Gilgo Beach killings suspect is charged in the murder of a Philadelphia woman who went missing in 2000

The New York architect charged in the deaths of several women, known as the Gilgo Beach killings, has been charged in another murder, this time of a Philadelphia woman whose remains went unidentified for 20 years, prosecutors announced on Tuesday morning.

Rex Heuermann was charged with killing Valerie Mack, whose remains were first found on Long Island in 2000. Heuermann is now charged with killing seven women whose remains were found on Long Island and has pleaded not guilty.

Appearing on Tuesday in a courtroom in Riverhead, N.Y., Heuermann told the judge: “I’m not guilty of any of these charges, your honor.’”

According to prosecutors, DNA evidence linked Heuermann to Mack’s death.

Mack, 24, had been working as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen by her family in 2000 in New Jersey. She also went by the name Melissa Taylor. It’s currently not known where Mack and Heuermann came into contact.

Months after Mack went missing, her partial remains were discovered in Manorville, N.Y. The rest of her body wouldn’t be found until 2011, when police discovered more remains along Ocean Parkway on Long Island, near where remains of other Gilgo Beach victims were found.

Police would not discover Mack’s identity until May 2020, when genetic genealogy testing revealed the body was hers. Before that announcement, she was known as “Jane Doe #6″ or “Manorville Jane Doe.”

“For two decades, Valerie Mack’s family and friends were left searching for answers,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said following Mack’s identification. “And while this is not the outcome they wanted, we hope this brings some sense of peace and closure.”

Mack’s parents, JoAnn and Edwin Mack, were present in court on Tuesday and news conference afterward, alongside the families of other victims. The Macks did not speak to reporters, but accepted flowers and hugs from the other families.

“We see you, we hear you, and we ask you to accept our condolences for your loss”, said Gloria Allred, an attorney working on behalf of victims, to Mack’s parents.

Mack’s family did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Inquirer.

Heuermann was a resident of Massapequa Park, an area across Oyster Bay from Gilgo Beach, where police found skeletal remains along a nearby highway in 2010 and 2011. A father of two, Heuermann worked as a licensed architect with a small firm in Manhattan that has done store buildouts and other renovations for major retailers, offices, and apartments.

Since bodies now attributed to Heuermann began surfacing along the South Shore area of Long Island, N.Y., in 2010, names including the Long Island Serial Killer, the Gilgo Beach Killer, the Manorville Butcher, and the Craigslist Ripper have been attributed to the perpetrator. In 2020, a Netflix film, Lost Girls — based on the 2013 book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery — dramatized the killings.

The six other women Heuermann is accused of killing are Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla and Jessica Taylor.

Heuermann was arrested in 2023 after authorities formed a task force with the FBI to solve the cold case murders.

Ultimately, investigators were able to associate Heuermann with a pickup truck that one witness claimed to have seen when one victim disappeared in 2010. Authorities later matched Heuermann’s DNA — recovered from a pizza crust in a box that he tossed in a Manhattan trash can — to genetic material recovered from the bodies, which had been found bound and hidden in thick underbrush.

Authorities said investigators later linked Heuermann to other evidence in the case, including cell phones used to arrange meetings with the slain women, and taunting calls that a person claiming to be the killer made to a victim’s relatives using her cell phone following her disappearance in 2009.

In a court filing, prosecutors said they had recovered a file on a hard drive in Heuermann’s basement that he used to “methodically blueprint” his killings — including checklists with tasks to tick off before, during and afterwards, as well as lessons for “next time.”

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that they found several newspaper and magazine clippings about the killings belonging to Huermann in recent searches that they believe he kept as “souvenirs” and “mementos” of the crimes. Among them was a July 29, 2003, copy of the New York Post that included an article about the investigation into Mack’s remains.

Investigators say evidence points to Heuermann’s home as the scene of the killings, particularly the basement — in most cases, when his family was out of town.

“This is the most unique case that I’ve ever done,” said Tierney on Tuesday.

The judge in the case gave the defense until January to file motions related to evidence.

Prosecutors are continuing to look into the death of Karen Vergata, another possible victim in the killings. Her remains were discovered in 1996, and were identified in 2022 after DNA testing.

In September, authorities released new renderings of an unidentified victim who was found in 2011. Officials said the victim, whom for years they had identified as male, may have presented outwardly as female and died in 2006.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.