In 2010, the bodies of four women were found near Gilgo Beach, which resulted in widespread fear of a possible serial killer on the loose. The women (dubbed the ‘Gilgo Four’) were later identified as Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
While no arrests were made for more than 12 years, investigators were certain the murders were linked to one another (due to their close proximity to one another) and knew they were closing in on a potential suspect. On July 13, they zeroed in on their suspect and arrested him at around 8:30 p.m. that night.
Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old married architect with two children, was arrested and charged with the murder of three of the four victims – as well as being listed as the primary suspect in the fourth murder. The police have a wide variety of evidence that links him to both the crime scene and the victims.
In the days following his arrest, dozens of people have taken to social media to recount their memory of Rex Heuermann and express their shock over the development. One of those ‘dozens of people’ who knew Heuermann was none other than Billy Baldwin – the second-youngest of the Baldwin brothers.
“Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann. Berner High School Massapequa, New York Class of 1981,” Baldwin wrote on Twitter. “Married, two kids, architect. ‘Average guy, quiet, family man.’ Mind-boggling… Massapequa is in shock.”
All four Baldwin brothers – which includes Alec Baldwin, 65, Daniel Baldwin, 62, Billy Baldwin, 60, and Stephen Baldwin, 57 – grew up in Massapequa, New York and they all attended Berner High School (which is now used as a middle school). Billy Baldwin was 47 years old when the bodies were found.
Baldwin was just one of many former classmates to recount their personal encounter with the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect – who was due in court on Friday (July 14). One woman claims she used to be classmates with Heuermann and even claims he used to leave her little love notes in her locker.
What We Know About the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Suspect
At the time of his arrest, Rex Heuermann was still a resident of the Massapequa area that he grew up in – he had a home on 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park. He was the owner and founder of a Midtown architecture firm – RH Consultants and Associates – and had an office at 385 Fifth Ave in Manhattan.
While there were 10 total bodies found near the Gilgo Beach area, Heuermann is only being accused of murdering the original four women – not the six others found later on in the investigation. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, as well as other charges in connection to the four bodies.
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One of the major discoveries that led to his arrest was a pizza crust from a pizza box that was discarded in a nearby trashcan – DNA on the crust matched the DNA on one of the victims. They also have records from a burner phone that prove Heuermann was in contact with all four of the women prior to their deaths.