The Gilgo Beach killings on Long Island in New York, a case that perplexed authorities and captivated the nation for more than ten years, now have a suspect in custody.

Rex Heuermann, 59, a resident of Massapequa Park in Nassau County on Long Island, has been named as the suspect. Prosecutors stated on Friday that he was charged with three charges of first-degree murder.

Also Read: Gilgo Beach murders: Suspect Rex Heuermann to be charged with 3 counts of first-degree murder

Prosecutors claimed in a bail application that Heuermann’s wife’s hair was discovered on or close to three of the victims.

A hair was found in the buckle of one of the belts that were discovered fastening Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ body.

Megan Waterman’s body was discovered bound with tape, and two female hairs were found on her. Two hairs were discovered: one from “the tape of the head area” and the other from “the outside the head area.”

All of those female hairs were transported to an outside forensics lab, and in July 2022 it was discovered that none of the victims were the woman whose hairs they belonged to.

On July 21, 2022, a detective from the Suffolk County Police Department who was working undercover removed 11 bottles from a dumpster in front of Heuermann’s house. After swabbing the bottles, samples were sent off for analysis.

In February, the laboratory came to the conclusion that one of the DNA profiles derived from the bottles corresponded to the same “mitochondrial haplogroup” as the female hairs found on the three victims.

Also Read: Gilgo Beach Murders: What we know about Rex Heuermann’s family

Investigation and evidence led to the conclusion that the hair belonged to Heuermann’s wife.

As the investigation found that Heuermann’s wife was out of state at the time of the three women’s disappearances and murders, “it is likely that the burlap, tape, vehicle(s) or other instrumentalities utilized in the furtherance of these murders came from Defendant Heuermann’s residence, where his wife also resides, or was transferred from his clothing.”