A vehicle linked to Rex Heuermann, the alleged Long Island serial killer, was found more than 700 miles away from New York in Chester, South Carolina.
Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect who lived in Massapequa Park on Long Island and worked in midtown Manhattan, was arrested last week and charged with the murder of three women, with a possible fourth charge looming.
One of those women is Amber Lynn Costello, a native of Charlotte.
He pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bail.
A Chevy Avalanche was seized Monday by the Chester County Sheriff’s Department and evicted from a secluded property owned by Heuermann and his brother, the New York Post reported.
Property records in Chester County show that Heuermann purchased the property totaling approximately 5 acres on Rippling Brook Drive in the Mirror Lakes subdivision on July 28, 2021 for $154,351, the Rock Hill Herald reported.
The Chester News and Reporter said Heuermann planned to retire to Chester.
A story about two avalanches
Another Chevy Avalanche was recovered from Heuermann’s Long Island home over the weekend, the Post reported.
One of the women believed to have been killed by Heuermann is Amber Lynn Costello, a North Carolina sex worker, born in Charlotte and raised in Wilmington. Her body was discovered in 2010 on a Long Island beach.
Costello’s pimp is the person who told police that a “first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche” was the vehicle he believed Costello’s killer was driving, according to a bail application, as reported by media outlet Outkick.
Officials have not confirmed whether the vehicle found in South Carolina or the vehicle found in Long Island was identified by the pimp.
Who is Heuermann’s brother in South Carolina?
Neighbors who know Heuermann’s brother Craig, who has lived in Chester for about 20 years, told Fox News that dogs, loud music and banging can often be heard from his lot.
“We rarely see him outside,” a neighbor told Fox News. “He has loads of dogs on the property that you can hear barking all the time, but they don’t really bother us,” said a neighbor. “But as far as our few interactions go, they’ve always been pleasant.”
Two neighbors told Fox that Craig had a no-mowing rule on Sundays. When a homeowner who lived across from him broke the rule, Craig allegedly approached him from behind and hit him on the head with a steel pole.
Neighbors also received business cards from Craig with his name, phone number, and the words “Bad Motherf-eh.”
“I keep my distance… I think he’s crazy as a bed bug,” another neighbor told Fox.
Who are the other victims of the Long Island serial killer?
The four women, including Costello, at the center of the Heuermann case are known as The Gilgo Four because they were found in 2010 in the same area on Gilgo Beach on Jones Beach Island, a Long Island barrier island.
Their bodies were discovered when police searched for another young woman who had disappeared, 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert. Instead of finding Gilbert, police discovered the bodies of four women wrapped in camouflaged burlap. Reports said they had all been strangled. (Gilbert’s body was later found.)
It is believed that all four women were sex workers that Heuermann contacted through an escort service:
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Amber Lynn Costello, 27, of North Babylon, New York
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Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, of Norwich, Connecticut
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Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Bronx, New York
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Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine
Although she is believed to be his first victim, Heuermann has not been charged with Brainard-Barnes’ murder.
Seven other bodies were found nearby, but Heuermann has not been linked to them. The investigation into other disappearances is still ongoing.
