Gilgo Beach Killer Victims: Eight Women and Other Remains

The Gilgo Beach killer victims are the eight women Rex Heuermann, a Long Island architect, killed between 1993 and 2010: Sandra Costilla, Karen Vergata, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello. Heuermann pleaded guilty in April 2026 to seven of the murders and admitted during the plea hearing to killing the eighth, Vergata. He was sentenced on June 17, 2026, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.¹

All eight women were involved in sex work at the time they disappeared, and several advertised on Craigslist. Their ages ran from the early twenties to the mid-thirties. Most of their remains were found along a quarter-mile stretch of Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore during the police search that followed Shannan Gilbert’s 2010 disappearance, though two women were found in Manorville, one on Fire Island, one in Southampton, and one at Tobay Beach.

Sandra Costilla

Sandra Costilla, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who was living in Queens, is the earliest known victim. She was killed in November 1993.² Her remains were found in a wooded area in North Sea, Southampton, far from the Gilgo Beach stretch where most of the later victims surfaced. She had sustained sharp force injuries to her face and body.³

For years, investigators looked at a different convicted serial killer, John Bittrolff, as a possible suspect in Costilla’s case, though he was never charged. Advanced DNA testing eventually linked a hair found on her shirt to Heuermann, and he was indicted for her murder in June 2024.⁴

Karen Vergata

Karen Vergata, 34, was a mother of two who lived in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen and worked as an escort. Her family last heard from her on Valentine’s Day, 1996.⁵ At his plea hearing, Heuermann admitted meeting Vergata in April 1996, strangling her, and dismembering her body. Partial remains — her legs and feet — were found on the bayside shore of Fire Island in April 1996. A skull was discovered at Tobay Beach in Nassau County in April 2011. For decades she was known only as “Fire Island Jane Doe” or “Jane Doe No. 7.”⁶

In 2022, a DNA profile developed by the Gilgo task force was submitted for genealogical comparison, and with FBI help she was identified through genetic genealogy. A relative’s DNA swab confirmed her identity in October 2022, and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office publicly announced the identification on August 4, 2023.⁶ Vergata is the only victim for whom Heuermann was never formally charged. He admitted to her murder as part of his plea deal, and prosecutors agreed he would face no further prosecution for her death.⁵

Valerie Mack

Valerie Mack was 24 and worked as an escort in Philadelphia under the alias “Melissa Taylor.” Her family last saw her in Port Republic, New Jersey, in the spring or summer of 2000, and she was never reported missing. Her partial remains were first discovered on Mill Road in Manorville, Long Island, in September 2000. Additional remains surfaced along Ocean Parkway in April 2011. For years she was known as “Jane Doe #6,” until advances in DNA technology combined with FBI assistance led to her positive identification.⁷ Heuermann pleaded guilty to her murder in April 2026. Her son, Benjamin Torres, later filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Suffolk County State Supreme Court.⁸

Jessica Taylor

Jessica Taylor went missing in July 2003. Her partial remains were discovered that same month in a wooded area of Manorville. More remains — her skull, hands, and forearm — were found along Ocean Parkway, east of Gilgo Beach, in March 2011.⁴

Investigators matched a male hair found on a surgical drape beneath her remains to a DNA profile consistent with Heuermann. Phone records showed his wife and children were out of state at the time of Taylor’s death, giving him what prosecutors called “unfettered time” to commit the crime. A recovered “planning document” and his collection of violent pornography were linked to the methods used in her murder, which included decapitation and dismemberment.⁴ Heuermann was indicted for Taylor’s murder in June 2024 and pleaded guilty in April 2026.

Maureen Brainard-Barnes

Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, was a mother of two who worked as an escort out of Manhattan. She disappeared on July 9, 2007.⁹ After she vanished, her phone was used on July 12, 2007, to place two outgoing calls along the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County. Investigators later found that Heuermann had contacted her 16 times in July 2007 using a burner phone.¹⁰

Her remains were found along Ocean Parkway in December 2010. According to the indictment, DNA belonging to Heuermann’s then-wife, Asa Ellerup, was recovered from a hair on a belt used to restrain Brainard-Barnes. Prosecutors said Ellerup was out of state at the time and was not suspected of involvement.³ At sentencing, her daughter Nicolette Brainard-Barnes told the court, “Like every sex worker, my mom was an entire human being.”¹¹

Melissa Barthelemy

Melissa Barthelemy, 24, had moved to the Bronx from Buffalo, New York, and was working as an escort in 2009. She was last seen on July 12, 2009, after telling a friend she was going to meet a man.¹² After her disappearance, someone used a cellphone to place taunting calls to her teenage sister, Amanda Funderburg. Police traced the calls to Manhattan and Long Island neighborhoods, including Massapequa, where Heuermann lived.

Barthelemy’s remains were the first found near Gilgo Beach. They were discovered on December 11, 2010, during a police training exercise in bushes along Ocean Parkway.¹³ At sentencing, Funderburg confronted Heuermann directly about the phone calls in which he had taunted her about her sister’s body.¹¹

Megan Waterman

Megan Waterman, 22, was from Scarborough, Maine. Authorities said she had been brought to New York by her then-boyfriend and was a victim of sex trafficking.¹⁴ She went missing in June 2010 from a hotel in Hauppauge, New York. Her remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway in December 2010.

One of the most distinctive pieces of evidence against Heuermann tied him to Waterman’s murder. A rolled-up Bounty paper towel was recovered from her mouth, and its pattern had been produced exclusively for BJ’s Wholesale Club during 2010. Investigators found a receipt for Bounty paper towels at Heuermann’s home with a matching SKU number, and a square of the same paper towel pattern was recovered from a desk drawer in his office, where it had been kept since 2010.¹⁵ Waterman was survived by her daughter, Liliana, who was three years old when her mother vanished. At sentencing, Liliana told the court she had spent “16 Mother’s Days without her.”¹¹

Amber Lynn Costello

Amber Lynn Costello, 27, disappeared on or around September 2, 2010, from Babylon, New York. She had been advertising escort services on Craigslist. Her roommate, Dave Schaller, described the man who picked her up as an “ogre” driving a dark green, first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche. Investigators later traced a burner phone used to contact her to pings in Massapequa Park, Midtown Manhattan, and Babylon in the days around her disappearance.⁹ Costello’s remains were found in December 2010 along the same stretch of Ocean Parkway as Barthelemy, Waterman, and Brainard-Barnes. The four became known as the “Gilgo Four.” All were found naked and bound, three with tape and one with belts, and three of the four were wrapped in burlap.

Shannan Gilbert Is Not Counted Among the Victims

Shannan Gilbert’s disappearance is what led police to the bodies, but she is not among Heuermann’s eight victims. The 23-year-old escort vanished on May 1, 2010, after visiting a client in Oak Beach, Long Island. She was last seen alive knocking on a neighbor’s door seeking help before running into nearby reeds.¹⁶ Her skeletal remains were discovered in a tidal marsh near Oak Beach on December 13, 2011.

Her cause and manner of death remain officially “undetermined.” Suffolk County police have classified her death as most likely accidental, potentially caused by exposure or drowning, citing an FBI behavioral science evaluation. Gilbert’s family disputes that conclusion. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden, who performed an independent autopsy at the family’s request, found results consistent with homicidal strangulation, including a fractured bone in her throat.¹⁷ Heuermann was not charged with and did not admit to any involvement in Gilbert’s death. Suffolk County officials maintain her death is not connected to his killing spree.¹⁸

Other Remains Found Along Ocean Parkway

The search also recovered the remains of several other people who have not been attributed to Heuermann.

Tanya Jackson, identified by a tattoo of a peach that led to the nickname “Peaches,” had her partial remains discovered in a state park in West Hempstead in 1997. The skeletal remains of her two-year-old daughter, Tatiana Dykes, were found along Ocean Parkway in 2011. In December 2025, Andrew Dykes, a 66-year-old former Florida state trooper and the father of Tatiana, was arrested and charged with the second-degree murder of Jackson. Prosecutors alleged Dykes killed and dismembered Jackson when she wanted to start a life with him. He pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial as of early 2026.¹⁹ Officials have said Jackson was not killed by a serial killer.¹⁸

Skeletal remains of an unidentified person of Asian descent were discovered on April 4, 2011, near Ocean Parkway. The victim is estimated to have been 17 to 23 years old and was wearing women’s clothing. Officials initially identified the person as biologically male but later said the individual may have presented outwardly as female.²⁰ As of early 2026, this person remained unidentified. Prosecutors were using emerging “microbial DNA” analysis to try to determine their identity. While searches of Heuermann’s home turned up computer files related to Asian escorts, investigators said they had no indication tying him to this death but were not ruling it out.²¹

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said that while Heuermann’s plea covered the eight women named in the case, it did not preclude future prosecutions if other victims were later linked to him.⁵

1
The Guardian. Gilgo Beach Victims Rex Heuermann Sentence
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Fox 5 NY. Gilgo Beach Murders Update Rex Heuermann New Charges
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ABC News. Alleged Victims Gilgo Beach Suspect Rex Heuermann
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6ABC. Gilgo Beach Suspect Serial Killer Rex Heuermann
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NewsNation. Who Is Karen Vergata Rex Heuermann Victim
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WBAL-TV. Gilgo Beach New York Karen Vergata Jane Doe No 7
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Fox 5 NY. Rex Heuermann Family Lawsuit
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The Guardian. Long Island Gilgo Beach Lawsuit Rex Heuermann
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Oxygen. Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Victims Had These Common Traits
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News 12 Long Island. Court Documents Records of Burner Phones DNA From Pizza Crust Helped Lead to Arrest of Gilgo Beach Suspect
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CNN. Rex Heuermann Long Island Killer Prison
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News 12 Long Island. Remembering Melissa Barthelemy the 1st Found Victim in Gilgo Beach Murders
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NBC New York. Timeline Investigation Gilgo Beach Killings Rex Heuermann
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WMTW. Megan Waterman Daughter Message Rex Heuermann Sentencing
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ABC News. Gilgo Beach Murders Paper Towel Linked Rex Heuermann
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ABC 7 NY. Autopsy No Drugs in Body of Shannan Gilbert Found Dead on Gilgo Beach
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People. Shannan Gilbert Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Not Considered Murder Authorities
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CNN. Gilgo Beach Victims
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NBC New York. Gilgo Beach Peaches Tanya Jackson Murder Andrew Dykes
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6ABC. Gilgo Beach Murders Nassau County Police Reveal ID Victim Peaches Toddler Tanya Tatiana
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New York Post. High-Tech DNA Could ID Cold Case Asian Doe Gilgo Beach Victim