CrimeOnline’s Nancy Grace thinks Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann has more victims — some found and some who have yet to be found — and the most recently named victim found on Gilgo Beach may be one of them.
Heuermann, 59, has been charged with the murders of three women — Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, and Melissa Barthelemy — whose bodies were found on Long Island’s Gilgo Beach in December 2011 and is the prime suspect in the death of a fourth — Maureen Brainard-Barnes, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
All four of those women were found in close proximity to one another, and all were wrapped in burlap sacks. But at least seven other bodies have been found in the area since that time, and investigators are looking for clues to tell them if Heuermann may have been involved. So far, that’s not happened, but Grace told Fox News she fully expects more victims to attributed to the Manhattan architect who lived on Long Island.
The latest named victim is Karen Vergata, whose legs were found in 1996 on Fire Island, about 12 miles from Gilgo Beach.
“Fifteen years later, her skull is found on Gilgo Beach, right there were are the other bodies are,” Grace said.
Vergata, Grace said, fits the suspect’s M.O. “She looks very similar to the other victims, she is a sex worker, she goes missing from Manhattan,” she said.
And then, those remains on Long Island.
“Did all the serial killers get together and say, ‘hey, we’re gonna dump remains on Gilgo Beach.’ How many serial killers can there be on one small stretch of beach?”
Grace pointed out that the area is “a natural place to go, if you know the New York area, to get rid of a body.”
“But it has to be a local to know that particular stretch,” she said.
And, Grace said, it’s highly likely there are more victims.
“It’s not over yet,” she said. “Whether they are ever found or not found, there are other bodies in other locations — such as South Carolina and Vegas — where he frequents.”
Heuermann owns a timeshare in Las Vegas and has property in South Carolina, where he said he intended to retire.
Grace also discussed the prosecution’s request for a DNA sample from Heuermann, one they’d like to take on video and with witnesses. That’s perfectly normal, said Grace, a former prosecutor, noting that the process would prove the DNA was Heuermann’s, “not his purported DNA off a pizza crust,” which is how investigators narrowed their suspect list to him.
“There’s no better way than to do it that way,” she said.
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[Featured image: Fox News screenshot]
