The sister of Gilgo Beach victim Melissa Barthelemy has revealed that the killer repeatedly called the family to torment them. On as many as seven occasions, he used the victim's personal cell phone to call.
Melissa’s body was found on December 11, 2010, over a year after she disappeared. Now, several years later, a suspect in the murders has been arrested. Rex Heuermann, 59, was caught by plainclothes cops as he strolled down a Midtown sidewalk on Thursday night, July 13.
Rex appeared in court on Friday, July 14, pleading not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and other charges. The charges were related to the deaths of three women over a decade ago. He has also been named the prime suspect in a fourth murder.
Rex’s arrest is tied to the ‘Gilgo Four,’ referring to the four women whose bodies were found within days of each other in 2010. The women in question were Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
'In the final call, he said he'd killed her'
Melissa’s family, Amanda F. told PIX11 that she started getting the calls when she was just 15 years old. In one of the calls after Melissa’s disappearance, the killer admitted that he had killed her. Amanda said the killer also knew her name, and what she looked like. “He had a strong accent, New York, Long Island. He was very monotone when he talked, like a middle-aged white guy,” Amanda said.
{{/usCountry}}Melissa’s family, Amanda F. told PIX11 that she started getting the calls when she was just 15 years old. In one of the calls after Melissa’s disappearance, the killer admitted that he had killed her. Amanda said the killer also knew her name, and what she looked like. “He had a strong accent, New York, Long Island. He was very monotone when he talked, like a middle-aged white guy,” Amanda said.
{{/usCountry}}Police reportedly later traced the calls. They found pings from where Melissa’s phone had been detected at Penn Station in Manhattan. Court documents claimed that the location was close to where Rex’s office is located.
Amanda said the killer had called and used insulting names to talk about her sister, referring to her sex work. “He killed Melissa after having sex with her,” Amanda said. “In the final call, he said he'd killed her.”
Melissa’s body was the first of the Gilgo Beach victims to be discovered on Ocean Parkway in December 2010. She was an escort, and had gone missing from Bronx before her murder.
It took 18 long months to build a case against Rex. Besides the DNA, he was reportedly possibly also linked to the murders through burner cell phone calls and disturbing Google searches.