Photos: Scenes from Gilgo Beach serial killings investigation
Gilgo Beach would become the focal point of the long-stalled investigation into the discovery of 11 sets of remains, including that of a toddler, all discarded along the parkway that cuts the length of a thin strip of white sand, dirt, brambles and marshes known as Jones Beach Island.
A crime laboratory officer removes a box of items as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A crime laboratory officer moves a cat scratching post as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A New York State police officer moves a frame as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A crime laboratory officer moves a plastic bag of items as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
New York State police officers move a metal cabinet as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
New York State police officers carry out a large item as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
New York State police officers stand guard as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
The home Rex Heuermann is shown, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
The home Rex Heuermann is shown, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A New York State police officer moves a wooden panel as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
Residents try to take a look as police officers search the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
New York State police officers place items into the back of a box truck as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A crime laboratory officer is seen through a window as law enforcement search the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
Crime laboratory officers removes boxes as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A crime laboratory officer removes evidence as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
Police officers stand guard as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
New York State police officers stand guard as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
A crime laboratory officer places a bag of items into the back of a truck as law enforcement searches the home of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
An investigator talks with a neighbor of Rex Heuermann, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Heuermann, a Long Island architect, was charged Friday, July 14, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
Detectives on Long Island hunting for fresh clues about an architect arrested in connection with a string of murders known as the Gilgo Beach killings are combing through storage units linked to Rex Heuermann and using DNA evidence to see if he’s connected to other cold cases.
An intense police search of the Long Island home of Rex Heuermann is now complete, Suffolk County authorities said Tuesday as they ended a 12-day hunt for evidence that involved ripping up the yard and the discovery of a basement vault containing hundreds of weapons kept by the man accused of killing at least three women more than a decade ago.
Sex workers in America are easy prey for serial killers, and the recent breakthrough in the Gilgo Beach slayings only highlights a painful truth: Many similar cases remain unsolved.
A woman whose remains were among discoveries that became known as the Gilgo Beach killings has been identified after 26 years, authorities said Friday.