The women Rex Heuermann is charged with killing — or is suspected of killing — all disappeared long before their bodies were found along Gilgo Beach, wrapped in burlap. They were found in the midst of a search for another woman, who police now say likely wasn’t murdered — although her family disagrees.
Here’s a timeline of the Gilgo Beach killer and the subsequent arrest of Heuermann, taken from court documents:
2007
July 6: Maureen Brainard-Barnes is last seen in New York City. She was contacted by a burner phones 16 times between July 6 and July 9. Her phone checked voice mail twice on July 12.
2009
July 8: Asa Ellerup, Rex Heuermann’s wife, leaves for Iceland on July 8.
July 10: Melissa Barthelemy is last seen in New York City. A burner phone was in contact with her on July 3, 6, 9, and 10. Her phone checked voice mail on July 11 and 12.
July 17 and 23 and August 5, 19, and 26: A man called Barthelemy’s family from her phone, admitting to sexually assaulting and killing her.
August 18: Ellerup returns to the United States.
2010
May 1: Shannan Gilbert calls 911 after leaving a client’s house in Oak Beach saying someone “is after me.” Suffolk County authorities launch a search for her.
June 4: Ellerup travels to Maryland.
June 5: A newly activated burner phone contacts Megan Waterman.
June 6: Waterman is last seen leaving a Holiday Inn in Hauppauge, New York.
June 8: Ellerup returns to New York.
August 28: Ellerup travels to New Jersey.
September 1: Amber Costello is contacted by a burner phone late in the evening and again early in the morning on September 2, after the phone travelled from the area of Amityville and Massapequa Park to West Babylon, where she lived.
Court records say that witnesses reported that a prostitution client, “described as a large, white male, approximately 6’4″ to 6’6″ in height, in his mid-forties” entered Costello’s home and was confronted by a man pretending to be her boyfriend and who pretended to be outraged when the client gave her money. The client left the home. About an hour later, Costello received a text from the burner phone saying, “That was not nice so do I [get] credit for next time.” The burner phone was in Massaapequa Park within two minutes of the message being sent. Witnesses also said the client was driving a Chevrolet Avalanche.
September 2: Costello is contacted multiple times by the burner phone, from Manhattan, Massapequa Park, and West Babylon. She was last seen leaving her house later that night, apparently to meet the same man.
September 5: Ellerup returns to New York.
December 11: Melissa Barthelemy’s remains are found on Gilgo Beach.
December 13: The remains of Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes are found.
2011
December: Gilbert’s body is found. Police will later say that believe Gilbert’s death “was not murder and most likely not criminal.”
2020
July 31: A DNA profile is generated for a male hair found on one of the victims.
2022
March: Detectives link Rex Heuermann to the Chevrolet Avalanche seen by witnesses at Amber Costello’s home. He is identified as a suspect.
July: Forensic detectives develop a DNA profile for female hairs found on three of the victims — Brainard-Barnes, Waterman and Costello.
2023
January 26: Detectives take a pizza box containing leftover crusts from Heuermann’s Manhattan trash and send it to a lab for DNA testing.
February 24: Detectives believe female hairs found on the victims came from Asa Ellerup.
June 12: Lab determines that male hair found on one of the victims and DNA from the pizza crusts came from the same person.
July 13: Rex Heuermann is arrested and charged with the murders of Costello, Waterman, and Barthelemy. He is named the prime suspect in the death of Brainard-Barnes.
July 19: Asa Ellerup files for divorce.
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[Featured image: Rex Heuermann/Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office via AP]
