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For around two decades, the sands and marshes of Long Island’s Gilgo Beach kept a dark secret. A killer or killers was at large, luring in escorts and sex workers and brutally murdering them. Body after body was dumped along the shoreline, hidden for months and even years without being discovered. Then, in 2010, a chilling 911 call made by a woman in fear for her life led police to search the area. What they discovered was far more horrifying than anyone could have imagined. Over the next year, the remains of 11 victims – mainly female escorts – were discovered dumped in the area, plunging the Suffolk County community into terror. But, the case went cold and no arrests were made, no suspects were named and there was no justice for the victims and their families. That is, until now. On Thursday, local married father-of-two Rex Heuermann was arrested on suspicion of being the serial killer. The 59-year-old appeared in court on Friday and pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the first degree and three in the second degree over the deaths of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Costello. Long Island native Mr Heuermann lives close to Gilgo Beach, where the killer dumped his victims. He also works as an architect in Manhattan. While neighbours react with shock, the question is: now an arrest has been made, is the hunt for the Gilgo Beach serial killer finally over? The murders For more than a decade, the Gilgo Beach murders stumped law enforcement officials in Suffolk County who believed it could be the work of one or more serial killers who targeted sex workers and dumped their bodies along the remote beaches on Ocean Parkway. The case began in May 2010 when Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker, vanished after leaving a client’s house on foot near Gilgo Beach. She called 911 for help saying she feared for her life and was never seen alive again. In the chilling call, released last year, Gilbert is heard repeatedly telling the 911 operator that “somebody’s after me”. She is also heard arguing with a man – who she refers to as Mike – who appears to be trying to encourage her to get back inot a car and at one point, she is heard asking if he is “going to kill” her. “These people are plotting to kill me,” she tells the dispatcher. During a search for Gilbert in dense thicket close to the beach, police discovered the remains of another woman. Within a matter of days, the remains of three more victims were found close by. By spring 2011, the remains of a total of 10 victims had been found including eight women, a man, and a toddler. Gilbert’s body was found in December 2011. Her cause of death is widely contested with authorities long claiming that it is not connected to the serial killer or killers but that she died from accidental drowning as she fled from the client’s home. However, an independent autopsy commissioned by her family ruled that she died by strangulation and her mother believes she was murdered. Like Gilbert, most of the victims targeted were sex workers. Several theories have been mulled over the years but no one had ever been charged with the killings. Authorities have previously said they believe that three separate serial killers could be responsible for the slayings over a period of around 20 years. The case appeared to go cold for several years until last year when Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison vowed to finally close the case and bring the killer or killers to justice. The newly-appointed commissioner said that, with “a set of fresh eyes”, he had faith that he could get the cold case “across the finish line”. He launched a dedicated taskforce for the case. The arrest On Thursday, there was a huge breakthrough in the case when suspect Mr Heuermann was finally arrested on suspicion of the murders. Police sources told The Associated Press that an individual had been taken into custody on Thursday night in connection with the unsolved murders which terrorised the community in Suffolk County more than a decade ago. Suffolk County Police would not confirm the arrest on Friday morning, but have announced a press conference for the afternoon citing a “significant development” in the high-profile case. It is not clear what led to the sudden breakthrough in the case over a decade after bodies began being dumped along remote beaches. However it comes just one day after the skeletal remains of a man were found in a wooded area off the Southern State Parkway in Islip, Long Island. An attorney representing two of the victim’s families told News 12 on Friday morning that they learned around a week ago that an arrest was imminent. John Ray, who represents the families of Shannan Gilbert and Jessica Taylor, said they “had a very strong, credible tip that they were about to close in on an arrest”. But, he said that they were not too optimistic – given the case has rumbled on for more than a decade – and had not been told anything official. “We’re pleased if they actually managed to find somebody that can be tagged for this,” he said. “We’re pleased that something is finally occurring, because we’ve been frustrated.” The investigation Last year, the Suffolk County Police Department, New York State Police, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI revamped the probe into the killings that ultimately led to Mr Heuermann’s bombshell arrest outside his Midtown office on Thursday. A bail application released by the Suffolk County District Attorney revealed that Mr Heuermann was linked to the serial killings through cellphone evidence and surveillance. Prosecutors have argued that no bail should be set for Mr Heuermann due to his recent searches for “sadistic materials, child pornography, images of the victims and their relatives.” Mr Heuermann was first linked to the cold case in March 2022 after investigators discovered that a Chevrolet Avalanche registered to him was possibly the one spotted by a witness in Costello’s disappearance. As law enforcement closed in on him, they served more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants that uncovered cellphone records for burner phones used to arrange meetings with three of the “Gilgo Four” victims before they went missing. Further analysis also allegedly linked Mr Heuermann to taunting calls made to family members of the victims, according to investigators. The calls were made from the Midtown Manhattan area, where the offices of Mr Heuerman’s architecture business are located. Among the evidence linking Mr Heuermann to the murders was a hair found on burlap material used to wrap Waterman’s corpse, according to court documents. DNA analysis had not been possible in the early stages of the investigation, but new technology allowed testing in July 2020. A team surveilling Mr Heuermann collected a discarded pizza box that then confirmed a DNA match with the suspect on 12 June. Records also show that several online accounts under fictitious names linked to Mr Heuermann were used for illegal activities. Mr Heuermann allegedly used those accounts and burner phones to contact women for prostitution services, as well as making chilling online searches. The searches included sadistic, torture-related pornography, child pornography and disturbing content. Mr Heuermann is also accused of searching “why could law enforcement not trace the calls made by the long island serial killer,” “why hasn’t the long island serial killer been caught” and “new phone technology may be key to break in case.” More forensic analysis revealed that female hairs found in the three crime scene locations belonged to Mr Heuermann’s wife. However, authorities have determined through cellphone records that Mr Heuermann’s wife was out of state when the murders took place. At the time Barthelemy went missing in July 2009, Mr Heuermann’s wife was in Iceland. She visited Maryland around the time Waterman disappeared in June 2010, and also travelled to New Jersey when Costello was last seen in September of that year. “It is likely that the burlap, tape, vehicle(s) or other instrumentalities utilized in furtherance of these murders came from Defendant Heuermann’s residence, where his wife also resides, or was transferred from his clothing,” prosecutors explained. Mr Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who is believed to be one of the “Gilgo Four.” Prosecutors noted in the application that records for the burner phones used to contact Brainard-Barnes were not obtained at the time she went missing and no longer exist. The suspect Sources confirmed to News 12 Long Island and NBC News on Friday that Manhattan architect and married father-of-two Rex Heuermann was the suspect arrested in the case. On Friday morning, swathes of New York State and Suffolk County police officers were seen searching his home on First Avenue in Massapequa Park – which is located just a 20-minute drive from Gilgo Beach where the killer dumped the bodies of his victims. Neighbours told The Independent that he was a quiet family man who lived in the close-knit community with his wife and two children. One neighbour, who has lived a stone’s throw from the Heuermanns for more than two decades, said that the family is “a very quiet family” who made “no imprint at all” on the neighborhood. “Basically, we never had any contact with him... living here 22 years and never said two words to him,” the long-time Massapequa Park resident said, adding that “one bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch” in a “great neighbourhood”. One woman told News12 that it was “ming-boggling” that the “quiet” 59-year-old could be involved in the horrific case while another said that he was known to do outdoor activities such as woodwork. Mr Heuermann works in Manhattan – where some of the Gilgo Beach victims were last seen alive – as the president of architecture firm RH Consultants & Associates. According to the company website, he founded the company in 1994. It has since worked with the likes of Catholic Charities, NYC-DEP Sewerage Treatment and American Airlines and other major tenants at the JFK International Airport. A company page called Meet The Team and featuring his photo appeared to be taken down on Friday morning as news of his arrest broke. In an interview posted on YouTube by Bonjour Realty last year, the father-of-two said that he was “born and raised in Long Island” but had been “working in Manhattan since 1987... [a] very long time”. Mr Heuermann is only charged with the murders of three of the victims whose bodies were found in the Gilgo Beach area. The victims The remains of at least 11 victims’ were found in the Gilgo Beach area though it remains unclear if they are all the work of the same killer. Many were sex workers who offered escort services on Craigslist or worked in New York City. The first victim found was Melissa Barthelemy whose remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway on 11 December 2010 during the search for Shannan Gilbert – a 24-year-old sex worker from New Jersey who vanished after visiting a client in Oak Park and making a chilling 911 call where she revealed fears for her life. Two days later on 13 December, the remains of three other victims – Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello – were found close by. All three women were known to advertise escort services on Craigslist. Brainard-Barnes – known as one of the Gilgo Beach Four – was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City while Costello was last seen leaving her North Babylon home one day in early September 2010. Waterman was last seen alive in early June 2010 at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge. Seven months later, on 26 July 2011, the remains of Jessica Taylor were found in a wooded area in Manorville during the ongoing search for Gilbert. Taylor worked as an escort in New York City. Valerie Mack also worked as an escort but was last seen alive in Philadelphia in 2000. Her remains were found on two separate occasions in Manorville in 2000 and in Oak Beach in 2011 but she was only identified in 2020 through the use of genetic genealogy. Some of the victims have never been identified. The skeletal remains of an Asian male, aged between 17 and 23 years old, around 5 feet 6 inches tall and with poor dental health, were found along Ocean Parkway in April 2011. He is believed to have died around five to 10 years earlier. That same day, the remains of a female toddler were discovered. She was later identified as the daughter of the also-unidentified female victim dubbed “Peaches” whose remains were found in Nassau County. Read More Gilgo Beach murders – live: Long Island serial killer suspect identified as Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect named as Rex Heuermann after arrest for Long Island murders Police release haunting 911 call from woman later found dead as possible serial killer probe continues: ‘There’s somebody after me’

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Modern-day dating feels like a complicated sport. And now, with a whole new vocabulary to describe every trial and tribulation, it’s becoming even more challenging to break out of the amateur dating division. Is it a red flag, a beige flag, or an amber flag? Is he ghosting me? Breadcrumbing me? Lovebombing me? Who knows, maybe he’s on the verge of delicate dumping me? Welcome to smart dating in the digital era. So, you’ve learnt the zeitgeisty lingo and have a newfound confidence in identifying certain behaviours. Things are seemingly going well with a third Hinge date on the horizon – then BAM. You find your promising beau’s face splashed across a Facebook group filled with tens of thousands of strangers asking: Are we dating the same guy? Originating in New York with over 110,000 users, the Facebook group has since branched out to London, Paris, Dubai, Toronto, Dublin, Los Angeles and Boston. For the blissfully unaware, Are We Dating the Same Guy works like this: Women share screenshots of dating profiles and ask for intel or red flags. The Facebook posts are often inundated with personal experiences ranging anywhere from STI claims, cheating allegations and toxic behaviours. To join the groups, women are asked a series of questions before agreeing to a set of robust rules and digitally swearing they will not leak any of the group’s contents to outsiders. Among the rules are no doxxing (publicly sharing someone's personal details), no roasting, and no naming of the men. That said, it's become all too easy to identify people online through reverse image searches and word of mouth – to name a few. “The popularity of these groups are in alignment to the increase of smart dating – this is a phase that I think society is in,” dating expert Paul Brunson tells Indy100. “We’re becoming more aware of dating behaviours – a prime of that being the word ‘toxic.’ Twenty years ago, no one was speaking about ‘toxic dating’, but now there are many people who believe they can define it.” The intention of Are We Dating the Same Guy is to keep women safe and create awareness about toxic behaviours. “These groups have great intentions because ultimately it is about identifying dangerous people and behaviour, which is a good thing,” Paul explains, citing that while women are going through an incredible “empowerment phase” with “more time and command over the dating space,” it is still is very much “far tilted on the man’s side.” “We still are living in a society that is far greatly tilted towards men when it comes to dating, and it’s not just men from a general standpoint,” he continues. “It’s even some of these terrible nuances in dating.” These include narcissists, psychopaths, Machiavellians, and sadists – people that contribute to the psychological theory of personality. Furthermore, a recent study from the charity Plan International worryingly revealed that a third of German men still find physical violence against women to be acceptable. A staggering 34 per cent admitted to violence against their partner to “instil respect in them.” Meanwhile, a further 33 per cent thought it was acceptable if their “hand slipped” during an argument. “The fact that we still have survey results like that shows that we definitely need spaces to protect and empower women,” Paul adds. Paul, who recently added Global Relationship Insights Expert to his impressive matchmaking resume in addition to Married at First Sight and Celebs Go Dating, explains how we’ve got “much more information and content around dating than ever before that goes beyond anecdotal.” There's now empirical evidence, with researchers who have been conducting studies for 10-20 years, which Paul believes to be the “driving force behind smart dating.” Paul highlights that women are becoming exceedingly great at dating which is often driven by feedback loops due and open discussions about their experiences. They've become more emotionally available, more courageous, and understand how to be less neurotic when dating. Men, on the other hand, hardly have any feedback loops, and Paul believes we could actually benefit from mixed-gender groups, as men need to catch up and “have a higher dating IQ.” “We know that guys suck when it comes to emotional intelligence, compared to women – so a lot of it is poor execution.” Ultimately, there are “far fewer bad guys than there are good guys.” We know bad men exist, but according to evolutionary psychologist Dr David Buss, the highest percentage of men that fall into the dark tetrad personality types is 15 per cent of the population. "That's the group that has evil intentions," Paul continues. This is not to get confused with misalignment and miscommunication when dating. When intentions aren't communicated, you could end up with two people seeking two different things. Subsequently, the person who seeks long-term commitment views the behaviour of the short-termer (i.e. casual sex and friends with benefits) as toxic. “Ultimately, I think we have a lot of guys that their intention is not fully outlined, and because of the misaligned intention you have the interpretation of their behaviour as being ‘toxic’, when in actuality, sometimes it’s not,” Paul explains. To make dating a more positive, safer and enjoyable experience, Paul shared three invaluable tips to have under your belt: Don’t exchange personal information right away A dark tetrad or a straight scammer will try and move you off the app quickly. And the reason they try and do that is because the apps are really good about safety now. If someone is asking for your personal information, the safety features will inform you not to send that information, thanks to the AI built into the app. If you have given up your information, the app can no longer protect you. Stay on the app and let it protect you. Be cautious when people ask for things The moment you have anyone ask you for anything, mainly money, that is a huge red flag. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a grand amount, it could be as simple as “I don’t get paid until next week, please could I have five pounds." Meet in a public space Meet in a public space, never get picked up from your personal address and inform friends about the date details. Most importantly on the first meet-up, set boundaries. You can very quickly see how respectful someone is to your boundaries. An example being, you meet up on your lunch break and you only have until 2pm. When that time comes, do they try and push you to stay even longer – despite informing them you have to leave because you have something to do? Anytime someone is disrespecting your boundaries, that is also a red flag. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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