Television March 27, 2025
‘Gone Girls’: Why It Took Years to Make an Arrest in the Long Island Serial Killer Case
Netflix
The new Netflix series “Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer” tells the tragic story of the sex workers whose bodies were found at Gilgo Beach.
The frantic 911 call made by Shannen Gilbert, then her disappearance, led to the horrifying discovery by police in Long Island. Ten bodies were found, all sex workers, suggesting that a serial killer was on the loose.
While the remains were found in 2010 and 2011, family man Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan architect, wasn’t arrested and charged with seven of the murders until 2023. He entered a not guilty plea and is currently awaiting trial.
Liz Garbus directed the 2020 Netflix film “Lost Girls,” and is now behind the new series “Gone Girls.”
She explained, “I knew these families, I knew the sisters, I knew the mothers. There was something going on in Suffolk County. They couldn't get answers.”
It is widely believed there was something rotten in the department, starting with Suffolk County police chief James Burke, who led the department from 2012-2015.
Garbus said, “There were allegations that he called the murder of these young women ‘misdemeanor murders’ that means not serious crimes, these women are disposable.”
It wasn’t until a new district attorney was elected in 2022 that the attitude toward the murders changed.
Garbus said, “When DA Ray Tierney took over in Suffolk County… in six weeks they had the name. This was based on stuff they had in the files for over a decade.”
The case broke open and one suspect came to the top of the list… married father of two Rex Heuermann. All of the killings allegedly took place when his family was out of town, and police say he hid a methodical blueprint of the murder plans in his basement.
“They picked up DNA on Rex Heuermann after he discarded a piece of crust in New York City,” Garbus said.
She added, “Once there was an arrest made and I reached out to [the families to] congratulate them, I started to realize I wanted to do this chapter with them.”
That chapter became the new Netflix series “Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer,” streaming March 31.
Garbus had this message for viewers: “I hope people will take away that anyone who goes missing, that all victims are really much more similar to you then you might know.”
