“Lock The Doors” — Reporter’s Firsthand Account Of The Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Case

Summary

Criminally Obsessed Episode Summary

Episode Title: “Lock The Doors” — Reporter’s Firsthand Account Of The Gilgo Beach Serial Killer Case
Host: Anne Emerson
Guest: Kristen Thorne, Investigative Reporter
Release Date: March 30, 2026

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Overview:

This episode dives deep into the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer case, one of America’s most haunting and mysterious criminal investigations. Host Anne Emerson interviews investigative reporter Kristen Thorne—who has covered the case since day one—for an intimate, firsthand account of grisly discoveries, investigative missteps, law enforcement politics, and the recent arrest of Rex Heuermann. Together, they untangle the timeline, discuss the significance of police strategy (and failures), highlight the challenges faced by sex worker victims and their families, and reflect on the chilling realization that the killer lived “right under our noses.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction: The Case and Its Impact

• [00:00-01:30]
  • In 2010, a young woman’s disappearance on Long Island led police to a far more disturbing discovery: the skeletal remains of multiple women, all sex workers, off a busy parkway near Gilgo Beach.
  • Over time, police realized they'd uncovered a serial killer’s dumping ground.
  • The suspect was unidentified (dubbed LISK: Long Island Serial Killer) until the 2023 arrest of Rex Heuermann, an architect and father.
  • With the trial looming and a possible plea on the horizon, Anne welcomes Kristen Thorne for a retrospective account.

Kristen’s Firsthand Reporting Experience

• [02:14-04:08]
  • Kristen recalls being a junior reporter covering the initial discoveries:
    • "I really do remember it like it was yesterday. It was freezing. It was dark. You have to understand, this area of Gilgo beach...is very desolate and extremely dark. And you have the moon. And that's about it." — Kristen Thorne [02:27]
  • Reporters joked, half seriously, about locking the doors to their trucks amidst fear and uncertainty.
  • The atmosphere: Windy, cold, pouring rain, and the heavy, constant sense of unease.

Discovery Timeline and Crime Scene

• [05:27-07:59]
  • Remains had been found in the area even before the notorious "Gilgo Four," but the pieces weren’t connected.
  • Breakthrough came after the disappearance of Shannon Gilbert (2010); police, while searching for her, found other bodies.
  • "They ended up—a canine officer decided to train his dog and go out one day. And lo and behold, while looking for Shannon Gilbert, he finds one of these bodies, one of the Gilgo 4. And that then led to the finding of the other three." — Kristen Thorne [06:09]
  • Multiple victims discovered, including an unidentified woman, a toddler, and an Asian male—some still not definitively linked to the now-charged suspect.

Investigative Challenges and Police Controversies

• [07:59-12:39]
  • Prolonged periods without new information; the case became local “lore.”
  • Suffolk County police chief at the time, James Burke, was adamant about excluding the FBI—later jailed for unrelated charges.
  • Media and public frustrations over the lack of transparency and police communication.
  • Police held critical evidence (like burlap and duct tape) close to the vest:
    • "For years, there were these, again, rumors flying around about what, what. But police were clear that…Why do police not tell you that it was burlap and duct tape?...Because when they get a suspect in custody, they need…information that only the suspect would know." — Kristen Thorne [11:05]

Victim Blaming and Delays

• [12:39-14:09]
  • Quick identification and reporting that several victims were sex workers.
  • Shannon Gilbert’s disappearance was initially dismissed by police, delaying crucial search and investigation—demonstrates bias in response to marginalized victims.
  • “Because she was a sex worker, delayed the Discovery of the Gilgo 4.” — Kristen Thorne [13:10]

Law Enforcement Stalemate and Change

• [14:09-18:54]
  • Reporters pushed hard against police stonewalling and refusal to involve the FBI.
  • Anne on police politics: "That's just politics, Kristen. I mean, really, like, there's these women who have these families…And you've got people playing politics." [16:32]
  • After Burke, Geraldine Hart took steps toward improved transparency, but the FBI was initially unwilling to return.
  • Turning point: Rodney Harrison’s appointment as Suffolk County Police Chief in 2021, forming a cross-agency task force solely focused on Gilgo.

The Break in the Case: Diligent Police Work

• [18:54-22:10]
  • Rodney Harrison organized all case evidence in a “war room,” digitizing files and dedicating full-time investigators—a key difference from prior diluted attention.
  • A female state police trooper noticed an old witness statement about Amber Costello—including a description of a “huge man” and a green Chevy Avalanche.
  • "So now you've got this state police trooper in 2022 Looking at this, and she goes, did you guys see this, this report about the guy with the big huge man that was seen with Amber in this green Chevy Avalanche and that they all jumped on it..." — Kristen Thorne [21:37]
  • Quickly, this clue led them to Rex Heuermann, who had been among several hundred early-persons of interest.

Technical Breakthroughs: Cell Phones and Movement

• [24:37-25:21]
  • The case leveraged cell phone tower pings and burner phone tracing, correlating movements between Heuermann's home, victims, and areas in New York City.
  • "The pinging of these burner phones between Massapequa park, which is where Rex Herman was living at the time...And so when police started to look at these burner phones, they started to see that they were pinging and that the phones of the victims were pinging around the same places." — Kristen Thorne [24:37]

The Suspect: “Hiding in Plain Sight”

• [25:21-28:43]
  • Heuermann lived an ostensibly normal life: architect, family man, daily NYC commuter—the “monster next door.”
  • His home, however, stood out: "It is by far...the house that, like, no one went trick or treating to. It was the house everybody stayed away from."
  • Anne: "He does not look, or who does look like a serial killer. But, I mean, this was weird. This was super weird." [27:23]
  • Kristen’s vivid recounting of the moment the arrest hit the newsrooms: the disbelief, rush to the scene, and then the overwhelming confirmation as law enforcement descended.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the chilling early reporting:

  • "We would have to jump out of the truck, do the live shot, and then jump back in the truck. And we sort of shuckled to ourselves...let's lock the doors. And we were halfway serious and half, you know, being not not." — Kristen Thorne [02:51]

• On official acknowledgment of a serial killer:

  • "Finally, the chief of Suffolk police At the time came out and said, we believe we have a serial killer on our hands. And that is, once you hear a chief of police say that, you know, that you are dealing with a pretty serious situation." — Kristen Thorne [08:10]

• On investigative frustration:

  • "Every time you would email police...it was always the same statement. They would copy and paste it every time." — Kristen Thorne [14:37]

• On the decisive clue that broke the case:

  • "A female state police trooper who—who was the one who blew this whole thing open." — Kristen Thorne [18:54]
  • "Within two or three months of that trooper seeing this report, they...had zeroed in on Rex Herman." — Kristen Thorne [22:10]

• On the significance of new policing methods:

  • "It's brilliant because this is why a lot of cold cases end up becoming cold, because the detectives are busy...But Rodney was like, no, no, no, we're gonna solve this." — Kristen Thorne [17:51]

• On the suspect’s outward appearance:

  • "He was living under our nose...Most of the homes in this neighborhood are really beautiful...But not Rex Herman's house. It is by far. It stands out...it looks like that's where someone who may kill people may live, allegedly." — Kristen Thorne [25:37]

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Timestamps to Key Segments

• 00:00-01:30 — Introduction & case background
• 02:14-04:08 — Reporter’s first encounter at Gilgo Beach
• 05:27-07:59 — Body discoveries & the evolving victim list
• 07:59-12:39 — Investigation stalls & police secrecy
• 14:09-18:54 — Law enforcement controversy & arrival of Rodney Harrison
• 18:54-22:10 — The “war room” and case breakthrough
• 24:37-25:21 — Cell phones and the technical unraveling
• 25:21-27:26 — Community reactions and the suspect’s profile
• 27:43-28:43 — News of arrest reaches the newsroom

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Tone & Final Thoughts

Reflecting the gravity of the case and the nuanced challenges faced by reporters and investigators, this episode maintains an investigative but compassionate tone—committed both to truth and to the lives forever changed by the crimes.
Anne and Kristen interweave chilling firsthand details, incisive criticism of bureaucratic blunders, and admiration for dogged law enforcement and journalistic persistence.

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For the next episode: Anne promises exclusive details as investigators dig into the suspect’s home and digital life, searching for evidence of his intentions and next moves.

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Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for an engrossing, deeply informed walk through the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer investigation—from dark coastal nights to breakthroughs in law enforcement—this episode offers rich, humanizing detail and behind-the-scenes access for newcomers and true crime aficionados alike.

Transcript

[A]

Sixteen years ago, a young woman went missing on Long Island. New York Police don't find the woman, but they find something far more disturbing. Right off of a busy parkway, they find the skeletal remains of a different woman. They keep searching and they find the remains of three more. And they're all sex workers. Investigators realize they've discovered the dumping grounds of a monster, a serial killer.

[B]

I mean, this is where people go with their families. And these bodies are just lying there that whole time.

[A]

They called him Lisk, the Long Island Serial killer because no one knew who he was. Not until 2023 when police say they made an arrest. 62 year old Rex Heuermann, an architect, a husband, a father, accused of brutally murdering and chopping up seven women. And now right as this case is about to head to trial, we're hearing Heuerman may plead guilty. He's headed to court April 8th. So we'll know then after all this time, what does he final admit to? I wanted to talk to someone who has been on this case literally since day one, and that's investigative reporter Kristen Thorne. Kristen Thorne, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it. It is, it's a pleasure to speak with you. I have heard about you for a long time as, I mean, your reputation precedes you.

[B]

Oh, thank you very much.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, you've been an investigative reporter for how long now? How you been doing this?

[B]

Oh, gosh. Well, I like to say that every, every reporter is an investigative reporter. But you know, really in the area of true crime since about 2021, it was actually the Gabby Petito case that kind of launched me into the, the true crime investigative world.

[A]

This incredible case that we're going to talk about right now. A case very close to your own backyard. Right. Kristin, take me back to the beginning as far as when you first started reporting on these grisly grizzly murders out of, out of Long Island.

[B]

So we go back. I was a new young reporter at WCBS in New York and the first bodies were discovered on Long Island. And I remember I was working the overnights, what we call the morning shift in this business. But for all intensive purposes, it's an overnight shift is how I like to describe it. So we get in, we're about where it was on Long Island. Gilgo beach is about at that time of the morning, two in the morning. It's only about a 45 minute drive. And so we get in the live truck and we go out there and they had, you know, discovered these, these bodies. And so we get there. And I remember it. I really do remember it like it was yesterday. It was freezing. It was dark. You have to understand, this area of Gilgo beach, there is just a few homes. It is very desolate and extremely dark. And you have the moon. You have the moon. And that's about it. And it was. It was so cold and windy and raining. And we would have to jump out of the truck, do the live shot, and then jump back in the truck. And we sort of shuckled to ourselves, the photographer and myself, because we were like, let's lock the doors. And we were halfway serious and half, you know, being not not. But it was. It was. We didn't know. I mean, no one knew what was going on. Really, really creepy. And so that went on. That was the beginning. Right. So now it was days and days.

[A]

This is 2011.

[B]

Exactly. Yep. When the first. When the. The Gilgo 4 were found. And then it just, you know, obviously there was more searching for days. And so we were out there. All of us were. All of the reporters in New York were there for days on end, kind of trying to tag along as much as we could with police. And then I covered Long Island. I was the Long island reporter for Channel 7 for the next 10 years. So for. For all of that period, I was the reporter at WABC covering Gilgo Beach.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. Kristen and Tech, take me through the. The timeline of these. These victims that were uncovered. And it's like, from what I understand, it's just. It's not that far. It wasn't that far off of. Off of the expressway, off of the road there.

[B]

Off the parkway. Off the parkway, yep. So there's a. There's a parkway that goes. That runs along this whole area of Gilgo beach. And again, very poorly lit, very, very dark. And then around the. The highway, there's very rough brush. Right. Like, I don't want you to think reeds. It's. It's like bramble. I mean, it is. You can barely get through it. It's extremely hard. It's almost like you have to have like a, you know, a saw or saw, whatever tool people use to get through those types of things. And so. But yes, the bodies were found only feet from the highway and the parkway. And so to everybody, this was obviously alarming because these bodies had been there for some time. And obviously there were other bodies that ended up being discovered. Right. That have not been linked to Rex Herman. And they're still trying to locate the perpetrators, although they did in one of the cases in Peaches and the small child, her child that that was found. They were able to locate who they thought did that.

[A]

Well, can you take me through for listeners that may not know this case that well, can you take me through the timeline a little bit about when these bodies were discovered in this stretch of desolate sort of parkway?

[B]

I'll try to make this as high level as possible. So what people forget is that there were remains found on Gilgo beach before for the Gilgo 4. These four women that sex workers that were all found in 2011. And so there had been scattered remains, but no one knew where they. Where they had come from. There were not necessarily at Gilgo, but in that area and also in an area of Nassau county which is right near there. But at the time, no one knew how to put any of this together. It wasn't until a young woman named Shannon Gilbert disappeared in 2010. She was a sex worker. She was last seen in this area of Gilgo beach and she disappeared. And as police were out there looking for her, it took them a while to get out there and do their jobs, but eventually they did. We won't get into that. They ended up a canine officer decided to train his dog and go out one day. And lo and behold, while looking for Shannon Gilbert, he finds one of these bodies, one of the Gilgo 4. And that then led to the finding of the other three. And then ultimately Shannon. Shannon as well. Shannon Gilbert has never has not been connected to Rex Herman. That's another thing people get a little confused about.

[A]

She.

[B]

No, no, she is. That is a. Now police believe her death was accidental. Now, there's a lot of controversy around Shannon Gilbert's death, but bottom line, according to police, they believe that she drowned in the swamp. There was area there that she was running and we. They believe that she was high and may have unfortunately drowned in the swamp there. All right, so. So now we've got. So now they've got these four bodies. They ultimately find Shannon Gilbert and now they're like, oh, my goodness. So now they uncover even more bodies. There was the bodies found, more remains found of a woman whose other remains had been found in Suffolk County. There was an Asian male. There was an unidentified woman and a toddler. I mean, it, it. Can you imagine? I mean, reporting during the time. It just.

[A]

No, I can't, Kristen. And you're reporting all this like, is every day, like, who are we going to find on this parkway? I mean, that is terrifying.

[B]

That's what it was. And then finally, the chief of Suffolk police At the time came out and said, we believe we have a serial killer on our hands. And that is, once you hear a chief of police say that, you know, that you are dealing with a pretty serious situation. So, you know, this went on and then ultimately, after all the bodies were found, it got very quiet for many years. Years. You have to understand, it almost became a thing of lore, you know, the Gilgo beach bodies, because police were very tight lipped and they would drop little hints every few years. Would you get a little something? They found a belt, they found. They talked about a skull. They. They would do something. And I. There's a lot of controversy around why that happened and why they weren't more outspoken and trying to get public attention to this. There was a chief of police in Suffolk county at that time who was adamant about keeping the FBI out of this investigation. That is also a very intriguing part of this story. And.

[A]

Well, I want to get to that for sure.

[B]

Yeah. So there's a whole, a whole lot of drama. A lot of different commissioners came in and chiefs, and then the chief ended up being arrested for something that had nothing to do with Gilgo. But he ended up having to leave the department. And so it was a really dramatic, like time in Suffolk County.

[A]

It was. And you know, one thing I want to just go back to how they found these original bodies and why they thought it was they were connecting it to a serial killer. I mean, this was a very well traveled parkway. Right. I mean, this is your connector to millions of people who call Long island home. But the, the, the way they found these bodies. Can you describe to me? And I'm talking about the burlap.

[B]

Yes. And that's what led them to believe that this was indeed a serial killer. Because of the victims all being sex workers, petite, about five feet or less. You know, there was certainly similar factors between them. And in addition, the way they were killed. So the burlap, they were all wrapped in burlap, duct tape was involved in different sorts of ways. Some had clothes on or not as many clothes. Some had clothes wrapped up around their heads, you know, all sorts of things. And so that led police right away to figure that they didn't know how the other bodies that they found played into this, but they were sure that these four, because of the way they were buried, and they weren't buried deep. That's the other thing. They were kind of just kind of tossed there. But. And again, I'm glad you brought up that point. You know, this. Although I said that this is a Desolate area. I should rephrase. You know, high traffic area during the summer. Gilgo beach is beautiful. I mean, this is where people go with their families. And these bodies are just lying there that. That. That whole time. And so police knew right away that based upon the victims themselves and who they were, in addition to the way they were killed and. And disposed of, that. That they were involved, there was some sort of serial killer. Now, you have to understand, we didn't know any of that information for many years. We didn't know about the burlap. We didn't know about the duct tape. We didn't. We. We. There were rumors, but nothing that we could report. So for years, there were these, again, rumors flying around about what, what. But. But police were clear that. And why did they withhold that information? You people probably wonder this. Why do police not tell you that it was burlap and duct tape and all these different things? Because when they get a suspect in custody, they need to have some information that only the suspect would know, right? Because they have to try to ascertain do we have the right person? And so for years, that information was never disclosed. But as the years went on, police realized, you know, we got to get more comfortable talking to the. To the press. We have to get. And then eventually we got a commissioner, Geraldine Hart, in place in Suffolk county, who really started a website to flood the public and the media with as much information as she could.

[A]

Well, I want to ask about the sex workers, because I feel like when. When. When information was started to roll out that the women who were found were identified as sex workers, did that information come out right away? And. And how did that affect this investigation?

[B]

Yeah, that came out pretty quickly because as we all started digging into the identities of the women, as soon as police released the identity of them, we were able to really figure that out. The families of the Gilgo 4 have always been very private, even to today. And look, none of us have any doubt that. Now, when the Gilgo 4 were found, I think police had no choice but to investigate it as thoroughly as possible. But when you go back to Shannon Gilbert, Shannon Gilbert, who was a sex worker, had disappeared and was missing for 10 months. I mean, police completely didn't look for her. They went out, they kind of walked around. You know, her family's calling police. Something happened to her. Oh, she's fine. She's. She probably just, you know, is high somewhere or whatever. And. And so that created a delay, right? That response to Shannon, because she was a sex worker, delayed the Discovery of the Gilgo 4. Now, once the Gilgo 4 were found, police really had no choice but to treat them as they should be treated, which is which, Vic. They are victims.

[A]

Well, and victims. But then there was like, as you were alluding to earlier, I mean, there was just this. This massive issue with the actual investigation, like the people that were involved in trying to solve these grisly murders to find the serial killer. Who was in charge of this and what was going on? What was that like during that period?

[B]

You know, I remember this moment when Chief James Burke, we were all pressuring him. Now, it's probably about three or four years long later. And it gotten to a point where we weren't getting information from police. Every time you would email police for. For to try to get something, it was always the same statement. They would copy and paste it every time. And so, you know, we all know each other on Long island, all the reporters. And so we all started getting like, we gotta push this. I mean, this is. This is crazy. We're three, four years later. We've got all these bodies, 11 or so in total. And. And so. But I remember being in a press conference with James Burke, and he had. We had asked about the FBI. Why. Why is the FBI not being brought in? And he was adamant at keeping them out of this. And we've really pushed him on that. I mean, we didn't understand. Why would you. Why would you do that?

[A]

Yeah, that sounds crazy now. I mean, that sounds crazy, right? That the FBI wouldn't be brought in.

[B]

Right. And so that seemed very odd. And, you know, his. His. His stance was, this is our investigation. We don't need anybody's assistance. Now, maybe the times were a little bit different. I don't. I don't know. But, you know, you would think that they would want all the help they could get. But James Burke successfully kept the FBI out for many years until he was forced to resign because he was arrested for beating up an inmate, which is a completely separate story because. But he was forced to. To step away.

[A]

And.

[B]

And then we got some new. We got Geraldine Hart in, who was able. Now, unfortunately, by that point, she, from what we understand, may have wanted the FBI to come back. They wouldn't. They were so angry at the way they were treated that they said, no, you don't. You don't need us.

[A]

You don't need us.

[B]

You're good. You got it.

[A]

Oh, that's just politics, Kristen. I mean, really, like, there's these women who have these families who are just trying to get an. And you've got people playing politics.

[B]

Yep. And it wasn't until Rodney Harrison, who came in. And Rodney Harrison was former nypd. He came in after Geraldine. Geraldine Hart left, and he basically courted the FBI back to Suffolk county and started a task force to just deal with Gilgo. That was all these officers. State police, nypd, Nassau County, Suffolk County. He put together a task force, and that is what finally led to the arrest of Rex Fjerman.

[A]

Well, Kristen, when is, like, can you tell me the. The year we're in now? Because, I mean, you started looking at this in 2011. Am I right?

[B]

Like, yep, 2011. And Rodney came in. Rodney Harris.

[A]

And Rodney, just to be clear, we're talking about a. A string of. Of commissioners within the. The police, right?

[B]

Suffolk County Police Department. Yep.

[A]

So you got Jimmy Burke. Jimmy Burke ends up going to jail or prison for really bad behavior as a police chief. And then you've got Hart coming in, and she kind of starts to fix things. And now we're at this. This new one, Harrison, and what do you know, sort of what year we're at?

[B]

He assumed office in 2021. He. Yes, he came in in 2021, and he. Within, I think, two months of coming into office, he developed a task force. And these officers, it was state, New York state police, everybody that he could get together, including the FBI, and he basically took all of the evidence, working with the Suffolk County District attorney, and he put all the evidence in physically in one room and digitally in one space. And so everybody had to look at it, and they were taken off their regular beats. They had nothing else to do. But this, which is so brilliant. It's brilliant because this is why a lot of cold cases end up becoming cold, because the detectives are busy. They've got patrol, they've got domestic violence calls, they've got burglaries. They can't just focus. But Rodney was like, no, no, no, we're gonna solve this.

[A]

And.

[B]

And it was that. And then we can get into who actually broke this open. There was a female state police trooper who. Who was the one who blew this whole thing open.

[A]

When you talked to Harrison, when you talked to Harrison about doing this, like, what did he say? Was he. I imagine you've had a conversation with him. Like, what? Like, light bulb went off that he was like, we need a war room. We need to, like, digitize the. This evidence so everybody can see everything right now. Like, what was that urgency for him?

[B]

He just. It's just common sense. He didn't you know, it's. This isn't rocket science. He's just like, I wanted to solve. He, he knew that this was. And you know, what I love about, about Ronnie Harrison is that, you know, he didn't. He really didn't do this for the glory. He. It wasn't about that. It was about solving it and getting somebody in handcuffs. And he just knew that this is what made sense. And actually, Rodney ended up retiring shortly after Rex Sherman's arrest. It sort of was like, you know, I came, I saw, I conquered, I'm done. Because there was a lot of politics happening right around that time, and he didn't want it. He didn't. He's not into politics. He's like, I'm a police officer and my job. And there were some politics. Without getting into too many details, there were some politics that were starting to creep in and he was basically like, I'm out.

[A]

Yeah, good for him. Tell me, do you. Do you have like a. That aha moment for the police when they were like that? Those dots started to connect?

[B]

Yes. So this is a great story. So here they are. They're sitting in a room, and there is a. I forget where the room was, but there was a room. I think it was at state police or it was at the DA's office, but there's a female state trooper. And they're looking through the files and she's going through. And all of a sudden she sees a witness testimony from when Amber Costello disappeared. Now, this is the horrific part of all this. This testimony was taken when Amber disappeared. But when Amber, Amber Costello disappeared, there had been a statement from a man who lived in the house with her that she was picked up by a, A, A big man, really big guy, and a guy that he had seen the night before. Because they were going to play a trick on this guy. They were going to. He was going to come for sex, he was going to bring his cash. And then Amber and her room, her friend, roommate, he was going to be the angry boyfriend who was going to come in and confront them. And then the big guy would run away and they would keep the cash. Well, they, they ended up doing this, and it succeeded. And when the man left, he ended up texting Amber saying, that was not very nice of you, what you did to me. Basically, you have to make it up to me. And so by this point, the roommate has already gotten eyes on this guy because they've, they've done this whole, you know, trick.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So the next night, this guy comes to pick up Amber. And the guy, the roommate sees him again and sees the car that he's driving, the green Chevy Avalanche. And so when Amber disappears, police come to take a report. And what does the roommates. The roommate relays all of this, all of this information, which is what, now we're going back 10 years or something that this, this sat in a file. So now you've got this state police trooper in 2022 Looking at this, and she goes, did you guys see this, this report about the guy with the big huge man that was seen with Amber in this green Chevy Avalanche and that they all jumped on it, and long story versus very short is they ended up identifying the license plate of this Chevy Avalanche. The person who was, who it belonged to took. It took a little bit. But within two or three months of that trooper seeing this report, they had, I think it was only a month they had zeroed in on Rex Herman. And by the way, Rex Herman had been on their radar for a long time. They had about three or four hundred people that they had on their radar for all these years, and he was on it.

[A]

Why?

[B]

You know, we never really got a lot of information about how they got to these 400, 300 or 400 people. It could be because of the cell phone, you know, the cell phone towers that were pinging around these different locations. It could have been. That's something I've. Yeah, that's something I've always found, I've always been very curious about is how they even got to a. I mean, we're talking about the New York City metropolitan area. So we've got 9 million people, probably more than that. And so how were they even to able to get it down to these few hundred? I'm not exactly sure.

[A]

Well, you know, it's interesting. I mean, I'm sure once, you know, if, if the FBI had been involved, they would have been using their profilers to be doing that kind of work as well. But you know, what I found interesting in some of the reporting I saw was how these burner phones were starting to connect. Like this area in midtown Manhattan, this area in Massapequa. So how. Maybe that's part of the way that they started kind of identifying pools of people that could be, could be their suspect.

[B]

Totally. The, the pinging of these burner phones between Massapequa park, which is where Rex Herman was living at the time, which is only about a 20 minute drive from Gilgo, about a hour drive from New York City. Rex Herman worked in midtown. And so when police started to look at These burner phones, they started to see that they were pinging and that the phones of the victims were pinging around the same places. Without getting into too many details, it's very, it's very technical how they were able to, to figure all this out. But ultimately they could see that there was a correlation between Massapequa park and Midtown, you know, and, and, and where the victims were traveling to and from.

[A]

Well, and then you see this guy, Rex Sherman, who, yes, there were reports that he was this massive dude, but besides his physical appearance, like, he was living. He was living under our nose.

[B]

Totally. He's taking the train with everybody, going to work in Midtown Monday to Friday, living in this neighborhood. Massapequa park is a beautiful little neighbor town on the south shore of Long Island. Now, I'll tell you, because I've been to the house several times. Most of the homes in this neighborhood are really beautiful and put together very well, and the clean cut grass, crisp in the American flag, and the, the new impatience, you know, perfectly. But not Rex Herman's house. It is by far. It stands out. I mean, if you were walking down the street, I hate to say it, you would look like that's where someone who may kill people may live, allegedly. Right? Because it looks nothing. It's run down, the roof is falling down. There's just stuff all over the front yard. It's. I mean, it's just bizarre. That's the only thing that you can look at and say, well, now I'll tell you, the neighbors will say it was the house that, like, no one went trick or treating to. It was the house everybody stayed away from. They. No one would get involved in that. In that house.

[A]

Yeah, there was. Obviously, it was so. I've seen pictures of it, too. It's just so out of place. It looks like. And we should put up a picture for our folks on YouTube and we can link to it for our listeners as well. But the house itself is just super run down. I mean, this is a man who's an architect consultant. You know, he has a family. He's out there making commercials about his architect work, you know, architecture firm. He does not look, or who does look like a serial killer. But, I mean, this was weird. This was super weird.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I. Right. He. He doesn't. I mean, you're right. I mean, what does a serial killer look like? I don't know. Lots of them.

[A]

Every time we find one or pinpoint one, we go, wow, he's the serial killer. But, yeah, I mean, Ted Bundy I

[B]

remember that day when I got the call from my. My manager. And I'm lying in bed. It's like five in the morning. You know, you need to get up. You need to get to Massapequa Park. And I said, all right. You know, I fly. I'm like, what's going on? She's like, we think they got somebody in Gilgo. I said, no. I said, no, absolutely not. That did not happen. And she goes, I am telling you, you need to get to Massapequil Park. So the whole time I'm driving, I am waiting for the phone call. Say, stop. It's nothing. Because that happens a lot in the news. You get called a breaking news. It turns out to be nothing. That call never came. I just remember thinking the whole time, okay, it's going to come now. Okay, it didn't come. I get there. There is massive. I mean, the media is everywhere. The police are there. The police tape is up outside the house. And I. Now, even at that point, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. It means we have a police presence in Mass Pico park at this house. But then I just remember the moments waiting for the name.

[A]

Kristen didn't know it for sure in that moment, but everything was about to change for the investigators, for the victims, their loved ones, the entire Long island community and beyond. Make sure you're subscribed to Criminally Obsessed so you don't miss our next episode. When investigators finally get inside the suspect's home, they get inside his hard drive drives and find out where he was headed next.