Manorville, NY – Law enforcement sources say a search was conducted in the eastern Long Island community of Manorville, New York, where the partial remains of two of the 11 have been found. gilgo beach victims The findings are related to the ongoing investigation in the case.
Suffolk County Police deferred comment to the district attorney’s office. District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office declined to confirm the connection to the Gilgo victims, but acknowledged a search was underway in the area this week.
“Suffolk County Police Department, New York Police Department And New York State Police are working with the District Attorney’s Office on the ongoing investigation,” his office said in a statement. “We do not comment on investigative steps while they are ongoing. “We will provide further statements when appropriate.”
A Suffolk County police officer and K-9 unit search a wooded area in Manorville, New York, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The discovery is reportedly related to the ongoing investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders. Of the 11 bodies found near the beach in 2010 and 2011, only four have been charged, all against suspected serial killer Rex Heuerman. (Matt Agudo for Fox News Digital)
Suffolk police found 11 sets of remains in a remote area off Ocean Parkway after a woman named Shannan Gilbert called 911 for help and disappeared from the gated community of Oak Beach in 2010 and 2011.
were among them gilgo four, Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Megan Waterman, 22; Amber Costello, 27; and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
This may be the first time that two serial killers are using the same dump site, but I doubt it.
Police arrested New York City architect Rex Heuerman in connection with those murders in July. He lived in Massapequa Park, a 20-minute drive from Gilgo Beach.
Following Heuerman’s retrial, Tierney vowed to continue using the grand jury process to investigate other deaths.
“It (could) be related to the grand jury, but I don’t think it is,” said Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD sergeant and cold case specialist who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said of the new Manorville search effort. “I think it came in as a tip that may have had some confirmation.”
Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuerman appears next to his attorney Michael Brown in Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom at Suffolk County Court on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Riverhead, New York. (James Carbone/Newsday/Pool)
He praised the county’s willingness to handle the investigation and consider whether there may be additional victims.
Gilbert’s remains were last found, and police said years later that his death was accidental, although his official cause of death was indeterminate.
However, they still have six unsolved cases, and two of those victims, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack, were dismembered and thrown into different locations. Police first discovered his partial remains in Manorville in 2000 and 2003. Gilbert’s exploration in 2011 uncovered additional remains of both victims.
Jessica Taylor, left, and Valerie Mack were both murdered and dismembered. Suffolk County Police discovered partial remains of each victim in Manorville, New York, and a section of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. (Suffolk County Police Department/Handout)
Gilgo Beach serial killer: Why suspect Rex Heuerman’s daughter’s DNA matters
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty gilgo four murders And a suspect has not been named in the other deaths.
Tierney, the district attorney who is also the lead prosecutor against Heuerman, vowed that the grand jury investigation will continue to investigate other cases.
“John Bittrolf lived not too far away,” Giacalone said, referring to another Long Island serial killer who haunted the area in the 1990s. “Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack were found not far from there, and the rest were found in Gilgo.”
The “Gilgo Four” clockwise from top left: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. The background shows a wooden cross in the swamp next to Gilgo Beach, New York, where his remains were found in bushes a few yards from Ocean Parkway. (Suffolk County Police Department/MEGA for Fox News Digital)
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John Bittrolf, another serial killer from Long Island, is currently serving two consecutive 25-year to life sentences in prison for the murders of 31-year-old Rita Tangredi and 20-year-old Colleen McNamee, whose remains were found naked in Manorville in 1993 and 1994. Were found in. Both were strangled and had serious head injuries.
His victims were last seen in nearby communities – but he also lived in Manorville and at one time was considered a suspect in the Gilgo murders.
Former Suffolk County assistant district attorney Robert Biancavilla, who prosecuted Bittrolf for the Tangredi and McNamee murders, said after sentencing That the killer may have been involved in at least one of Gilgo’s cases.
In this July 31, 2014, file photo, John Bittrolf listens to his attorney, William Keohane, during his hearing on murder charges in Riverhead, New York. Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla said on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 that Bittrolf, convicted of murdering two prostitutes in the 1990s, is responsible for at least one of the 10 unsolved murders of people on Long Island Beach Highway. It is possible (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool, File)
Bittrolf’s attorney, Jonathan Manley, denied the claim and said it was a “ridiculous” attempt to draw media attention to unresolved cases.
However, John Kelly, a criminal profiler who has been tracking the case for more than a decade, said there may be some truth to Biancavilla’s prediction.
“I think body parts aren’t really something we can connect to the rex right now,” he said, noting that Heuerman’s alleged victims were found intact and hidden in camouflage burlap used by duck hunters. .
A road sign directing drivers to Gilgo Beach near Ocean Parkway, about 45 miles east of New York City. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
“Bittrolf was a poser and a cutter,” Kelly told Fox News Digital. “He wanted his last victims, that we know of, to be found.”
They believe the convicted killer likely has additional victims and if investigators find additional remains in Manorville they will know if the case is connected.
Although both men were charged kill prostitutes, Kelly stated that Bittorlf differed from Heuermann in two key ways. Bittrolf met his victims in person rather than online, and both Mack and Taylor disappeared when Internet access was not as widespread, leading police to allege that Heuerman was meeting victims on Craigslist and dating apps.
Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuerman appears next to his attorney Michael Brown in Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom at Suffolk County Court on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Riverhead, New York. (James Carbone/Newsday/Pool)
Additionally, the Gilgo Four were concealed in brush and camouflage burlap, while Bittorlf’s victims had yet to be found.
“He liked to present them as shock value for investigators,” Kelly said.
The former carpenter was also a hunter who reportedly ate a deer heart raw in a bizarre ritual.
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Bittrolf has also been suspected but not charged in another murder, the murder of Sandra Costilla.
“He knew those woods in Manorville like the back of his hand,” Kelly said. “He was always out hunting.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
