Investigators looking into whether any of the Gilgo Beach murder victims may have been killed at home suspect shared with his family
Investigators are looking into whether Rex Heuermann, the suspect arrested and charged in the deaths of three women whose remains were found on a beach roadway in Long Island more than a decade ago, may have killed any of his alleged victims at his home in Massapequa Park, law enforcement sources told CBS News.
Heuermann shares the Long Island house with his wife and two adult children, who, authorities say, were away at the time of the alleged murders. The investigation is ongoing as the home is still being searched a week after his arrest.
One investigator tells CBS News they are combing the house inch-by-inch in search of evidence.
Two law enforcement sources additionally confirmed to CBS News that investigators are looking to determine whether Heuermann is connected to other unsolved murder cases throughout the country. Investigators in Suffolk County are currently coordinating with others in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to see if the suspect is linked to any unsolved killings that happened within their jurisdiction.
Suffolk County officials have already executed several court-authorized search warrants elsewhere in the U.S., including in Las Vegas and South Carolina, where Heuermann may have had ties, sources said. A Chevrolet Avalanche truck, which is believed to be connected to the suspect and which may have been used in at least one of the murders, was recovered in South Carolina and transported to Suffolk County. Investigators in Long Island are expected to probe the truck for possible evidence related to the crimes.
The suspect's wife, Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce from her husband in Suffolk County Supreme Court on Wednesday, after two decades of marriage, according to Ellerup's attorney, Robert Macedonio. Police say Heuermann's wife and two children were "in the dark about his double life," CBS New York reported.
Macedonio said Ellerup was told to leave the couple's home with only the clothes on her back and has not been permitted to return as investigators continue searching the residence. Investigators have seized all electronics in the house including those belonging to her and the two adult children. They've also seized her car, which had been parked at the couple's Long Island home.
Macedonio tells CBS News that Ellerup's passport was not seized, but that she does not have access to it as it remains inside the home.
Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect, was charged last week with murdering three women, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman. Their bodies were discovered within a quarter-mile of one another in a section of Ocean Parkway, a highway that stretches across Jones Beach Island off the southern Long Island Coast.
They were among 10 sets of human remains found along the island's Gilgo Beach between 2010 and 2011. The remains were discovered while authorities were searching for another woman, Shannan Gilbert, who had disappeared and was later found dead elsewhere in a coastal marsh. Police labeled the death an accidental drowning, but Gilbert's family has refuted that claim.
At the time of Heuermann's indictment, prosecutors said he was also a suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. He has pleaded not guilty to the initial charges brought against him and is in custody under suicide watch.
The Gilgo Beach killings, and who was responsible for them, became a notorious and prolonged mystery both in and outside of New York. It was the focus of a 2011 "48 Hours" episode, which looked at Gilbert's disappearance and how the subsequent search led to the discovery of other remains, as well as additional "48 Hours" reports that aired over the next decade. The 2020 Netflix drama "Lost Girls" is also based on the Gilgo Beach murders.
Although authorities originally did not believe one killer was linked to all 10 sets of remains found along Gilgo Beach, they did acknowledge that the close proximity between some of the bodies pointed to a potential serial murderer.
Heuermann lived for decades in a house just across a bay from where the remains were discovered. While probing the suspect's home since his arrest, police have been seen carrying various items from the property in boxes, with some containing firearms, a filing cabinet, a computer and a large doll inside a glass case.
WCBS' Carolyn Gusoff contributed reporting. This is a breaking story and will be updated.