At least one victim of the Gilgo Beach murders was killed at the Long Island home of suspected serial killer Rex Heuerman, police believe.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that detectives are now investigating unsolved murders across the country to see if they are linked to Human, 59. He is the prime suspect in the fourth murder.
The architect lived in a ‘dungeon-like’ Massapequa Park home just 18 miles from the beach with his wife Asa Ellarup, grown daughter and stepson – who police said were away at the time of the murder.
For the seventh day on Thursday, police were seen searching properties for ‘trophies’ that could be linked to the victims. Investigators are also looking at his timeshare in Las Vegas and a property he owns in South Carolina.
DailyMail.com previously spotted an investigator carrying a note with some of the evidence found inside, including a rope in a vault and handcuff keys on a shelf under a workbench.
At least one dead in Gilgo Beach killing spree in Long Island home of suspect Rex Heuerman, police reveal
For the seventh day on Thursday, police were seen searching properties for ‘trophies’ that could be linked to the victims
Among the items on the list were a rope in a vault, a torn shirt with stains in a bag, and handcuff keys on a shelf under a workbench.
Investigators are also searching two storage units connected to Humane and several boxes were seen outside one on Wednesday. Blue tarps and white tents have been placed outside the unit to cordon off the scene.
Ellerup was home Thursday when police raided the property at the same time they arrested Heuermann outside his Manhattan architecture firm.
Her attorney, Robert Macedonia, said the family was blindsided by the murder.
‘Obviously it was a traumatic time for them and a very difficult time to understand,’ he told US Sun.
‘Like any family, it’s very upsetting and they’re completely shocked and defensive. The family does not wish to comment further.’
Authorities previously echoed the attorney’s comments, saying the family was ‘in the dark about his double life.’
Police also revealed that Heuermann may have ties to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and expanded their investigation into a fourth state.
Law enforcement loaded a pair of skates into a truck from Rex Heuerman’s home Thursday
The architect lived with his wife Asa Ellarup in a ‘dungeon-like’ Massapequa Park home just 18 miles from Gilgo Beach.
Police are investigating whether he worked in the area, and are interviewing sex workers in prison who had contact with him.
‘He was reaching out to them for sex,’ Suffolk County Police Department Sheriff Errol Toulon told Good Morning America of prostitution officials. ‘They took the phone but didn’t meet him.’
The update from law enforcement comes after revelations that the Gilgo Beach killings are similar to the ‘Eastbound Strangler’, who strangled four sex workers near Atlantic City, to murders in the area.
In the Long Island case, most of the victims were also female sex workers, and several of them were strangled.
Investigators believe the architect targeted sex workers he met online.
The investigation now covers four states — Heuerman owns a time-share in Las Vegas and a property in South Carolina — and police are investigating whether he may be connected to any unsolved murders there.
Suffolk County Police have already executed search warrants at two properties. Officers recovered a Chevrolet Avalanche truck they believe is connected to the suspect and a homicide and brought it back to New York.
Heuerman was arrested and charged last week in the 2010 murders of three of the ‘Gilgo Four’, a group of women discovered near Gilgo Beach on Long Island.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello.
The first victim, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, was discovered by Suffolk County police on Dec. 11, 2010. Megan Waterman, 22, was found two days later.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25 when she disappeared (left). Amber Lynn Costello was 27 years old. Their bodies were found near Barthelemy on the same day
In addition to his cluttered home, Heuerman kept two storage units in Amityville. They were searched yesterday and today
Heuerman is the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance and subsequent murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, although he has not yet been charged in the case.
He is also being investigated for the 2011 murders of six other women near Gilgo Beach.
A former sex worker previously claimed she went on a date with the accused killer but left when she felt uncomfortable.
Nicole Brass, 34, said she met the alleged killer sometime between 2014 and 2016 at a seafood place in Port Jefferson, Long Island.
The sex worker says the conversation quickly turns to true crime documentaries, and Heuerman asks if she knows about the 11 unsolved Gilgo Beach murders.
Brass said he had uncovered details – including another death – that had not been reported on the news and that he was ‘surprised’ by how thrilled he seemed. Escort claimed that Heuerman indicated that others had participated in the murder.