Gilgo Beach killings suspect Rex Heuermann charged in 7th woman’s death

SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. (TCN) -- The Suffolk County District Attorney announced Tuesday that he filed an additional murder charge against Rex Heuermann, the man they allege is responsible for killing several women on Long Island over the course of almost 20 years.

Ray Tierney held a press conference Dec. 17 and shared the news that Heuermann is charged with a seventh count of murder for allegedly killing Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old whose body was found in a wooded area on Nov. 19, 2000. Tierney said mitochondrial DNA from a hair on Mack’s body matched DNA profiles of Heuermann’s wife and daughter. Additional testing showed the hair was 1.31 x 10 to the 356th power more likely to match those DNA profiles. That is reportedly "the most conservative estimate."

Heuermann’s daughter is not facing criminal charges and is not accused of being involved in the crimes, according to The Associated Press.

Heuermann appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.

Mack, who also went by Melissa Taylor, worked as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen in New Jersey in mid-2000. Suffolk County Police said hunters found some of her remains off Halsey-Manor Road, while others were located along Ocean Parkway. Mack’s remains were positively identified in May 2020 using genetic genealogy, marking the first time a law enforcement agency in the state used this type of technology to identify a person in a police investigation.

Police arrested Heuermann in July 2023 for allegedly killing the "Gilgo Beach Four": Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Megan Waterman. The deaths are believed to have occurred between 1993 and 2010. In June, Tierney announced he was charging Heuermann with two more counts of murder for the deaths of Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.

You can learn more about the case in the "True Crime News" video below.

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