Rex Heuermann's house

This is Rex Heuermann's house.

It is located at 105 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park, New York.

On the evening of July 13th, 2023, Heuermann was arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach serial killer murders. Up until that point, he had never been publicly viewed as a possible suspect in the case.

The arrest took place more than 12 years after the police discovered the skeletal remains of several sex workers near Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann shared this home with his wife, Asa Ellerup, their daughter, Victoria, and Ellerup's son from a previous relationship, Christopher Sheridan.

He was born on September 13th, 1963, to Delores and Theodore J. Heuermann (1925-1975).

This residence was his childhood home. In May 1994, he purchased the property from his mother for $170,000.

Heuermann has been described as an avid hunter and carpenter who built furniture at his home workshop. A former coworker told New York Magazine that he liked to hunt deer and elk on Long Island and in upstate New York. He also hunted bears on occasion.

His former classmates at Alfred G. Berner High School said that he was a nerdy, reclusive, and awkward individual who "didn't fit in." Despite his size, he was a regular target for bullies, as he never fought back.

Neighbors said that his house was so noticeably rundown that kids would avoid it at Halloween. In the past, one neighbor had even jokingly remarked that there were bodies buried on the property.

Heuermann was a seasonal employee at Jones Beach State Park during the summer of 1981. He also worked there between May 3rd, 1982, and October 24th, 1984. The park is located close to where the Gilgo Beach victims were found.

Heuermann began working as an architect in Manhattan in 1987. He commuted to work on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).

During the early 1990s, he worked for an architect called Harvey Rothenberg.

In 1994, he founded the architecture company RH Consultants & Associates, Inc. in Manhattan.

In 1996, he married Ellerup.

In an interview in 2022, he described himself as an architectural consultant and "troubleshooter" who helps clients and other architects deal with the NYC Department of Buildings.

Over the years, there was much speculation that the killer had a connection to Manhattan.

Jessica Taylor was reportedly last seen near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, while Maureen Brainard-Barnes was picked up at a motel on West 46th Street.

The killer had also repeatedly called the sister of Melissa Barthelemy from the city.

The authorities were aware of a possible Massapequa connection since 2012, as the FBI had noticed commonalities with cellphone activity in that area.

Two of the victims' phones had gone dead in the vicinity shortly after they were picked up by an unknown client who had contacted them using burner phones. Furthermore, the phone that was used to contact Amber Lynn Costello had seemingly traveled from Manhattan to Massapequa Park before eventually making its way to her neighborhood in West Babylon.

Neighbors referred to Heuermann as an average "family man" with a wife and two children. Others claimed that he was a reclusive individual who would sometimes glare at them while he was chopping wood in his front yard.

Following his arrest, the authorities spent nearly two weeks painstakingly searching his house, removing various items, and digging up the backyard.

Investigators believe that the killings took place in the basement.

The Gilgo Beach task force began focusing on Heuermann after they determined that he may have been the last client to see Costello.

Sensing they were onto something, they started looking into his cell phone records.

At that point, they learned that he was using fictitious names to operate fake email accounts and burner cellphones. This behavior was strikingly similar to that of the killer, who had contacted the Gilgo Four victims using prepaid burner phones.

Activity on one of his fake Google accounts showed that he had been searching for images of the victims, images of the victims' relatives, information about the Gilgo investigation, and sadistic materials, among other disturbing content.

When they dug into Heuermann's cell history, they determined that his personal phone and three of the killer's burner phones had visited the same locations at the same times. They also learned that his family had been out of town during at least three of the murders.

The final piece of evidence came from hairs that were found on some of the bodies, as these proved to match the mitochondrial DNA profiles of both Heuermann and his wife.

It is believed that Ellerup's hairs transferred to the victims' bodies while they were inside their home and vehicle.

Initially, he was only charged with three of the murders. He wasn't indicted for Brainard-Barnes' death until January 2024.

Six months later, on June 6th, 2024, he was charged with the murders of Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. Then, in December 2024, he was also indicted for the 2000 murder of Valerie Mack.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the crimes. He is currently awaiting trial.

Photos

Photos of the house and other related images.

2007

This Google Street View image was taken in October 2007. At the time, the image quality of Street View was noticeably poor, as the technology had just been launched.

Visible are a Ford M151 military jeep (left), a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck (center), and a Ford SUV (right).

The garage door seems to have been replaced at some point between 2007 and 2011. The door in the 2007 image has overhead windows, while the one in the 2011 image does not.

Heuermann's house

This photograph of Heuermann's house was taken two months after the police arrested him and raided his property.

Although the color has remained the same, the paint has faded. The porch doors are gone, and 2-by-4s are now holding up the roof.

Chevrolet Avalanche

Image source: Google Maps

This Google Street View image of Heuermann's pickup truck was captured in November 2011.

The task force first became interested in the architect after they learned that he had previously owned a dark green first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche.

LISK's last known victim, Amber Lynn Costello, was visited by a very large man who drove a dark-colored pickup truck. During an interview with detectives, Costello's roommate recalled how the truck in question had a triangular brace between the cab and the bed.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said the following during a press conference:

"In between the bed and the cab there's a little triangular, uh, ornament almost. And it's unique in the way it's configured. And it was unique to the Avalanche at the time. That was something that was pointed out by witnesses."

This shape provided investigators with a vital hint about the make and model of the vehicle.

After searching the vehicle database, they narrowed in on Heuermann, who drove a similar truck and fit the physical description of the suspect.

Public records indicate that he sold the Chevrolet to his brother, Craig Arnold Heuermann, in July 2014. His brother lives in Chester, South Carolina, which is out of the SCPD's jurisdiction. Consequently, the FBI had to perform the seizure.

A number of news websites have published photographs of the police seizing a black Chevrolet Avalanche from Heuermann's residence in Massapequa Park. However, this appears to be a newer vehicle that is unrelated to Costello's disappearance.

Arrest location

Heuermann was arrested on the evening of July 13th, 2023. At the time, he had just left work and was walking south on 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Surveillance footage from a nearby store captured the moment when men in suits suddenly appeared and apprehended him.

View Location

Heuermann was using burner phones

When the task force looked into Heuermann, they discovered that he was using multiple burner phones and fake email addresses. This was significant, as the Gilgo Beach killer (LISK) had used similar countersurveillance measures.

His emails included "[email protected]", "[email protected]", and "[email protected]".

On May 19th, 2023, surveillance cameras at a T-Mobile store at 124 West 34th Street in Manhattan captured footage of Heuermann adding additional minutes to one of his burner phones (images above).

After analyzing the usage of these devices, the task force noticed that he was using them to contact sex workers and arrange "hookups" on Tinder. Furthermore, he had also been using the phones to search for information about the Gilgo Case, its victims, and the victims' relatives (among other disturbing content).

The fact that he was still continuing to contact sex workers using burner phones worried investigators, as they believed that it was possible he might kill again.

Coordinates: 40.750072, -73.989105

Google Maps