Gilgo Beach attracts few visitors. But for more than a decade, it loomed large in the minds of local residents as a place of horror and tragedy, as well as official dysfunction.
For a killer looking to hide evidence of his crimes, it was the perfect spot. The straight, quiet stretch of Ocean Parkway would give him plenty of time to listen and watch for coming cars. Just off the road, a tall bramble of bushes and weeds grew so thick and thorny, even trained cadaver-sniffing dogs could barely penetrate it.
Friday brought the first good news in 13 years. Rex Heuermann, an architect with a home in the suburb of Massapequa Park, across the bay from Gilgo Beach, was taken into custody and charged with murder in three of the killings; authorities said he was the prime suspect in a fourth. Nearby residents said the news brings some closure, and a sense of safety, to a community long accustomed to being on edge.
“It was very upsetting for the beach communities,” said Wayne Horsely, formerly the general manager of the Long Island State Parks Commission, which oversees Gilgo Beach. “I know that they were all scared. The publicity was awful.” At the same hearing, Dormer, the police commissioner, contradicted his colleague, saying all the deaths were likely the work of a single serial killer. Steve Bellone, the incoming county executive, called the county’s battling law enforcement agencies “dysfunctional.”
In the meantime, one of the largest homicide cases in Suffolk County history went cold. Several attempts were made to revive it, including one in the spring of 2020, when Geraldine Hart, then the county’s new county commissioner, announced her office had identified a body found in Manorville.
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