NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Suffolk County investigators confirmed on Wednesday that 15 sex workers have provided credible evidence of encounters with suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann in the Gilgo Beach murders.
Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon told 1010 WINS reporter Sophia Hall that his investigators have interviewed 298 sex workers in Suffolk and Nassau correctional facilities since the arrest of Heuermann in July 2023.
“Not only from the females that we've interviewed that are in our custody, but also from those who have been in our custody since 2018, when our unit was started," he said.
Among these interviews, 15 sex workers have provided credible evidence of encounters with Heuermann. Their information will now be turned over to the Suffolk County task force. Toulon explained that the information could be useful in prosecuting the suspected serial killer.
Initially, Toulon and his team had identified two women last year, but that number has now grown. "Two female inmates have identified that they received phone calls, but they never made physical contact with Mr. Heuermann. We know that there were two individuals he reached out to via phone," he said.
"Using corrections intelligence gives a broader perspective of the type of individuals that he may have reached out to,” Toulon said. “We have many women who were workers or prostitutes inside our facility, and we can glean more information because sometimes the police department may not have access to these individuals."
Investigators are now determining the usefulness of the gathered information in the prosecution of Heuermann.
Starting in 2010, police searching for a missing woman found 10 sets of human remains in the scrub along Ocean Parkway, not far from Gilgo Beach. Police almost immediately feared some were left by a serial killer.
Over the years, investigators used DNA analysis and other clues to identify the victims, many of whom were sex workers. In some cases, they were able to connect them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. Police also began reexamining other unsolved killings of women found dead on Long Island.
Prosecutors have charged Heuermann in six slayings and indicated he is a suspect in a seventh. He has been charged in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla.
Heuermann is also a suspect in the slaying of Valerie Mack, according to Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.