Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect from New York City, has been arrested in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders on Long Island, marking a shocking development in one of the most infamous unsolved serial killer cases in the nation.

After leaving for the day yesterday, Heuermann was arrested outside his Manhattan office. He was arrested in connection with the first four murders, those of the “Gilgo Beach four,” who were all 20-year-old teenage prostitutes. In December 2010, all of their remains were discovered in burlap sacks by the shore. Each of them had been strangled.

Also Read: Who was Amber Lynn Costello, victim in Gilgo Beach murders?

Who was Valerie Mack?

Valerie Mack, a Philadelphia escort who disappeared in 2000, was recognized by Suffolk County police as the body of a woman whose bones were discovered on a desolate section of Long Island coastline in May 2020.

Mack, who also went by the name Melissa Taylor, was last seen by her family at the age of 24 in the Port Republic, New Jersey, region, according to authorities.

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Some of her previously unidentified bones were discovered in a forested area in Manorville, Long Island, in the year she went missing, according to police. Her additional remains and those of other victims of what authorities suspect to be a serial killer who mostly targets prostitutes were discovered 11 years later, close to Gilgo Beach.

Using a public genealogy database, Suffolk County Police were able to identify her by connecting her DNA to relatives’ genetic information that was stored there, according to officials.

At a press conference, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart stated that the website “led us to the aunt of Valerie Mack that was our first in-person encounter with somebody from Valerie’s family.”

Cops eventually located Mack’s adoptive family and her son, who was in his 20s and whose DNA last week tested positive as a match for Valerie’s, after being sent by an aunt to them.

It was the first time New York police used a genealogy website to successfully solve a cold case. Mack had been orphaned at an early age, thus it was unknown why he had never been reported missing. She was at least the second person whose remains have been discovered in Gilgo Beach and Manorville.