Gilgo Murder Suspect Rex Heuermann Was 'Very Quiet,' Neighbor Says

A neighbor of Rex Heuermann's told Newsweek on Friday that the suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders was "very quiet."

Heuermann was arrested by police on Thursday night, with his home in Massapequa Park, New York, being searched on Friday by investigators. Heuermann's arrest comes after a long chain of unsolved murders that occurred on Long Island over a span of years. Police believed the murders were the work of a serial killer. Over the course of the investigation, 11 sets of human remains were discovered, but Heuermann was arrested in connection to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes—also known as "The Gilgo Four."

The 59-year-old architect has lived at the same address on 1st Avenue in Massapequa Park since 1988. A neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Newsweek that they barely knew Heuermann because he was "very quiet."

"He was a very quiet person," the neighbor said, adding that the only interaction with Heuermann was when the neighbor encountered him washing his car or doing woodwork.

"He'd wave," the neighbor said before adding that the pair never spoke to each other. "What I know I learned from the news. That's all I know about the man."

The neighbor said that they were surprised when they heard the news about Heuermann's arrest and his alleged connection with the gruesome Gilgo Beach murders.

At 6:15 a.m. Friday morning, the neighbor answered the door to investigators informing them that they would be roping off the street for the investigation, but that was the neighbor's only interaction with police. Since police began investigating and scouring Heuermann's home, the area has become a "media frenzy," according to the neighbor.

The murders, which were particularly gruesome, mystified police for years. An investigation was launched into the possibility of a serial killer being responsible after Shannan Gilbert's disappearance in 2010. While searching for Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker from New Jersey, police discovered the first set of remains of 11 other victims along property on Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County.

The search first turned up the remains of Barthelemy, Waterman, Costello and Brainard-Barnes. All the women were in their mid-20s. Later in the police search, other remains were found, including those that belonged to Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack, who were also in their 20s when they had gone missing years earlier.

Other remains found included those of a female toddler, an Asian male, an unidentified woman who was believed to be the toddler's mother and another unidentified woman. Gilbert was found in late 2011, after the other 10 victims were found.

Newsweek reached out to Suffolk County Police Department by email and by phone for comment.

Update 07/14/23, 12:41 p.m. ET: This article was updated with information about "The Gilgo Four."

Update 07/14/23, 12:23 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.