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Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode

June 12, 2025 / 41:51

This episode covers the Gilgo Beach murders, the arrest of Rex Huerman, and the impact on victims' families. Key discussions include the investigation timeline, the victims' backgrounds, and the evidence leading to Huerman's arrest.

The episode details the discovery of the Gilgo 4, four young women found near Gilgo Beach in New York. Their disappearances were linked to a serial killer, with the first victim, Moren Brainer Barnes, vanishing in 2007. The other victims, Melissa Bartholomew, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, were also petite escorts.

Rex Huerman, an architect, was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to the murders. The investigation revealed his history, including his obsession with hunting and his use of burner phones to contact victims. The police connected him to the crime scene through a pizza crust he discarded.

The episode highlights the emotional toll on the victims' families, particularly the sisters of the victims, who seek justice and answers. The narrative also touches on the community's shock at Huerman's arrest, as many knew him personally.

Finally, the episode raises questions about potential additional victims and the ongoing investigation into Huerman's activities, leaving viewers with a sense of unresolved tension.

TLDR

The episode discusses the Gilgo Beach murders and Rex Huerman's arrest as the prime suspect, highlighting victims' stories and investigation details.

Episode

41:51
00:00:00
[Music] It is a case that has haunted the public for more than 13 years and many feared
00:00:14
that the Gilgo Beach murders may never be solved. The officer located a body. It seemed to
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be wrap and burlap, which didn't make any sense. The crime scene gets expanded. I'm called and chief, we found another
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set of remains. They find another one and another one. We were dealing with a serial killer. Well, they're available.
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They're vulnerable and very petite. This killer has a type, right? Does he want the petite body because he wants to feel
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more empowered and more in control? I want the world to know like my sister mattered. I want answers. I just want
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answers. An arrest more than a decade in the making in a serial killer case that's
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baffled law enforcement and the public. 59-year-old Rex Herman plead not guilty.
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I dropped my phone. I couldn't believe it. So, just who is Rex Herman? An architect who ran a company called RH
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Consultants and Associates. Rex. Hello. Hi. How you doing? Good to see you. When
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a job that should have been routine suddenly becomes not routine. Yeah. I get the phone call. Rex Herman is a
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mystery man. Rex is capable of presenting himself one way to one person, one way to another person. My
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first memory of Rex was that he was very big, imposing, scary, angry. He was bullied. He was bigger than
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everyone else. The kids would gang up on him. And Rex was very smart, too. He's a
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smart person. Very smart. He liked to shock people. He was interested in power games. Rex loved hunting and he loved
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guns. Going out, shooting, hunting. That was his passion. All petite, all bound in
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burlap bags. The burlap on the bodies that's points right at a hunter. It was DNA collected from a pizza slice he
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tossed in a Manhattan trash can that came back as a match with hair found on the victims. That's where we obtained,
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you know, his full profile from from the pizza crust left in the box. In terms of
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speaking to my client, the only thing I can tell you that he did say as he was in tears was, "I didn't do this."
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Everyone's just trying to put the pieces together. I want to know what I missed.
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I think we all want to know what we missed. [Music] [Music] Not far from this quiet stretch of Gilgo
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Beach on Long Island, New York, investigators uncovered the hidden remains of four young women.
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The mystery of who they were and how they got here might have stayed a secret if not for a woman named Shannon
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Gilbert. [Music] In the early morning hours of May 1st, 2010, 23-year-old Shannon working as an
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escort called 911. State police. Yeah, there's somebody after me. The call came from a neighborhood not
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far from Gilgo Beach. These people are planning to kill me. Shannon starts running,
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knocking on doors. Where are you, Shannon? She screams and then nothing. Shannon was gone.
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Hello. [Music] Hello. [Applause] K9 searched the area exhaustively for Shawn and Gilbert. Dominic Veron was
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chief of detectives at the Suffach County Police Department. Months passed without a sign of the missing woman. And
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then in December of 2010, near Gilgo Beach, a police officer and his K-9 named Blue found human remains.
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Everyone assumed it was Shannon Gilbert. But it wasn't Shannon. Stunned searchers
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would go on to discover the remains of four other women. The women were identified as Moren Brainer Barnes,
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Melissa Bartholomew, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Like Shannon, all were in their 20s. All were online escorts.
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All petite. Three of the four were wrapped in burlap, the kind you can find in hunting stores. They became known as
00:05:53
the Gilgo 4. It's really, really hard cuz I miss her so much. 48 Hours has reported on this
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case since 2010. Over the years, we've secured exclusive interviews with the family and friends of the Gilgo 4. Missy
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K will never forget the wintry day when she got the devastating news. The detectives came to my house and just
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said that Moren has been positively identified as one of the victims on the Ocean Parkway.
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Her sister, Maren Brainer Barnes, a mother of two, was the first to disappear on July 9th, 2007. She was
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very smart and very creative. She liked being a mom. She loved being a mom. But life as a
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single mom living in Norwich, Connecticut was difficult. Missy didn't know it. But Moren had turned to escort
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work and that July went to New York City for a weekend to make money. On her way home, she called Missy from
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Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. Attention, please. I could hear the commotion from the train station. From
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the time that she called me, it was poof. She was gone. She reported Moren missing. Eventually,
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officers would tell Missy that after her sister's disappearance, someone had used
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Morin's cell phone to make a call from Long Island. It wasn't known then, but those two
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locations, Long Island and Midtown Manhattan, would become important clues in the hunt for a serial killer.
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Nearly two years to the day that Meen vanished, 24y old Melissa Bartholomew went missing in July of 2009.
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Also from Midtown Manhattan. Lynn Bartholomew is Melissa's mother. How often do you think about Melissa? Every
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single minute of the day. It just didn't happen to the girls. I mean, it destroyed all of our families. Melissa
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moved from Buffalo to New York City to work as a hairdresser. At some point, she also began working as an escort and
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then disappeared. About a week after she went missing, Melissa's then 15-year-old
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sister, Amanda, started getting calls from Melissa's phone. We agreed not to show Amanda's face. And she answers, you
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know, Melissa, where have you been? And this voice is saying, oh, this isn't Melissa. Steven Cohen was the family's
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lawyer at the time. He was taunting Amanda and he said, "Do you know what I did to your sister? I killed Melissa."
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All I can say is he's sick and he's going to make a mistake and we're going to catch him. Those calls from Melissa's
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own phone may very well have been that mistake. When police traced them, the calls placed the person they believed to
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be Melissa's killer in Midtown Manhattan. The following year, Megan Waterman, the
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mother of a three-year-old girl, disappeared from a hotel on Long Island. Part of you is like missing.
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It's just like something's always off. We spoke with Megan's daughter, Liliana, in 2020. I would do anything to bring
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her back, but I can't, and it just like frustrates me so bad. Megan's family says the 22-year-old was a creative but
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troubled young woman who loved fashion and was devoted to her daughter. What would you say to your mom if you could?
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I would just want to tell her that like I love her. I just want her to know like
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she has a special place in my heart. No one can ever replace her. Like the other
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two women, Megan disappeared in the summer on June 6th, 2010. She was working as an escort on Long Island. No
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matter what her job was, she was a person and she needs justice. This haunting video from a Holiday in Express
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is the last time she was seen alive moments before she went to meet a client. Cell phone records later placed
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her phone in a Long Island neighborhood called Masipeka Park. Amber Costella was the last of the Gilgo
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Ford to disappear. She lived here just 7 and 1 half miles from Masipiqua Park. She used to say she was 411, but she
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wasn't. She was like 49, you know? I mean, she was small. Amber's friend and former roommate Dave Showler spoke with
00:10:57
us in 2011. She was an amazing person. She really was. He says Amber was addicted to drugs and used sex work to
00:11:06
support her habit. But as amazing as she was was as tormented as she was. After Amber disappeared, police say Shaller
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told them about her clients. He described one of them as looking like an ogre and having a first generation
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Chevrolet Avalanche. On the night she went missing. Shaller says a client offered Amber $1,500 for
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the night, six times her hourly rate. This guy was so relentless. He called several times. He was on the phone with
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her for quite a while each time. He says the client got Amber, an experienced escort, to do something she never did,
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leave without her purse or cell phone and meet him in his car. I walked out the front door with her. She she gave me
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a hug. She's like, "I love you." And she left. It was nearly midnight. Shaller says
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that when Amber left this house, she walked down the street and he never saw her again.
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Shaller told us that he didn't see the client's face that night, but suspects he had seen him before.
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So, this is a guy you might have seen. Yeah, this is somebody that I seen. I might be the one of the only people who
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knows who he is. It would be more than a decade before Shaller's description would lead to a break in the case
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and a prime suspect. [Music] The shocking developments in a murder case gone cold. My coworker called me
00:12:56
and she said, "Did you hear what happened to Rex?" And I'm like, "No." A husband, a father, an architect stood
00:13:03
before a judge charged as a serial killer. She says, "It's Rex." I said, "No way." This house was a main focus
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and they brought out a lot of evidence. I just didn't think it was real. A Long Island community is still a crime scene
00:13:18
tonight. I even thought to myself, it's crazy that there's two Rex humans out there.
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Mary Shell and Muriel Henriquez worked with Rex Huerman and couldn't wrap their heads around the news. We never thought
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he would be that kind of person. It's shocking. In July of 2023, nearly 13 years after
00:13:43
the Gilgo for were discovered, Suffach County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison made the announcement.
00:13:50
Authorities believe Rex Herman is the Long Island serial killer. Rex Sherman is a demon that walks among us,
00:14:00
a predator that ruined families. The man he calls a demon is a 6'4 architect. He's charged with killing Melissa
00:14:09
Bartholomew, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, and is the prime suspect in the death of Moren Brainer Barnes. What
00:14:18
has my client told me? He told me he didn't do this. Huerman was living about 20 minutes from
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Gilgo Beach in Masipiqua Park, the very same town where Megan's phone last connected with the cell tower. And
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Herman worked here at his architectural firm in Midtown Manhattan, just blocks from where Moren disappeared, the same
00:14:41
area where several of the threatening calls to Melissa's little sister were made. The cause of death with regard to
00:14:48
the three victims is homicidal violence. A married man, Huerman, lived in this run-down house and has a daughter and
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stepson with his second wife, Assa. Assa, who was born in Iceland, would take the children to see her
00:15:08
family there in the summers. It was during these trips and others police believe that Huerman killed the women.
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You never got any kind of hint of another life. No. Uriel Henriquez worked at Huerman's company RH Consultants and
00:15:25
Associates and spoke exclusively to 48 hours. She says she saw nothing alarming about the Rex Huerman she saw daily. A
00:15:35
little bit of a nerd in a way. He liked to talk about himself, what he knew. I mean, not a narcissist, but a little bit
00:15:42
of a, you know, I know everything kind of guy. Pompus. Pompus. She remembers him running to and from job sites,
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eating fast food on the run. Pizza. That was his number one thing. Police say they found nearly 300 guns in a basement
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vault. When she heard that police had recovered almost 300 firearms from a vault in Herman's basement, she was
00:16:06
surprised only by the number. She knew him as an avid hunter. Going out, shooting, hunting. That was his passion.
00:16:14
What was it about hunting he liked? I don't know. I guess he liked the idea of having a prize. Stalking prey. Stalking
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prey and winning. He liked to win, you know. And while she says it never occurred to her that humor
00:16:30
could be dangerous, she does remember a time when his tracking skills unnerved her. It was her 40th birthday and she
00:16:40
had booked a cruise vacation. Where are you going? He said, "I'm going, you know, I'm going to be in the middle of
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the ocean. You're not going to find me in the middle of the ocean." He said, "Oh, yes, I can."
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Muriel didn't think much of the comment until the second day of her trip. There was a white envelope under my door. It
00:16:58
was a note from him. The note said, "I told you I could find you anywhere." He had photos from hunting trips. Mary
00:17:09
Shell worked with Huerman in the summer of 2010. It was the same summer that both Amber Costello and Megan Waterman
00:17:17
vanished. He would talk about, you know, the meat in particular that bear meat could keep in the freezer for months.
00:17:25
Hearing authorities now say that some of the victims were wrapped in a burlap that hunters often use was chilling. The
00:17:34
burlap really got to me. Since Herman's arrest, Mary has written about her experience with him. She's also talked
00:17:42
to other former female employees who said they weren't always treated with respect. He would have one of them uh
00:17:50
clean the toilet if he thought the cleaning person hadn't done a good enough job. A woman in the office. Yes.
00:17:57
He more than once commented on women's bodies if someone perhaps had gained some weight, you know, that kind of that
00:18:05
kind of thing. John Pereizy grew up with Herman. He says Herman was bullied as a child. I
00:18:15
remember meeting Rex when I was in first or second grade. He was a loner, not many friends. The children were
00:18:24
super mean to him, made fun of him and teased him. But John says he never saw Humen fight back. He was big enough that
00:18:33
if he got upset and started swinging, he would hurt somebody. But he never did. As Humeman got older, John points out
00:18:44
things didn't get much better. He was rejected by many girls. We all go through that awkward stage growing up,
00:18:52
and it seemed like that awkward stage stayed with him longer than usual. Still, he says many in the community
00:19:03
find it hard to believe that Huerman is the notorious serial killer, living a double life for more than a decade.
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People were saying, "Oh my god, I can't believe we have a serial killer in our town and we grew up with and we walked
00:19:19
amongst the killer." Another classmate of Humorman's, actor Billy Baldwin, took to social media when the news broke,
00:19:27
tweeting, "It was mindboggling." Rex, hello. How you doing? The awkward Long Island teenager grew up to be a
00:19:36
confident and seemingly successful architect. Antoine Amira met and interviewed him in 2022.
00:19:45
Born and raised on Long Island. Okay. been working in Manhattan since 1987. There's nothing in my interview that
00:19:54
made me think that this person in front of me uh is a dangerous person. Antoine is a hotel food and beverage
00:20:03
manager in New York who loves real estate. He has a YouTube interview show where he handpicks guests whom he thinks
00:20:11
are interesting and accomplished. I'm an architect. I'm an architectural consultant. I'm a troubleshooter.
00:20:18
Antoine says Huerman was well known for his skill at helping companies and individuals get building permits. When a
00:20:26
job that should have been routine suddenly becomes not routine Yeah. I get the phone call. Gotcha. Correct. What
00:20:35
really stood out for me was he was very very very smart and known says Antoine for his ability to find loopholes in the
00:20:45
rules. He was pleased when he was doing it that he could that he that he could outwit the the system.
00:20:54
That's it, folks. That was Rex. But Antoine says he remembers it was hard to get Huerman to crack a smile. It's
00:21:03
selfie time. Selfie time. Not even during the signature sunglasses selfies he takes with every guest. Two. Three.
00:21:14
Can you smile? That is if police are right, Rex Herman was able to hide a life as a serial killer.
00:21:26
And if he did, his habit of eating pizza on the go would turn out to be his undoing.
00:21:48
[Applause] [Music] For more than a decade after the discovery of the Gilgo 4, Rex Herman's
00:21:58
name never appeared on a suspect list until a new task force was formed with Suffach County Police Commissioner
00:22:06
Rodney Harrison and Suffach County DA Ray Tyranny. In February of 2022, we formed the task
00:22:16
force and then a mere 6 weeks later, Rex Herman was identified for the first time.
00:22:23
A suspect in six weeks. So, how did they do it? It turns out that buried in the original case files were a number of
00:22:33
critical clues that the new task force was finally able to connect. Remember Amber's roommate, Dave Shaller? She's
00:22:41
like, "I love you." You know, she gave me a hug and she left. He had told police about one of Amber's clients and
00:22:50
his vehicle, just a large built man and that he was driving this this first generation Chevy
00:22:58
Avalanche. a first generation Chevy Avalanche with a description of an ogre-like man and the make and model of
00:23:07
his truck. Police took a closer look at Amber's phone records from 2010. Shaler had told them that before Amber
00:23:16
disappeared, there was one particular client calling incessantly. He called several times. He was on the phone with
00:23:23
her for quite a while each time. Police back then knew the client was using a burner phone. That's a prepaid phone
00:23:31
that anyone can buy and use anonymously. And they knew that Moren, Melissa, and Megan had all been in contact with
00:23:39
burner numbers right before they disappeared. In 2012, with the help of the FBI, they
00:23:47
determined that most of those calls connected to cell towers inside a small area of Masipiqua Park. They called it
00:23:56
the box. So, how large an area is that box? It's, you know, a couple of blocks within within Masipiqua Park.
00:24:05
The new task force began the search for a large built man who also lived in that
00:24:10
small area and owned a Chevy Avalanche at the time of the disappearances. Was there a aha moment when all of a
00:24:20
sudden his name came up? Once we were able to attach the avalanche inside of that massipa box which then attached to
00:24:28
Rex Herman, that was a moment where we said, "Okay, there's something here." The task force now had a prime suspect.
00:24:35
And when they looked at Humeman's personal cell phone records, they found that his phone was in the same area as
00:24:42
those burner phones when they were used to contact a victim in Masipa Park or in Midtown Manhattan. It was always
00:24:52
consistent. Tyranny says this was also true for those awful calls Melissa's family got
00:24:59
from that man using her phone back in 2009. He said, "Do you know what I did to your sister?" And he said, "Well, I
00:25:09
killed Melissa." The task force says that it confirmed that Hume does in fact use burner
00:25:16
phones. Investigators say he had two different burner numbers in 2022. and they say they watched and put money on
00:25:25
one of those accounts here. And according to court papers, the team also documented three email accounts using
00:25:34
fake names, including John Springfield, Thomas Hawk, and Hunter 1903. And all linked to those burner numbers.
00:25:45
And prosecutors say that Huerman was using a burner phone to send these selfies to solicit and arrange for
00:25:53
sexual activity. One of those accounts linked to Huerman, prosecutors wrote, was used to conduct
00:26:01
quote thousands of searches related to sex workers, sadistic torture related pornography, and child pornography.
00:26:11
There was a lot of uh torture uh porn and depictions of women uh being abused uh being raped and being killed.
00:26:22
Investigators also say that while they were busy watching Humen, Huerman was trying to watch them conducting searches
00:26:30
on the task force and the Gilgo victims. not only pictures of the victims, pictures of their relatives, their their
00:26:38
their sisters, their children. Uh and he was trying to locate those individuals.
00:26:44
The circumstantial evidence was building, but investigators also had physical evidence from the Gilgo 4,
00:26:52
including one male hair that was found in the burlap used to quote restrain and transport Megan Waterman's body. and
00:27:02
they wanted to see if they could link it to Huerman. Police tailed Huerman and when he threw
00:27:09
out this pizza box in this trash can here in Midtown Manhattan, they pounced the pizza, which was, you know,
00:27:18
obviously very significant. Tierney says that Huerman's DNA that was found on that pizza crust was consistent with a
00:27:26
DNA profile from the hair found with Megan Waterman's body. And that DNA profile is only found in 0.04%
00:27:37
of the population. That was a remarkable day. It was, you know, the weekend and you know, you read, you get the report
00:27:44
and you read it and then you read it again and then you read it a third time and then you read it a fourth time. Uh,
00:27:49
and then you start making calls. With the DNA, the search histories and the burner phone evidence, the team felt it
00:27:58
was time. When we decided to take down the case, we, you know, it was a sudden decision. We did see him contacting a
00:28:04
number of sex workers using a burner phone, which obviously is concerning. Playing clothes, officers arrested him
00:28:17
around the corner from his office. I don't think he had any clue. I don't think he had any clue that we
00:28:24
were on to him. Police spent 12 days looking through Herman's home, pulling those guns out of
00:28:32
the basement and digging in the backyard. They say it will take some time to comb through what they have now.
00:28:40
And they were tight lipped about what they found. Has the search been fruitful? Great question. And answer is yes. Can
00:28:49
you elaborate on fruitful? You said yes, it's fruitful. There have been items that we have taken
00:28:56
into our possession. That makes it fruitful. And one more big piece of evidence taken into possession. A first
00:29:03
generation Chevy Avalanche Huerman once used and it was sitting on property he owns in South Carolina when they
00:29:12
recovered it. We were able to seize that Chevy Avalanche pursuant to a search warrant and we're certainly going to
00:29:18
analyze that. But there were female hairs found on some of the victim's bodies that don't belong to the victims.
00:29:28
So who do they belong to? [Music] After Rex Herman's arrest, his quiet neighborhood in Masipiqua Park was
00:29:56
overrun by investigators and media, focusing intense scrutiny on the ramshackle home and its remaining
00:30:05
residents, his stepson Christopher Sheridan, daughter Victoria Huerman, and his wife of more than 25 years, Assa.
00:30:14
Ellerup. Their life going forward is always going to be the wife or the children of suspected serial killer.
00:30:21
That's what it's going to be from now on. Attorney Bob Macedonio represents Assa Elorup, who has since filed for
00:30:29
divorce from Hurman. He says she was as stunned as anyone by the accusations. She had no idea, hey, this was going on.
00:30:38
The allegations are shocking. Nobody wants to think that they've been living with sleeping next to a serial killer
00:30:43
for the past 25 years. As it turns out, Assa may have inadvertently helped focus
00:30:48
the investigation on her husband. Investigators say they've identified strands of female hair that were found
00:30:55
on two of the victims. One hair on Waterman comes back to his wife or the DNA profiles are consistent and then the
00:31:03
DNA profile from Costello is consistent with the wife. Although prosecutors have
00:31:09
evidence that Osa was out of town when those murders occurred, they will have to explain how those hairs got on the
00:31:16
victims. Suffach County DA Ray Tierney says it could be as simple as transfer. You live at home with a spouse. A little
00:31:26
bit of your hair falls on your shoulder as well as as your spouse's. Then you go
00:31:30
out and you interact with a third party and that hair gets on them. Assa Ellerup
00:31:35
has not been charged or named a suspect in any of the murders. You don't believe
00:31:41
that Rex Humeman's wife was involved in this in any way? There's no evidence to indicate that? No. Along with the public
00:31:49
scrutiny of Assa, there's also been support from people that perhaps know all too well what she's going through.
00:31:57
Carrie Rosson, the daughter of serial killer Dennis Raider, who named himself BTK, tweeted, "Asa and her kids are also
00:32:07
victims. I can tell that they are going through hell." And from Melissa Moore, the daughter of Keith Jesperson, a
00:32:16
serial killer known as the Happy Face Killer, for taunting authorities with letters signed with a happy face. She
00:32:24
reached out immediately to myself and we put her in contact with Assa. At a press
00:32:29
conference, Macedonia announced more set up a GoFundMe page for Assa, which raised over $50,000.
00:32:37
Money he says will largely go to medical bills. Assa is battling breast and skin
00:32:42
cancer. And because Rex Huerman was the sole provider for the family, Macedonio says she will soon lose her health
00:32:51
insurance. Assa would like me to express her thanks for the support she's received. Um, she's going through a very
00:32:57
difficult time. Assa's children have also paid a heavy price. Her daughter Victoria, who worked for her father at
00:33:05
the architectural consulting firm, and her son Christopher are both now unemployed. Assa struggles to support
00:33:13
them, says Macedonio, while she's also trying to figure out how to start over. How is she getting through every day?
00:33:21
Honestly, yeah. Minute by minute, she has no one else to turn to at this time. Family and friends have been hesitant to
00:33:29
have her come over because they don't want the media attention. She gets followed wherever she goes.
00:33:35
For the moment, she and her children continue to live in the house in Masipiqua Park, which the family says
00:33:41
was excessively damaged during the police search seen in these photos provided by Osa's attorney. It's a daily
00:33:50
reminder of the unimaginable crimes her estranged husband is charged with and the investigation that continues into
00:33:58
what else he may have done. [Music] Rex Huerman, awaiting trial, is locked inside a Suffach County jail in a 60
00:34:24
square foot cell. He denies killing Melissa Bartholomew, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
00:34:39
Their voices now silent as the sand where they have been ruthlessly discarded. How sure are you as you're sitting here
00:34:50
now that Rex Kerman is the Long Island serial killer? So, we're just at the beginning stages of this case, but we
00:34:58
would not have brought this indictment if we weren't confident in our case. He took away somebody's mother, somebody's
00:35:06
daughter, somebody's sister, and not just one person, multiple individuals. Huerman is currently the prime suspect
00:35:16
for the murder of Moren Brainer Barnes. And for investigators, an obvious question still hangs heavy.
00:35:24
If Human is a killer, are there other victims? I mean, isn't there a real concern that
00:35:31
there may be other victims out there? Always. Who's to say that there's not more bodies out there that we need to
00:35:38
investigate? In 2011, police did find other bodies along Ocean Parkway. After finding the
00:35:48
Gilgo 4, there is victim number five, Jessica Taylor, an escort who went missing in 2003.
00:35:57
Another set of remains police called Jane do number six is now identified as Valerie Mack, also working as an escort.
00:36:09
Number seven, to investigators surprise, they found a toddler girl. Number eight, an Asian male dressed in
00:36:18
women's clothing. Number nine, a female skull belonging to Karen Vada, an escort who disappeared in
00:36:28
1996. Number 10, female remains from a victim cops nicknamed Peaches because of a
00:36:37
tattoo on her torso. Although her remains were found six miles away, police say DNA confirms Peaches is the
00:36:46
mother of that toddler. None of those victims has been linked to Huerman. Is it that you can't connect
00:36:56
him yet or you believe he probably isn't the person who killed these other other
00:37:03
individuals? I don't know. Investigations also spread to Las Vegas in South Carolina where Huerman owns
00:37:11
property with detectives there taking a fresh look at cases of missing women. And then there's Nikki Brass. I
00:37:22
remembered him because one, he's massive and how many massive like 6'5 architects
00:37:29
work in Manhattan, live in Master Pico. You're going from brown and blonde. Now a hairdresser, Nikki claims she may be
00:37:38
one that got away. She told us she used to work as an escort. And while we cannot substantiate her story, Nikki
00:37:46
claims she can't shake her memory of the night she says she was solicited for sex
00:37:52
by Rex and says she fled the restaurant where they met. I had never gone anywhere and like felt fear. My gut was
00:38:02
telling me I needed to get away and I've never had that before. Nikki says what she found most
00:38:08
disturbing is that Huerman himself brought up those bodies bound in burlap by Gilgo Beach. He wanted to like really
00:38:15
get into it. Like he asked me how I thought they could get rid of the bodies without being caught in that area. And I
00:38:23
said, "I've never been over there. I've never even seen Gilgo Beach." And his response was, "Well, it's really
00:38:31
dark and desolate. I'm John Ray and I'm the lawyer. Nikki is now represented by John Ray, an
00:38:40
attorney who is also representing Shannon Gilbert's family. [Music] In December of 2011, investigators
00:38:54
finally found Shannon here in the marsh, not far from Gilgo Beach. But they don't
00:39:01
believe she was murdered. It's an unfortunate incident, but right now we believe that she just ran into the marsh
00:39:06
and unfortunately drowned. A former investigator told us that he believes Shannon was high on drugs that night and
00:39:13
says her death was an accident, something John Ray just can't believe. While he doesn't think Shannon was a
00:39:21
victim of Huerman, he does believe she was murdered and points to that 911 call.
00:39:30
It absolutely makes no sense that she's found where she is except that someone else put her there or killed her there.
00:39:40
While questions remain about Shannon's last hours, there's no question she's the reason so many families may finally
00:39:49
be getting answers they have long waited for. We spoke to her sister Sheree in 2011.
00:39:57
If my sister, you know, didn't make that 911 call, I don't think that these other
00:40:01
women would have been recovered either. Now, investigators hope that with an arrest, they can give the victim's
00:40:09
families who stood with them a sense of justice and of peace. [Music] I've gotten to know the families and I'm
00:40:22
inspired by them and I'm impressed by their patience. [Music] A local legend has it that this place,
00:40:32
Gilgo Beach, was named for a skilled fisherman called Gil. These silver gray waters, once his secret hunting ground.
00:40:44
Today, this beach area is better known for a relentless hunter of human prey. A serial killer whose chilling presence
00:40:54
can still be felt in the ocean air. [Music] [Music] a 35year-old case. His father was
00:41:28
indicted for killing his mother. Whoever did this hated this woman. Their entire
00:41:32
case is circumstantial. But can he find the truth? I want to know what happened.
00:41:37
48 hours is all new. CBS next in streaming on Paramount Plus.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Best overall
  • 80
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • The Gilgo Beach Murders
    A haunting case that has baffled law enforcement for over a decade.
    “It is a case that has haunted the public.”
    @ 00m 08s
    June 12, 2025
  • The Gilgo 4 Victims
    Four young women, all escorts, found near Gilgo Beach, became known as the Gilgo 4.
    “All were online escorts. All petite.”
    @ 05m 53s
    June 12, 2025
  • Amber Costello's Disappearance
    Amber was the last of the Gilgo 4 to vanish, leaving behind a haunting mystery.
    “She was an amazing person. He really was.”
    @ 11m 01s
    June 12, 2025
  • Rex Herman's Arrest
    The shocking arrest of an architect as a suspected serial killer.
    “A husband, a father, an architect stood before a judge charged as a serial killer.”
    @ 13m 03s
    June 12, 2025
  • Rex Herman's Double Life
    A seemingly normal architect living a horrifying secret life as a serial killer.
    “Rex Herman was able to hide a life as a serial killer.”
    @ 21m 26s
    June 12, 2025
  • Arrest of Rex Huerman
    Rex Huerman is arrested after DNA evidence links him to the Gilgo Beach murders.
    “It was a remarkable day.”
    @ 27m 40s
    June 12, 2025
  • Assa Huerman's Struggles
    Assa Huerman faces public scrutiny and personal challenges after her husband's arrest.
    “Their life going forward is always going to be the wife or the children of suspected serial killer.”
    @ 30m 16s
    June 12, 2025
  • Shannon Gilbert's Death
    Questions remain about Shannon Gilbert's death, with some believing she was murdered.
    “It absolutely makes no sense that she's found where she is.”
    @ 39m 32s
    June 12, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • I dropped my phone. I couldn't believe it.
    Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode
  • I would do anything to bring her back, but I can't.
    Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode
  • He said, 'I told you I could find you anywhere.'.
    Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode
  • I don't think he had any clue.
    Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode
  • How is she getting through every day? Honestly, yeah. Minute by minute.
    Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode
  • It absolutely makes no sense that she's found where she is.
    Is Rex Heuermann the serial killer behind the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island? | Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Gilgo 4 Identified05:32
  • Heartbreaking Loss06:03
  • Chilling Note17:02
  • Double Life Revealed21:26
  • Arrest Day28:17
  • Public Scrutiny31:51
  • Family Support32:31
  • Shannon's Mystery39:46

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown