Gilgo Beach serial killings

The Gilgo Beach serial killings were part of a series of murders on Long Island, New York, spanning from 1993 to 2011. Many of the victims' remains were found over a period of months in late 2010 and 2011 during a police search of the area along Ocean Parkway, a road near the remote beach town of Gilgo in southern Suffolk County, New York.

In December 2010, the remains of four victims designated as "The Gilgo Four" were found within a quarter of a mile of each other near Gilgo Beach. Six more sets of remains were found in March and April 2011 in Suffolk and Nassau counties. Police believe the latter sets of remains predate the four bodies found in December 2010.

The original search was prompted by the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert in early May 2010 in Oak Beach, a gated community on the south shore. Like most of the later identified victims, Gilbert worked as a sex worker and advertised on Craigslist. Gilbert's remains were finally found a year after those of "The Gilgo Four" were discovered. Her body was found in marshland approximately 9 miles (14 km) northeast of where the 10 sets of remains had been found. The police have suggested that Gilbert became lost in the marshland after running from the road, and died from either exposure or accidental drowning. The cause of her death is disputed.

Between July 2023 and December 2024, Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan-based architect and resident of Massapequa Park, Long Island, was charged with murdering seven women: the Gilgo Four – Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes – along with Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla, and Valerie Mack.