South Carolina cops probe link between Gilgo Beach suspect and South Carolina woman who vanished in 2017 as daughter claims she recognizes Rex Heuermann’s car
The South Carolina Police Department is investigating a connection between the Gilgo Beach suspect and a missing mother who disappeared in 2017.
Julia Ann Bean, 42, was last seen in Sumter County on May 31, 2017. On August 20, someone claiming to be a friend of the missing woman contacted the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The tipster met with authorities and revealed a possible connection between Bean’s disappearance and Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann, according to a press release by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department, issued earlier this week.
Heuermann, who is accused of murdering three women in Suffolk County, Long Island, also owns real estate in Chester, South Carolina, about 80 miles north of Sumter.
The sheriff’s office did not identify the person they spoke to, but confirmed they were not from the Sumter County area. Officials said they were investigating the third-party tip and shared the details with a team that has worked on Bean’s case since she first went missing, as well as the FBI.
Investigators also interviewed Bean’s daughter, who claimed that the person she last saw her mother with could possibly be Heuermann. Sumter County Sheriff Officer Mark Bordeaux said so WLTX News that Bean’s daughter said she may have recognized the 59-year-old architect and a vehicle linked to him.
Julia Ann Bean, 42, was last seen in Sumter County on May 31, 2017. Bean’s daughter had reported her mother missing on November 18 that same year, officials said.
Rex Huermann is currently being held in a Suffolk County jail. He is charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, who disappeared in 2009 and 2010. He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who disappeared in 2007.
The missing person flyer distributed by the Sumter County Sheriff
Bordeaux added, “Someone who might have looked, might have looked like Mr. Heuermann at her mother’s and a vehicle might have been similar.”
“But again, you’ll notice I use the words ‘possibly’ and ‘possibly’. We hope to establish this through further research currently underway.”
Bean was 37 years old when she first disappeared. She was last seen in the Red Bay Road area and was reported missing by a family member on November 18, 2017.
She is five feet tall and weighs between 110 and 120 pounds. She has three tattoos on her body. One on her lower back, a tribal design. The name “Scott” on her left hip and eight small paw prints on her right hip.
Relatives said Bean may have left the area on foot. They also said she didn’t have her cell phone with her and she wasn’t on any medication.
Detectives from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office have been reviewing the information they recently received to determine if there is any evidence linking Bean to Heuermann, the press release said.
“Yet there are no confirmed facts that confirm or deny the possibility of a connection,” the release read.
Heuermann is currently being held at a Suffolk County jail. He is charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, who disappeared in 2009 and 2010.
He is believed to be the prime suspect in the disappearance of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who disappeared in 2007, and was part of a group known as the “Gilgo Four.”
The victims would all be sex workers who advertised on online sites, the police said.
Last month, Heuermann in Riverhead, Long Island with his court-appointed attorney, Michael Brown. Prosecutors have revealed that they have a mountain of evidence against him, including DNA that he accidentally left on his alleged victims.
He has denied being guilty of the charges.
The Long Island serial killer suspect is also under investigation for the murders of six others whose bodies were found near Giglo Beach in 2011.
A map showing where the victims’ remains were located along the barren stretch of Ocean Beach Parkway in Gilgo Beach, located on the south coast of Long Island
The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, was found two days later.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she went missing (left). Amber Lynn Costello was 27 years old. Their bodies were found near Barthelemy the same day
Sumter County authorities have investigated Bean’s mysterious disappearance and are investigating the tip as the case remains open and active, officials said.
Bean’s daughter had reported her mother missing on November 18, 2017, nearly six months after she disappeared.
When DailyMail.com contacted the Sumter County Sherriff’s Department for more details about Bean’s case, they were not available for comment.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about the case to contact 803-436-2000, or use the www.p3tips.com website or the website.