LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: Authorities have released the Tinder photos of Rex Heuermann, the primary suspect in the infamous Gilgo Beach serial murder case. The 59-year-old Long Island architect was arrested late Thursday, July 13, in connection to the killings of the first four of the 11 murders that took place along the Oyster Bay area between 2010 and 2011. After spending years collecting detailed evidence about the incident, investigators made a breakthrough after an unnamed witness came forward with vital information that led to the arrest of the man, allegedly responsible for the killings.
The officers were quick to arrest him as they found Heuermann hustling prostitutes and other women on the popular dating app. The father of two spent a decade buying burner phones with cash and then used those numbers to create temporary emails and dating profiles. It is allegedly this way, Heuermann met three of his victims, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello.
How did Rex Heuermann trap the sex workers?
According to The Mirror, Suffolk County DA Raymond Tierney told reporters, "This individual was a person that continued to patronize sex workers at all hours of the night. He continued to use fictitious email addresses, fictitious identities, burner phones.” The prosecutor said that it was a mutual agreement regarding the arrest of the suspect. “So as we worked through the case and we got closer and closer and we built the evidence, suddenly the balance tips in favor of public safety," Tierney said before adding "So I think we all wanted, as a task force, to continue it. But I think we collectively thought it was time to strike that balance and take him off the streets."
What did Rex Heuermann's profile look like?
Rex Heuermann's profile name was Andy, a short abbreviation of his middle name, Andrew. The builder showed two pictures of him wearing a button-down shirt and smiling in a mirror in his dating profile. The email address used for the Tinder profile was under the name "John Springfield" and had a zip code from Astoria, Queens in New York City. A search warrant that was obtained to investigate the email address, discovered several selfies that appeared to have been taken by Heuermann.
Investigators following Heuermann found his DNA from pizza crust in a box in March this year. The alleged criminal had discarded the parcel in a Manhattan trash can and officers later matched it to DNA from a hair found on a restraint used in the killings. The same detectives also managed to 'recover' bottles from the house. They identified the wife's DNA which was a match for some hairs found on and around the bodies over a decade ago.
