The daughter, along with a friend of missing South Carolina mother, Julia Beans, are pushing for answers in after claiming Long Island serial killer, Rex Heuermann, was the last person seen with Bean.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said that Bean, 36, was last seen in May 2017. Her daughter reportedly said that Heuermann, 59, was the last person she saw with her mom before she disappeared.
“I have chills … I’ve seen him. That was the last man I saw her with personally,” Bean’s daughter said in a text message obtained by The U.S. Sun.
Heuermann was arrested on July 13 for the deaths of three of the four women known collectively as the “Gilgo Four.” The bodies were found within days of each other on Gilgo Beach in December 2010. All four women were buried in burlap sacks.
Heuermann is 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.
Brainard-Barnes was abducted in 2007, Barthelemy in 2009, and Waterman and Costello in 2010.
Heidi Kovas, who said she’s a friend of Bean, told PIX 11 News that she has been pushing for answers since Bean’s disappearance. She said her “jaw dropped” when she saw the resemblance between Kovas and the Gilgo Beach victims.
“All of them matched Julia,” she said. “Everything. The blond hair, the green eyes, the fact she was so petite.”
Kovas added that Bean’s daughter “recognized him right away.”
Sumter County Sheriff’s Office investigator, Scott Bonner, told PIX11 News that police are currently “looking into it” and acknowledged that Kovas went to the police station to share information provided by Bean’s daughter.
Kovas added that Bean’s daughter said Heuermann drove Bean to a nail salon in Sumter in 2017. According to Kovas, Heuermann used a different name.
“That was not his name,” Kovas said. “That is not what he called himself.”
Heuermann allegedly bragged about the homes and boats he owned, Kovas said. Court records indicate that Heuermann owned land in Chester County, South Carolina, around 100 miles away from Sumter.
Kovas added that Bean’s mother had numerous people giving her cash prior to her disappearance, implying Bean could have been a sex worker, similar to most of the Gilgo Beach victims.
“Her daughter had mentioned multiple, different men giving her mom money,” Kovas said. “I mean there’s no doubt that she was more than likely escorting. She was a beautiful girl, she IS a beautiful girl.”
Kovas saod Bean wasn’t reported missing until five months after her disappearance, adding that Bean, a reported drug user, failed to take her drugs and other personal belongings with her before she disappeared.
“She just walked out of her house. She didn’t take a phone. She didn’t take a purse. She didn’t take her drugs. She always had her drugs. Even her daughter said that she left her dope kit.”
Meanwhile, Heuermann pleaded not guilty at his arraignment earlier this year. He remains behind bars at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility without bail.
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[Feature Photo: Rex Heuermann/Suffolk County Police Department via AP and Julia Ann Bean/Sumter County Sheriff’s Office]
