Heuermann’s connection to Las Vegas,” police said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement.”
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Heuermann owns a timeshare property in the Nevada city and previously bought and sold another.
The investigation began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker from New Jersey, disappeared after leaving a client’s home in Oak Beach. As investigators searched for Gilbert, they found the remains of Barthelemy, Waterman, Costello, and Brainard-Barnes.
Brainard-Barnes was abducted in 2007, Barthelemy in 2009, and Waterman and Costello in 2010. They were dubbed the “Gilgo Four” and their bodies were found wrapped in burlap sacks.
The following March, Suffolk police found partial remains of Jessica Taylor along Ocean Parkway: Other remains belonging to Taylor had been found in 2003 in Manorville, police said in 2020.
Investigators then found the body of 24-year-old Valerie Mack (who was not identified until 2020), a toddler girl, and a man. Then came the two bodies found in Nassau County.
“[Craig Heuermann] keeps saying his brother is going into retirement,” a South Carolina neighbor told Fox News Digital. “He told me when I first moved down here that his brother owns that lot across the road, and that his brother’s going to retire down here, and when he does, everybody’s leaving.”
Another South Carolina neighbor, who wants to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital that Heuermann planned to “buy everybody out.”
Heuermann’s and his brother’s properties are reportedly surrounded by “no-trespassing” signs. Craig Heuermann’s front gate has two signs that read, “Keep out/No trespassing” and “No Warrant/No Entry.”
Neighbors at the timeshare in Las Vegas told the Review Journal they didn’t know Heuermann but added the high amount of foot traffic — and other time share owners — would make that difficult.
Meanwhile, the defendant made his first court appearance on Friday at the Suffolk County Court in Riverhead. He entered a plea of not guilty to the murders, as well as additional charges linked to the deaths.
New York Post reports that the accused killer remained “emotionless” during the court appearance.
Check back for updates.
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[Featured image: Rex Heuermann/RH Consultants and Associates]
