The daughter of a missing South Carolina woman plans to identify Long Island serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann as the last person she saw with her mother, who has been missing since 2017.
Speaking to CrimeOnline’s Nancy Grace on Thursday’s “Crime Stories” episode, Heidi Kovas said her friend Julia “Julie” Ann Bean, was last seen with Heuermann as he drove her to a nail salon in Sumter, South Carolina, in 2017.
Bean’s daughter, Cameron, told Kovas that a man who looked “identical” to Heuermann brought Bean to the salon, where Cameron was getting her nails done.
“Rex drove Julie to a nail salon,” Kovas told Grace. “[He said] he was in love with her mom and is going to marry her.”
Heuermann also 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 said her friend’s case was never highlighted until details regarding Heuermann’s alleged involvement in the Gilgo Beach murders surfaced this year, with reports linking him to property in South Carolina. She then contacted Cameron, who searched for Heuermann online.
Cameron, Kovas said, called her back within minutes and said she’s positive the man she saw with her mother was Heuermann. Cameron plans to go to police today to identify him, she added.
“She was shocked. She was sick,” Kovas said, describing Cameron’s reaction. “Then she was dealing with guilt, shame, and I think all three of children of just like, ‘wow.'”
“This guy’s getting all these cool little nicknames, he’s getting all this publicity on TV but when Julie went missing she got nothing.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 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 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.
Brainard-Barnes was abducted in 2007, Barthelemy in 2009, and Waterman and Costello in 2010.
Meanwhile, investigators are also looking at unsolved deaths in Nevada, where Heuermann had a timeshare in Las Vegas. Specifically, investigators have been looking into cases involving five sex workers who died under similar circumstances as the Gilgo Beach victims.
So far, Heuermann has not been named a suspect in the Nevada cases and hasn’t been named a suspect in Bean’s disappearance.
“I have said multiple times that there is no such thing as a part time serial killer,” Atlanta-area CSI and Zone 7 host, Sheryl McCollum, said. “The timeshare week he was there can connect him.”
Grace added, “I believe this is the tip of the iceberg.”
Listen to full episode below.
[Feature Photo: Julie Bean/Family Handout]
