Gilgo Beach murders lead investigators to Manorville. "Notorious for people dumping bodies in there."
MANORVILLE, N.Y. - The search for evidence in the Gilgo Beach murders case resumed Thursday.
Authorities with the Suffolk County Police Department, New York Police Department and New York State Police continue to search an area in Manorville. They could be seen with K-9s gathering evidence in the woods.
"We do not comment on investigative steps while they are underway," Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney's office said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement added the office is working with the NYPD, Suffolk County Police and New York State Police as "investigative steps" continue.
Emergency services with K-9s were also seen Wednesday searching the same wooded area near Schultz Road and Wading River Manor Road CBS New York crews did not see if investigators unearthed or collected anything.
"I heard that they've been there for three days already. Now, they have a wider search using cadaver dogs," said Michael Alcazar, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Police wrapped their search around 6 p.m. It's unclear if any evidence was found.
Body parts previously discovered in Manorville
In 2000, partial remains belonging to Valerie Mack, who worked as an escort, were discovered in Manorville, and in 2003, partial remains belonging to Jessica Taylor, who also worked as an escort, were also discovered in Manorville.
Additional remains of both Mack and Taylor were also found near Gilgo Beach.
Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann has not been charged in those two cases.
"They're going to look at the method and the way that these women were murdered and try to attach it to him to see if it fits. It's a puzzle," said Manny Gomez, a retired FBI agent and former NYPD sergeant.
Experts say a case of this magnitude will take a very long time to investigate, and may even uncover crimes unrelated to the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer.
"Manorville, where they're searching, is notorious for people dumping bodies in there, so I wouldn't be surprised if they uncover other bodies that might not necessarily be related to Gilgo," Alcazar said.
About suspect Rex Heuermann
The search comes as Heuermann remains behind bars.
Heuermann, a former architect, was arrested last July after police said DNA from discarded pizza and telephone records tied him to the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Earlier this year he was also charged in the death of his fourth alleged victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The so-called "Gilgo Four" were allegedly sex workers. According to court documents, Heuermann used so-called "burner phones" to contact sex workers as recently as 2023. Authorities also allege 422 electronic devices taken from Heuermann's Massapequa Park home included Google searches for the Gilgo victims, along with software to erase data.
"Digital devices, so you're talking about phones, laptops, CDs," Tierney previously said.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders of the four women. Defense attorney Michael Brown has said his client wants to get to his trial.
Thus far, Heuermann has been linked to four of 11 bodies that were found near Gilgo Beach from 1996 to 2011.
