‘Predator’ Suspected Serial Killer Rex Heuermann Caught ‘Engaging in Activity That Was Disturbing’ Before Shock Arrest: Police

Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was allegedly engaging in “disturbing activity as police were watching him in the months before his arrest in July, according to authorities.

Heuermann, 59, has been charged with the murders of three of the so-called Gilgo 4 — the women found dead on Long Island’s Gilgo Beach in December 2010 — and he is also the prime suspect in the death of the fourth, as Front Page Detectives previously reported.

In an interview with Newsday, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said, “We were able to bring comfort to three families, we’re very close to a fourth one, but we still have more work to do to identify the subject or subjects that were involved with the other bodies that were discovered.”

Officials said at least 11 bodies have been found on and near Gilgo Beach, but police have not connected Heuermann to any of the other killings in the area.

“Is Rex Heuermann going to be held accountable for the other bodies on Ocean Parkway? Time will tell," Harrison said.

During the surveillance of Heuermann, an FBI agent was able to retrieve the pizza crust and napkin from his Manhattan office garbage that helped tie him to the crimes, officials said.

“Once we got Rex in our sights, we had to figure out how to collect his DNA,” Harrison said. “That was something that they really had a major role in, gave us some guidance in sending us to the right labs. … Once we got those matches, I don’t think I need to tell you anything else, that was really a place where we went from reasonable suspicion to probable cause.”

Harrison said Heuermann was identified as a suspect in March 2022 and agents were watching him in “a host of different ways” until his recent arrest, Newsday reported.

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Harrison told Newsday, “I can’t talk about if he was preparing to kill again … He’s somebody that was still engaging in activity that was disturbing, be it his internet searches, be it engaging in other activities that he shouldn’t be engaging in. That’s something I was very, very passionate about, regarding ‘we need to see what his lifestyle is.’”

Heuermann has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman, and is the prime suspect in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Harrison said, “I’m very confident that Mr. Heuermann’s our subject,” adding he is “somebody that ruined families, somebody who’s a predator.”