Rex Heuermann, the suspect in the infamous Gilgo Beach murders, has officially been implicated in another decades-old cold case, bringing his alleged victim count to seven. ABC News reports that Heuermann will be indicted in the death of Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old woman, and charged with second-degree murder.
Mack’s remains were identified in 2020 after being discovered in 2000 in a wooded area in Manorville, with additional remains discovered along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. WABC reported at the time that Mack had last been seen by her family in New Jersey in 2000 and that she had been working in Philadelphia as an escort when she went missing.
In a court hearing Tuesday morning, Heuermann entered a not guilty plea, like he has for the previous charges. “Your honor, I am not guilty of any of these charges,” he said, per CNN.
Prosecutors say in their superseding indictment that Heuermann was connected to Mack’s death through female hairs discovered on her body that linked back to his wife and daughter by DNA, per NBC New York. Investigators have similarly tied Heuermann back to the six other women through the use of DNA analysis.
Suffolk County district attorney Ray Tierney said that a “planning document” that was previously discovered in Heuermann’s home during police searches discussed potential dump sites for victims and one of the listed locations was a road near where Mack’s remains were discovered. Investigators also found internet searches about Mack from around the time when her remains were identified on devices owned by Heuermann.
In July 2023, Heuermann, an architect who resided on Long Island, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of three women: Melissa Barthelemy, 24; Amber Lynn Costello, 27; and Megan Waterman, 22. In January 2024, Heuermann was charged in the killing of a fourth woman, 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes. The remains of the four women, who were frequently referred to as the “Gilgo Four,” were first discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2010.
In June, prosecutors charged Heuermann in the deaths of two additional women: Jessica Taylor, 20, and Sandra Costilla, 28. Costilla’s murder, which occurred in 1993, indicates that Heuermann’s alleged killing spree spanned decades from the 1990s to 2010. Heuermann has remained in prison without bail since his arrest.
