Gilgo Beach murders timeline: A search for missing woman turned into serial killer case

A murder mystery that became known nationwide as the Gilgo Beach serial killer case began as a missing person case.

The 2010 disappearance for Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old escort from Jersey City, triggered a hunt that exposed a much larger mystery -- and the discovery of more bodies (Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello) on a remote stretch of Long Island that would later become known at the "Gilgo Four."

Now, a suspect has been arrested in connection to those murder but the details of those killings remain unknown. Other bodies were also discovered years before Gilbert disappeared. According to Suffolk County police, 10 people fell victim to suspected homicide between 1996 and 2010, but not all of them have been identified.

Not all killings are linked to the same killer, investigators have noted.

gilgonews.com

Here is a brief timeline of the events:

• Sept. 2000: Partial skeletal remains of Valerie Mack were located in a wooded area in Manorville.
• July 26, 2003: Partial skeletal remains of Jessica Taylor, an escort working in New York City, were located in a wooded area in Manorville, according to Suffolk police.
• July, 6, 2007: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, took an Amtrak train from New London to New York City where she worked as a prostitute.
• July 14, 2007: A friend reported Maureen Brainard-Barnes, believed to be the first victim, missing to police in Connecticut.
• July 12, 2009: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, went missing after she was last seen at her basement apartment on Underhill Avenue in the Unionport section of the Bronx, investigators said.
• July 18, 2009: Barthelemy's mother reported her missing to the NYPD.
• May 1, 2010: Gilbert disappeared in Oak Beach, a quiet gated community off Suffolk County's Ocean Parkway after meeting with a client.
• June 6, 2010: Investigators believe 22-year-old Megan Waterman of Maine, a sex worker who also utilized the same websites as the other victims, left a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge to meet her killer.
• June 8, 2010: Family reported Waterman missing to police after they said it was unlike her to not call and check in on her then-3-year-old daughter.
• Sept 2. 2010: Amber Lynn Costello, 27, was last seen leaving her home on America Avenue , going to meet a client who was picking her up.
• Dec. 11, 2010: In the search for Gilbert, a police officer and his cadaver dog discover remains of Barthelemy near Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County. While she was the first victim found, police believe she was actually the second one killed.
• Dec. 13, 2010: Brainard-Barnes' body was found on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach. She is believed to be the first person killed. Waterman's body and Costello was also discovered nearby.
• March 29, 2011: Additional remains of Taylor were discovered along Ocean Parkway during the search for Gilbert.
• April 4, 2011: Additional remains of Mack were discovered along Ocean Parkway during the search for Gilbert. Two more sets of remains belonging to a female toddler and an Asian man were also found there, police said.
• May 9, 2011: Gilbert's remains were found in a reedy marsh near Oak Beach.
• July 14, 2023: Rex Heuermann was been arrested in connection of the Gilgo Beach murders. He's facing six murder charges in connection to the deaths of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello.