NetflixGone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer revisits one of the most chilling cases in recent history, and it’s far from over. Although the first murder took place in the ‘90s, police only captured their suspect, Rex Heuermann, in 2023. Warning: some may find this content distressing.
The new true crime documentary landed on Netflix on March 31, 2025, centering on a string of murders that were uncovered after Shannan Gilbert’s 2010 disappearance. Her late mother, Mari Gilbert, fought to have police take the case seriously, accusing the local PD of dismissing her due to Shannan’s work as an escort.
Similar accusations emerged when 10 bodies of women – all in their ‘20s and in sex work – were uncovered along Long Island’s Ocean Parkway. As is explored in Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, it wasn’t until the corrupt former District Attorney Thomas Spota and Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke were arrested that significant progress was made.
In the final episode of the Netflix docu-series, thanks to a major tip that was ignored for years, a break arrives with the arrest of local architect Rex Heuermann. But that’s is far from the end of the case.
Where is Rex Heuermann now?
NetflixHeuermann is currently being held at the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, New York, awaiting trial. He is charged with the murders of seven women, including the Gilgo Beach Four, whose remains were found along the same half-mile stretch of beach in December 2010.
No trial date has been set yet, as the case is going through hearings right now. Supreme Court justice Timothy Mazzei set April 2, 2025, as the next hearing to determine the validity of DNA found at the crime scenes.
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Among the evidence that led to his arrest is that Heuermann’s Chevrolet Avalanche was matched to eyewitness accounts of a vehicle connected to the murders. There was also the fact that he lived in Massapequa Park while his office was in Midtown Manhattan – a key factor of the perpetrator’s profile.
A big breakthrough in the case was the authorities’ discovery of cellphone billing records for Heuermann that corresponded with the serial killer’s burner phone locations. His DNA, recovered from a discarded pizza crust, also matched a single hair found on one of the victims.
Additionally, text at the end of Gone Girls reads, “Hairs belonging to Hermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, or his daughter, Victoria Heuermann, were found on three of the Gilgo Beach victims as well as Mack.
“Police believe these hairs were transferred to Rex Heuermann prior to the murders. They are not suspected of having any involvement in the murders.”
Rex Heuermann is being held without bail since his arrest in July 2023, when he was initially charged with the murders of three women: Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27.
He was later charged with the murders of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Valerie Mack, 24. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the murders. The case is ongoing.
Gone Girls director Liz Garbus spoke with Tudum about the difficulty of making a documentary on a live case, stating, “After we completed and turned in our cuts to Netflix, there was another victim added to [Heuermann’s] docket.
“Will there be more between now and the time that we air? It’s possible. Will there be more between now and the time that we go to trial, if they go to trial? I’d bet yes.”
Update on Rex Heuermann’s wife and children
NetflixHeuermann allegedly lived a double life, having presented himself as a family man to the outside world. In 1996, he married Asa Ellerup, originally from Iceland, who has a son named Christopher Sheridan from a previous marriage.
Heuermann and Ellerup went on to have daughter Victoria Heuermann together. Following his arrest, Ellerup filed for divorce, with the pair reaching a settlement on March 27, 2025, according to People.
However, she continues to support her estranged husband, with Ellerup’s attorney Bob Macedonio telling the outlet that she’s “withholding any judgment on the guilt or innocence of Rex until the conclusion of the trial. She still maintains the position that the man that she was married to for 29 years was not capable of committing these horrific crimes.”
Ellerup and Victoria also showed up to a DNA hearing in Riverhead, Long Island, on Friday, March 28. Macedonio told the Daily Mail, “It is important to their own closure that they figure out how they came to their conclusions that it’s Asa’s DNA and it’s Victoria’s DNA.”
As of November 2024, Ellerup and her children remain living at their Massapequa Park home.
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer highlights unsolved murders
NetflixEven if Heuermann is found guilty and sentenced, the Netflix docu-series highlights the fact that there are still so many unsolved murders on Long Island, signalling an issue with society and law enforcement’s attitude to these cases.
Jaclyn Gallucci, journalist at the Long Island Press, says, “I think we’re just at the beginning of the story. There are dozens of women whose murders are unsolved. Some of them worked as sex workers.
“A lot of the older cases are cold because people just aren’t around, people moved away, and a lot of families just kind of lose hope and faith. They don’t feel like the police are going to do anything, and they don’t know what else to do.”
Among the unsolved murders on Long Island are:
- Genise Wilder, 22 – Found in June 1989
- Carmen Vargas, 29 – Found in September 1989
- Christina Warner, 23 – Found in December 1989
- Cherries Jane Doe – Found in March 2007
- Ivonne Rivera, 23 – Found in July 1992
- Susan Kareck Myer, 49 – Found in December 1996
- Tina Escobedo, 21 – Found in July 1991
- Carolyn Gifford, 22 – Found in February 1991
- Dix Hills Jane Doe – Found in April 1998
- Muttontown Jane Doe – Found in November 2001
- Riverhead Jane Doe – Found in March 1990
- Tayna Rush, 39 – Found in June 2008
- Suzanne Goldfarb, 48 – Found in November 2015
Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer is streaming on Netflix now. For more true crime news, read about where Dionne Hornigold is now, the shocking details exposed in A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read, and why Canton PD are facing backlash.
