Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann charged in 7th slaying
Officials in New York charged the man accused in a string of murders known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings with another death on Tuesday.
Rex Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Valerie Mack sometime between Sept. 1 and Nov. 19 of 2000, according to an indictment provided to Paste BN by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
Mack's remains were first discovered in 2000 and not identified until 2020. Mack, 24, was working as a sex worker, and officials have said several other victims were also sex workers. Partial remains were first found in November 2000 in Manorville, New York, about 50 miles away from where more of her remains were found about 11 years later along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach, officials said in court records.
Her parents were present when District Attorney Ray Tierney announced the charge at a news conference Tuesday morning after Heuermann appeared in court.
"They are very grateful for the small bit of closure that the task force has been able to provide," Tierney said.
Heuermann, 61, was previously charged in the murders of six other women, whose deaths spanned from the 1990s to 2010. Many of their remains were discovered in 2010 and 2011 on Gilgo Beach, leading investigators to suspect a serial killer was responsible for the deaths.
In July 2023, Heuermann was arrested and charged with the deaths of Megan Waterman, 22; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; and Amber Costello, 27. In January 2024, he was charged with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25. In June of this year, Heuermann was also indicted in the killings of Jessica Taylor, 20, whose dismembered remains were found days after she disappeared in 2003, and Sandra Costilla, 28, whose body was found in 1993. He pleaded not guilty to those murders.
"The lives of these women matter. We as investigators, we understand that. Obviously no one understands it more than the families," Tierney said.
Tierney said that the investigation was ongoing and had expanded beyond just Gilgo Beach.
Heuermann's defense attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Paste BN on Tuesday.
Valerie Mack identified nearly 2 decades after death
Three people out hunting in Manorville discovered human remains on Nov. 19, 2000, when their dog alerted them to a black plastic bag. They called 911, and authorities found that the remains were of an unidentified female, whose body had been dismembered.
On April 4, 2011, investigators searching the Gilgo Beach area found more remains belonging to the same unidentified female. Those remains were found less than 1.5 miles from where some of Taylor's remains were also found.
All five of the victims found on Gilgo Beach whose murders were previously charged were discovered on the same side of Ocean Parkway at a similar depth, prosecutors said. The other victim, Costilla, was discovered in North Sea on Long Island.
In May 2020, DNA testing revealed the identity of the unknown female remains as Mack, who would have been 24 years old at her death.
Investigators linked Mack to Heuermann earlier this year through testing of a hair found with her remains, which matched Heuermann's daughter, who was a toddler at the time of Mack's death.
Prosecutors also said that some of the violent pornography Heuermann owned included methods consistent with the injuries to Mack's body and how she was bound with ropes. Investigators also found what they believe was a document on a hard drive Heuermann used to meticulously plan his kills, which included materials and methods similar to what may have been used to kill and dispose of Mack's remains and some of the other victims.
Also found in Heuermann's belongings were newspaper and magazine articles about the Gilgo Beach killings investigation through the years. Asked if he thought the articles were kept as mementos to feel good about the murders, Tierney told reporters Tuesday: "I scored a touchdown in high school. Still have that article."