Rex Heuermann, the suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, is now being probed for potential connections to Atlantic City, according to law enforcement officials. The investigation has led police to interview incarcerated sex workers who had interactions with the 59-year-old Long Island resident, Your Content has learned.
Sheriff Errol Toulon of the Suffolk County Police Department revealed that Heuermann had contacted these individuals for sexual services, but no actual meetings took place. These efforts to gather information follow the revelation that the Gilgo Beach murders bear similarities to killings near Atlantic City, committed by the so-called “Eastbound Strangler” who targeted sex workers.
In the Long Island case, the victims, like the “Eastbound Strangler” victims, were predominantly female sex workers, with several of them having been strangled. The investigation has now expanded to cover four states, as Heuermann possesses a time-share in Las Vegas and a property in South Carolina. Authorities are exploring the possibility of connecting him to unsolved killings in those areas.
Last week, Heuermann was arrested and charged in connection with the murders of three victims known as the “Gilgo Four.” These women’s bodies were discovered near Gilgo Beach in 2010. He pleaded not guilty to the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Heuermann is also the primary suspect in the disappearance and subsequent murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes in 2007, although no charges have been filed in that case.
Furthermore, Heuermann is under investigation for the murders of six other women whose bodies were found near Gilgo Beach in 2011.
In a separate account, a former sex worker named Nicole Brass claimed to have gone on a date with Heuermann, but she became uncomfortable and decided to leave. Brass recounted that during their meeting at a seafood restaurant in Port Jefferson, Long Island, between 2014 and 2016, Heuermann began discussing true crime documentaries and specifically mentioned details about the 11 unsolved Gilgo Beach killings that had not been reported in the news. Brass expressed unease at his enthusiasm and alleged that Heuermann indicated the involvement of others in the murders.
After dinner, Heuermann invited Brass to his Massapequa home, where detectives suspect some of the victims were killed before being dumped on the beach. However, Brass refused to go with him, feeling unsafe, and left the scene, trusting her instincts.
Your Content was first to report that Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, filed for divorce on Wednesday. The couple had been married for many years and raised two adult children together. Ellerup, who emigrated from Iceland to the United States as a child and grew up near Heuermann on Long Island, was not present during the time of the murders. Neighbors noted that the couple was rarely seen together.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating Heuermann for potential links to this and other cold cases, as Your Content previously reported.