The Suffolk County district attorney declined to comment on potential connections between the “Gilgo Four” murder victims at the center of this week’s arrest and any of the other human remains found in the same area of Long Island in 2010.
District Attorney Ray Tierney said the portion of the investigation being made public Friday “had to do with the deaths of these four young women,” referring to three victims that suspect Rex Heuermann has been charged with killingand a fourth murder for which he is considered the “prime suspect.”
In a news conference following Heuermann’s first court appearance, Tierney emphasized the similarities between the “Gilgo Four.” They include the fact that they were all sex workers, had been linked to some form of contact with Heuermann and had been bound in similar ways.
What are the other cases? Authorities first found human remains related to the Gilgo Beach case while searching a remote stretch of Long Island for a different woman, Shannan Gilbert, in 2010.
Gilbert was ultimately found, but authorities said her death appeared to be more consistent with “an unfortunate accident” rather than an act of violence. The search for Gilbert, however, turned up 10 other sets of human remains across two Long Island counties, leaving investigators to determine which (if any) of the cases were connected to a potential serial killer.
Tierney, the district attorney, said a task force will continue to investigate the remains’ discovery and “try to get a small measure of closure for all the victims’ families.”
But for now, Tierney said all he could share was that the defendant in custody is tied to the four women named in connection with his arrest.
Pressed further by reporters, the district attorney said he needs to “maintain investigative secrecy.”
“I’m here to talk about what we did with regard to these four victims,” he repeated.