Gilgo Beach victim’s sister says she is “overwhelmed but relieved.”
The sister of one of the Gilgo Beach victims has said she is “overwhelmed but relieved” that an arrest has finally been made more than a decade after her disappearance.
Sherre Gilbert, whose sister Shannan disappeared in 2010, said she hopes suspect Rex Heuermann “rots in prison for the rest of his life” if convicted of the murders.
She broke her silence on Friday morning, saying she had never given up hope that “one day justice would be served.”
It comes after Heuermann, 59, was taken into custody outside his Manhattan office Thursday night in a surprising breakthrough in the 13-year-old case.
He was arrested in connection with the first four murders of young prostitutes in their 20s – who became known as the ‘Gilgo Beach four’.
Among the victims was Shannan Gilbert, who was found dead in 2011 in an Oak Beach swamp – about a quarter mile from where she was last seen alive
Heuermann is photographed during an interview about his architecture firm before being arrested Thursday night
Sherre opened up about her relief after the arrest on Friday morning, saying she always believed a suspect would be caught one day.
She said NBC news“I’m overwhelmed but relieved that they finally caught him.
“It has been a long time coming and I never gave up hope that justice would one day be served. The suspect deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
“He’s destroyed many lives, so while it won’t bring back our loved ones, it helps that there’s one less monster off the streets and he can never hurt anyone else.”
Sherre’s sister Shannan was an escort who disappeared after visiting a client at a home in Oak Beach, Long Island, in May 2010.
Her body was found in December 2011 in the nearby swamp area, but no arrests had been made.
A map showing where the remains of the victims were located along the barren stretch of Ocean Beach Parkway in Gilgo Beach, located on the south coast of Long Island
The street in Massapequa Park, Long Island, where a suspect was arrested this morning in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders
Forensic teams will be working at Heuermann’s home on Friday. A freezer was among the seized goods
The Gilgo murders became notorious in the 2010s when detectives attempted to track down a suspected serial killer who had murdered up to ten people.
The ‘Gilgo Beach four’ were all found wrapped in burlap sacks along the coast in December 2010. They were all strangled.
In the following months, another six women and a toddler were found. Police will continue to investigate whether Heuermann has a connection to the other six.
Heurmann’s Massapequa Park home was overrun with officers on Friday.
The humble home is north of Gilgo Beach, where the bodies of 10 women and a toddler were found in 2010 and 2011, with only South Oyster Bay separating them.
A freezer was among the seized goods. Heuermann, who is married with two children, has lived in the house since the 1980s.
Law enforcement sources told DailyMail.com he had been on their radar since last year.
Investigators linked him to the crimes by tracing the calls made more than 10 years ago from burner phones to the victims’ cellphones.
‘Gilgo Four’: These photos show the first four victims found a decade ago near Gilgo Beach, Long Island, as part of a serial killer investigation
Partial skeletal remains of Valerie Mack were found in a wooded area in Manorville in September 2000. Partial skeletal remains of Jessica Taylor, an escort who worked in New York City, were found July 26, 2003 in a wooded area in Manorville.
Heuermann was arrested outside his Midtown Manhattan office last night
The source added that “good old-fashioned police work” solved the case, rather than DNA developments.
Sherre Gilbert, the sister of Shannan Gilbert, one of the victims, said NBC news she was “relieved” that an arrest had been made.
“I’m overwhelmed but relieved that they finally caught him. It’s been a long time and I never gave up hope that justice would one day be served.
“The defendant deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
“He’s destroyed many lives, so while it won’t bring back our loved ones, it helps that there’s one less monster off the streets and he can never hurt anyone else.”
Heuermann runs a small architectural firm in town.
New York architect Rex Heuermann, 59, has been arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders on Long Island.
On the company’s website, he claims to have worked on projects such as JFK Airport, projects for American Airlines, and for some Catholic charities.
The location of the calls matched Heuermann’s home address and his office address.
It remains unclear what specific piece of evidence led to his arrest last night. He is due to appear before a judge in Long Island at noon.
John Ray, a lawyer representing the families of two of the victims, told DailyMail.com they were warned a week ago that an arrest was imminent.
“About a week ago we got a tip that they were going to do this.
“We have two names, but of course we don’t want to say them unless we’re 100% sure.”
He confirmed to DailyMail.com that Heuermann’s name was one of the names they were looking for.
Ray believes the discovery of a man’s remains led to the arrest today.
Ray said that while the suspect arrested today is male, he and his clients have “always had an outside theory” that a woman may have been involved.
No one has ever been arrested in connection with the murders.
The suspect’s home is located immediately north of Gilgo Beach across the South Oyster Bay
The decade-long investigation has been described as one of the most “intense, prolific” serial killer hunts.
In 2020, a true crime podcast cast suspicion on former Suffolk County Police Commissioner James Burke.
Burke, who served time in jail for assaulting a local man while in office, served as the top cop from 2011 to 2015.
Among the victims was Shannan Gilbert, who was found dead in 2011 in a swamp in Oak Beach – about a quarter mile from where she was last seen alive.
The 24-year-old’s neck was broken before she was killed and had a hole in it that could have been caused by a drill, her family’s lawyer said.
The first victims were discovered in December 2010.
They were Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Costello, 27.
Known as the “Gilgo Beach Four,” their bodies were found in burlap sacks.
Some of the four had been missing for three years when their bodies were found.
They were all sex workers who advertised their services on Craiglist, leading police to believe that’s how the killer first contacted them.
Some had also told friends that they planned to meet with a client the day before they disappeared.
In March and April 2011, four more bodies, including that of a toddler, were found in the same area.
They were Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack and an unknown woman known as “Peaches” or “Jane Doe No. 3′.
Peaches’ toddler daughter was also killed. Two other remains were found in the following weeks.
One was of an “Asian man” now thought to be a transgender sex worker who had been dead for five or six years, and Jane Doe No. 7, whose remains were found on a beach in the popular tourist town of Fire Island .