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It's why Guardian is America's favorite kids bike and the New York Times and Wirecutter's top pick three years in a row. This holiday season, give the gift that's safer, smarter and built to last. Visit guardianbikes.com to save up to 40% on all bikes, plus a free accessory Bundle worth over $100. New episodes are released weekly absolutely free, but you can binge the entire season now with Iheart True Crime plus exclusively on Apple Podcasts. You'll also get ad free listening and exclusive bonus episodes, so head to Apple Podcasts. Search I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today. You're listening to Hunting the Long Island Serial Killer. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals participating in the podcast and do not reflect those of Tenderfoot TV or iHeartMedia. This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. In this episode, we'll be talking about these victims in very graphic terms. These details are crucial for proving the mistakes and missed opportunities that could have led to the perpetrators capture sooner. These individuals deserve to be remembered not by the details of their deaths, but by the fullness of their lives. They are Shannon Gilbert, Maureen Brainard Barnes, Megan Waterman, Melissa Bartholomew, Amberlynn Costello, Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mac, Karen Vergata, Asian Doe, Tanya Denise Jackson, and Tatiana Marie Dykes. Rach. Yeah. Let's try and walk it. So basically, she runs this way. This is tough. Hold on. I got a reed in my boot. This is really what it must have been like. This all just breathes. This stuff hurts too. Ow. Ow. Rachel and I were following Shannon Gilbert's last known path through the treacherous Oak beach marsh. While the Suffolk County PD concluded that Shannon died from drowning, there were still many who refused to accept this conclusion. Shannon Gilbert vanished after making a panicked 911 call. Police believe Gilbert was simply high and paranoid when she ran into that march and drowned. But not everyone accepts that Gilbert died accidentally. There is no evidence whatsoever that Shannon Gilbert died a natural death. One thing was obvious. Walking through that same cold marsh, thick with razor sharp reeds, was brutally challenging. You see twice a day, seawater floods this marsh. Sometimes it feels like you're walking on a soggy trampoline. Other times, you're walking through mud that's like quicksand, only colder. And as surprising as it sounds, you can drown in just three feet of marsh. This whole thing is like water. If you find the wrong place, your foot's going straight through. It used to be worse. While hypothermia may have played a role in Shannon's death, skeptics were quick to note that Shannon disappeared in May when the temperatures were in the 50s. But if you've spent any time at the beach, you know those pre dawn hours when the wind comes off, the ocean could be freezing cold. We also had boots and gloves and jackets and knew exactly where we were going. Shannon, on the other hand, ran into the marsh in a panic, heading toward the bright lights of Ocean Parkway about a quarter mile away. Jeez, it just keeps getting worse. Ocean Parkway's right there. It's right there. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. Oh, my God, I'm stuck. But it didn't matter how close we were, because blocking our exit to the highway was a five foot high web of vines covered in thorns. All right, I'm gonna do. Ah. We're not gonna get in through there. Finally, we found a hole made by police to get to Shannon. We walked through the path that they cut to get from that road out to here. It was ridiculous. She couldn't have made it. For someone barefoot and barely clothed like Shannon, it would have been nearly impossible to get to Ocean Parkway. Just as impossible as it would have been for someone to carry a body through that marsh. I'm hoping there's something left. There was a white cross before. Guys, did you find it? Yeah. Can you imagine ending up here? So sad. Seeing Shannon final resting place about 100ft back from that wall of vines, it made logical sense how she could have ended up here. Her body exhausted, her skin and clothes waterlogged, the freezing cold making her drowsy as hypothermia sets in, until finally she passes out and drowns in just a few feet of water. But what didn't make sense and is so hard to reconcile, is that Shannon Gilbert, a sex worker who died accidentally in Oak beach, had somehow led police to the bodies of so many other sex workers over nine miles away, who all had been murdered, suggesting what can only be one of the most shocking coincidences in all of true crime. I'm Josh Zieman, and this is Monster hunting the Long island serial killer, Shannon Gilbert. It was her disappearance that led to the discovery of bodies along Ocean Parkway. Shannon Gilbert went missing. This is Shannon Gilbert. She vanished. Shannon Gilbert of Jersey City. And as you just heard police say, it could be weeks before either. As Rachel and I had come to learn, the overwhelming mystery of Shannon's death had often undermined the hunt for the Long island serial killer. While Shannon had become the face of this case, the 10 victims found along Ocean Parkway who were without a doubt murdered, never got that same level of media attention. Shannon's death and made for TV headlines of her mother, Mary Gilbert had hijacked the narrative, including a number of films that fictionalized Mary's search for justice. How can you say Shannon's not connected? She was last seen three miles from the other girls. She was in her 20s, just like them. She was small, just like them. She was on Craigslist, just like them. And at times, this media attention turned into bizarre spectacle, including a press conference held at Shannon's funeral led by the Family's lawyer. Shannon, I hear you speaking to your murderer. Murderer, I hope you are listening. Murderer, I hope you are listening. But lost in the theatrics is an important detail that many have overlooked. Shannon disappeared on May 1, 2010. Less than one month later in June, Lisk abducted Megan Waterman. Four months later, he abducted Amberlynn Costello. In just the four months after Shannon disappeared, Lisk had tragically killed two women. Begging the question, if Suffolk county had taken Shannon's case more seriously, if they had publicized her disappearance within weeks rather than months, would Lisk have read about it? Would it have deterred him? And would Megan and Amber still be with us? I would almost guarantee you he's probably watching every move that police makes on CNN or the local news station. But there's something else to consider. Lisk went to Gilgo beach not once, but twice to discard these victims. While just nine miles away, Shannon's family and months later, Suffolk County PD were all searching Oak Beach. It's even possible that police passed that green Avalanche, pulled over an ocean parkway. But we also know that Lisk researched and he studied. He knew going back to Gilgo beach was risky and yet he did it anyway, knowing full well that exact same mistake is what led to the capture of Long Island's other notorious serial murderer, Joel rifkin, back in 1993. Police are investigating at least 17 murders in connection with 34 year old Joel Rifkin. After what started as a routine traffic stop during the arrest, a strong odor came from the back of the vehicle. The troopers investigated and discovered the body of the white female wrapped in a tarp. Police say he was on his way to dispose of the body when state troopers try to pull him over in Farmingdale. So why would Lis take such an enormous risk? Was it that thrill of being so close to police proving he was that much smarter? Or that compulsion because Gilgo was special? Because eight of his victims were already there? Or maybe he didn't think he had to go elsewhere because of all the time and effort he had spent convincing law enforcement to look in a different dumping ground. On the other side of Long island, in the desolate woods of Manorville. Suffolk police call her Jane Doe number six. Her torso was found in Manorville in 2000. Hunters found a black plastic bag that had tape all around it. They opened up that bag and they found human remains. She was known only as Jane Doe number six. And in November of 2000, her remains were found on a hunting trail. A bird dog had alerted three pheasant Hunters to a bag bound with duct tape. Inside was a torso and another bag with her limbs. One leg was cut just above the mid calf, suggesting the killer had removed a tattoo to prevent her identification. Eleven years later, police discovered the rest of Jane Doe number six over 40 miles away on Gilgo Beach. Jane Doe number six, whose head, hands and right foot were recovered along Ocean Parkway, was linked by DNA to a torso discovered in Maneville in 2022. Investigators were able to give back to Jane Doe Number 6 the one thing her killer could never take away. Her name. Today we are announcing that Jane Doe number six has been positively identified as Valerie Mack. With advances in DNA technology, a genealogy profile was established. This led homicide investigators to areas of New Jersey. Valerie Mack's identification represents progress in this investigation, but there is much work left to do. Valerie Lynn Fulton had been adopted by the loving Mack family of New Jersey. But as an adult, she bounced back and forth between Atlantic City and Philadelphia, engaging in sex work to feed the disease of addiction. We also know that Valerie left behind a son whose name she had tattooed on her calf. But when she vanished in 2000, police refused to file a missing persons report, making it that much harder to identify her remains when they were first found in Manorville. All right, so we're crossing the lie right now. This is the middle of the Pine Barrens. Whole lot of nothing. And this is our dump site over here. In 2015, Timothy Bolger, a reporter for the Long Island Press, brought us to Manorville to show us the spot where on July 23, 2003, residents discovered a second victim, Jessica Taylor, just three years after Jane Doe number six, aka Valerie Mack. So this is the access road that the killer came down to dump her body. Right. So you kind of have to know where you're going. Yeah. For the killer to have gotten to this place, he would have had to go down a couple of roads. And right on your left, here is where we found Jessica Taylor. Tonight, Suffolk county police have a murder mystery on their hands. Police say a Manorville woman walking her dog came across the body. The partially decomposed body had been decapitated and both hands were amputated. Police say the victim also had a tattoo on her back. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Suffolk County Police. 20 year old Jessica Taylor, a native of Poughkeepsie, was last seen in midtown Manhattan somewhere around July 19, 2003. According to recent court documents, Jessica called her mother on July 21 to arrange a visit for her mother's birthday. Sadly, Jessica never made it home. Less than two hours later, her final cell phone activity shows an outgoing call at 10:22 p. Investigators believe that Jessica had been picked up somewhere around the Port Authority bus terminal. Four days later, her remains were found in Manorville. But unlike Valerie Mack, Jessica was found out in the open. This is where she was found, laying on top of a piece of plastic. The cops had tried to to ID here by releasing a photo of her tattoo, which had been sliced up by the killer. He tried to gouge it out so much, they had to push the skin together to try and read it. Eventually, cops were able to piece it together that it said Remy's Angel. Having recognized the Tattoo, a Washington, D.C. detective suspected the missing woman was Jessica Taylor and that Remy was her pimp, Khalil white. Back in 2003, when the dismembered remains of Valerie and Jessica were first found in Manorville, the police believe they were dealing with just one killer, dubbed the Manorville Butcher. But later, when the remains were also found on Ocean Parkway alongside the Gilgo 4 who were found intact, nobody knew what to think. That's definitely what's interesting, the effort that the killer took to try and hide Jessica Taylor's identity. If you look at the four women in Gilgo beach, they were intact. There was no effort to hide their identity. It doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense. And this confusion over victims both found in Manorville and then Gilgo beach, victims who were found dismembered next to other victims found intact. Which suggested two different modus operandi or two killers would lead to one of the most enduring mysteries of the killing season. How did the missing remains of Jessica Taylor and Jane Doe number six, first found in Manorville, suddenly end up more than eight years later and over 40 miles away as part of the carnage of Gogo Be. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water? Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it. Even in cold butter. Yep. Chocolate ice cream. Sure thing. Barbecue sauce. Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water. Additionally, tide pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new coldzyme technology. Just remember, if it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be tied. 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Visit Spinquest.com for more details. Every story begins somewhere for your child. It could begin with a Guardian bike built right here in the usa, engineered for safety and designed for confidence. Kids of all ages are learning to ride in just one day. No tears, no frustration. It's why Guardian is America's favorite kids bike and the New York Times and Wirecutter's top pick three years in a row this holiday season. Give the gift that's safer, smarter and built to last. Visit guardianbikes.com to save up to 40% on all bikes plus a free accessory bundle worth over $100. Suffix DA revealed new information today about the discovery of bodies along Ocean Flight Parkway. BOTA announced that the fifth person found, identified as Jessica Taylor, does not appear to be linked with the other four. Who is responsible for dismembering the woman and discarding their body parts across Suffolk County? That was the question on everyone's mind. Who is responsible? And were the Manorville Butcher and the Long Island Serial killer two separate killers or possibly the same killer? The killer or killers of Jane Doe number six and Ms. Taylor went to extraordinary lengths to prevent the victims from being identified. As disturbing as that is, there is no evidence that all of these remains are that of a single killer. These different MOs, some victims found dismembered, while others found intact. The different dumping grounds, the years in between, would all spark a frenzied debate over one serial killer, verse two, leading to a surreal press conference where Police Chief Dormer and DA Spoda openly contradicted each other. The facts of the case indicate one serial killer. I very, very much disagree with that theory. I would never even discuss this publicly, except I think that the facts do not bear out a single killer theory at all. But as Robert Kolker, the author of Lost Girls, reveals, there was far more to this dysfunction than just the number of serial killers. The Suffolk County Police Department has a very controversial history. What happens in the police force is really a function of what happens politically in Long Island. And you had a DA who was, was at odds with the commissioner because they're from separate political factions and they warred openly about it. In another bizarre twist in the Gilgo beach homicide saga, Suffolk DA Tom Spoda has attacked Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer's whodunit theories. Suffolk DA Tom Spoda says police now believe they're hunting three killers, not one. Spota says they now may be looking for four different killers and at least one dump bodies the line along Ocean Parkway. Now, in truth, very few police departments have the investigative skills to handle one serial killer case, let alone two serial killers, or even three or now four. Nor do they have the expertise to manage the overwhelming media attention. I mean, should you ever have a police chief publicly saying this? Should people be scared? Oh, no, I don't think. No, I don't want anybody to think that we have a Jack the Ripper running around Suffolk county with blood dripping from a knife. But then again, this isn't the first time police have had to deal with more than one serial killer on Long Island. From 1991 to 1993, there were in fact two active serial killers operating on Long island at the same time. That being Joel Rifkin, the unemployed landscaper who confessed to killing 17 sex workers, and Robert Shulman, a postal worker who was convicted of killing five sex workers. 42 year old Robert Shulman has been charged with murdering and dismembering two prostitutes whose bodies were found in Suffolk County. It appears coincidental at this time that Mr. Rifkin was operating at the same time as Mr. Shulman was engaged in similar activity. And now, considering Lisk's 23 year reign, there were three serial murderers. Begging the question, what is it about Long island that breeds such malevolence? Again, here's Robert Kolker. I think in Long Island's case, the explanation everybody turns to is that it's this really densely populated area that's right on top of New York City. But everybody's sort of jammed in commuting every day here. Everybody's bumping up against one another, and it's like living in a pressure cooker. In the early days of the Gilgo beach case, some detectives even questioned if any of the 10 bodies could be additional victims of Rifkin or Shulman. Of course, the one agency with the experience to help answer those questions was the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Recently memorialized in David Fincher's mindhunter. When we know who the criminal is, we can understand what set him off. The question is not only why did the killer do it, but why did the killer do it this way? We are now talking about psychology. In 2011, the FBI initially consulted on the Gilgo case, primarily gathering cell phone data, while agents in the Behavioral analysis unit began developing a profile of Lisk. But once the newly appointed police chief, James Burke, took over In January of 2012, he and the DA infamously kicked the FBI off the case, leaving the data analysis half finished and Lisk's profile incomplete. We now know that Burke and Spoda were trying to keep the feds at arm's length. It is the law that the federal authorities should be in this case. Apparently, they've been botched out and told to stay away by Suffolk County. Whether a complete profile of Lisk would have changed the course of the investigation remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure. Suffolk County's lack of expertise led to a cloud of confusion that had stymied the investigation. Investigation A confusion that only grew more baffling with the discovery of the last victims found on Ocean Parkway, including the coldest case of them all. Fire Island Jane Doe beachcombers made a gruesome discovery on Fire Island. Officials say two legs wrapped in a plastic bag were found last night. On April 20, 1996, two brothers walking along a beach discovered a plastic bag containing the remains of an unidentified woman. It's presumed the plastic bag was thrown into the water from another location and carried there by the tides. Fifteen years later, Fire Allen Jane Doe's skull was recovered on Ocean Parkway just over the county line in Nassau County. The search for more human remains extended into Nassau county today. Searchers, some on horseback, would find a a skull near Oyster Bay Park. DNA proves that skull belongs to the same woman whose legs were found wrapped in plastic back in 1996. In 2022, the Gilgo Beach Task Force teamed with Othram, the famed forensics genomics company specializing in cold cases, in hopes of creating a new profile for this victim. For 27 years, she was known only as Fire Island Jane Doe. Today, her true name. We were able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe as Karen Vergata. The last time Dominic Vergata heard from his daughter Karen was on Valentine's Day 1996, when she called to wish him a happy birthday. After months of not hearing from Karen, Dominic tried to file a missing persons report, but the NYPD refused. In 1997, a Suffolk county detective revealed that a woman's body had been found, but her degraded DNA didn't match his. Over the ensuing years, the family had even hired a private investigator. But all to no avail. Dominic Vergada died in December of 2022, just seven months before Karen had finally been identified. Vergada was 34 and living in Manhattan when she vanished on Valentine's Day day 27 years ago. With the discovery of Karam's remains along Ocean Parkway, investigators now believe that the killer or killers had been operating since at least 1996, when she was first found in Fire Island. More so, Fire island was in Suffolk county, but her other remains were found in Nassau county, suggesting the killer may have been trying to confuse law enforcement. Yet as baffling as all this sounds, there was at least some logic in the victimology that being petite female sex workers. That was until police uncovered the next victim. One male body was found among the 10. Police also revealed that he may have been killed between five and 10 years ago. The unidentified Asian male, who was estimated to be between the ages of 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. When Asian Doe was first discovered on April 4, 2011, this person was colloquially known as Asian Male. Sarah Wyman, an author and journalist, has been investigating Asian Doe remains as one of the case's most significant mysteries. Biologically, they were assigned male at birth, but Asian Doe was found with clothing that we would identify with women, like panties and a bra. So Asian Doe might have identified as trans. He was wearing women's clothing, and I think that's significant. Suffolk county thinks that Asian Doe may have been a sex worker in New York City. Ultimately, there's still so much we don't know. We don't know who their family members are. We don't know if they came over from China because it's believed that they were of Han Chinese descent, or if they were born in North America and ended up In New York, unlike any of the other victims found along Ocean Parkway, Agene Doe reportedly died from blunt force trauma to the head. At the time, detectives theorized that the differing M.O. suggested the killer might have felt duped and bludgeoned Agent Doe in a fit of rage. And while newly released information might suggest a different motive, one that we'll discuss in greater detail later. Asian Doe remains unidentified. To this day, we just don't know enough about who Asian Doe really was and what kind of life they led. So until we have that information, if we ever do, then all we'll have is doubt. Which brings us to the most tragic case of them all, Involving two of the final victims on Ocean Parkway, each one found on either end of these hollow grounds. As it bookends to a nightmare. Monday morning, a police dog stumbled on remains Just a mile and a half away from Jones Beach. The case has developed into a murder mystery, growing more gruesome by the day. It's all been very startling. In April 2011, police would uncover the 19 sets of remains along Ocean Parkway, dubbed Jane Doe number three. Like many of the other victims, she was found in a plastic bag. And like Karen Vergata, she too had been discarded just over the Nassau county border. While police had no idea who Jane Doe no. 3 was, she still managed to reveal a shocking connection to another set of recently discovered remains. Been revealed that one of the new victims is a young child wrapped in a blanket. Investigators have discovered remains of a female toddler between the age of 16 and 32 months. And another new clue. DNA now links the body of a toddler found in Suffolk county to the bones found seven miles away in Nassau. It's believed they were mother and daughter. The fact that a mother and child were found among the victims was more than just a shocking revelation. For many, the killing of a child was the ultimate act of cruelty. Some theorized these victims were possibly Lisk's wife and child. But others believe the toddler's involvement was nothing more than the tragic consequence of an illicit date gone awry. The child's remains being found, what does that now say? Well, if one of the these women gets a phone call at 2 o' clock in the morning and has an opportunity to make money and has a child she can't find a sitter for, she might bring the child with her to the encounter. And that may be the explanation for how the child ended up at a body dump site. Many of the unidentified found along Ocean Parkway have been entered into a database called namus, which is used by law enforcement, medical examiners, and even amateur sleuths to help identify these unknown victims. But while police had entered the toddler in namus, for some reason, they hadn't entered the mother, Jane doe number three, Prompting us to reach out to Todd Matthews, A former head of namus who agreed to help us review the database. Suffolk county did link one of the other Jane does through DNA to this child. Wouldn't the mother be tied to this baby doe somehow here? I don't know of a reason why it wouldn't be in here. And there's a non public side of namus. It's very different than this. If I was a police officer or medical examiner, this screen is different. And there's tools that they have that are investigative tools. So can you give us any information if we turn the cameras off on the non public site? It depends on what I see there. Okay, so guys, let's turn the cameras off. So there she is. Let's say dental head was not recovered. DNA is there. While law enforcement did have an active case record for the mother on the private side of namus, she wasn't being listed publicly. A glaring omission. That might be another reason why these two victims hadn't been identified. The best thing I could do would be to look at the other case that's related and get the case entered into namus. However, when Todd Matthews asked the Nassau county medical examiner's office to update namus with the mother's information, they made a shocking admission. Unknown to the public, Suffolk police had long since linked the mother's remains found on ocean parkway to a female Torso found over 20 miles away a decade earlier. It was a cold case that Rachel and I knew all too well that of peaches. Nassau county police says the partial remains were found at hempstead lake State park in 1997 in a plastic container. She has been known as peaches all these years because of her tattoo. In June of 1997, a woman's torso was found inside a rubbermaid container At a popular park in the middle of long island. The unidentified victim was dubbed peaches Due to a distinct peach tattoo on her left breast. While many of us had suspected peaches could be an early victim of lisk, with the help of Todd Matthews, we had suddenly just gotten confirmation. 19 years ago here in Nassau county, A woman's torso long considered linked to the remains that have been found at gilgo beach. But now a federal registry confirms it. Looking back, it's hard to say why police in Nassau never made this connection. Public. But considering the dysfunction of Suffolk county, the holdback wasn't surprising. But Peach's official inclusion as an early list victim did lead to a number of revelations. Notably, she extended the killer's geographical footprint, with Hempstead park now becoming the westernmost dump site on Long Island. But the most important revelation was the one that eluded investigators until April 2025, when it was announced that the Gilgo beach task Force had finally solved the mystery that had tormented so many. Police today announced that Peaches is Tanya Denise Jackson, a 26 year old army veteran and single mom originally from Alabama. Her two year old daughter was Tatiana Marie Dykes. Officials saying that they will continue to fight until there's justice in this case that has remained cold for so long. The following ad is sponsored by Pet's Best Insurance Services. You knew right away he's perfect. 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That's knix.com the sale ends December 2nd and sizes will sell out. Go to nyx.com that's knix.com the holidays usually wreck my skin, but I started using KPS Essentials Kindness Powered Skin Care and it's been doing work. The Renew Serum, the texture, the scent, the way it melts right in, it just feels different. And about 30 minutes later my skin actually changed Smoother, firmer, brighter. And if you're gifting, spend $200 and they'll throw in a travel size Renew Eternal youth. It's a $90 bonus. Browse the products@kpsessentials.com for those of us who have watched the hunt for Lisk unfold for decades, it's been a long road made all the more frustrating knowing what we know now, that back in 2011, a witness had given Suffolk county detectives a tip that could have led to the killer's capture sooner, a clue that had been filed away and lost in time. So then how did Suffolk county catch Lisk? Or at least what's the official story? It starts with an investigation that only begins in earnest after Police Chief James Burke is arrested and the man charged with replacing him, Timothy Sini, makes good on a promise to re engage the FBI. Bringing the FBI to the table with all of its expertise and resources is a step in the right direction. With the FBI's help, CNE refocused on their cell phone data analysis from 2012. Back then, agents had already identified an area where pings from four cell phone towers had overlapped in Massapequa Park. And now, with a newly secured court order for cell phone tower data dumps, a request that Chief Burke had previously denied, the FBI analysts started drilling into the data. There was an FBI phone expert who drove through the Massapequa park area and established a map of the cell phone coverage. And he showed a small area in this neighborhood that not only was the killer using a phone in that area, but one of the victims had used her phone as well. The investigators had now whittled down their area of interest into that geographic box we mentioned previously. A polygon shaped grid of just several hundred homes in Massapequa park where they believed the killer lived. Now you can say, we have this small area that we know the killer is connected to. We have this small area that we know the killer is connected to. How many people actually fit this profile? Now, with their box in hand, investigators were confident they would eventually find that one individual among thousands. That mysterious commuter who lived in Massapequa park and worked in Midtown Manhattan. But it would still take years and the creation of a task force before Suffolk county could finally leave its chaotic past behind. Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison today announcing a new task force made up of investigators from the FBI, the New York State Police, as well as the Suffolk County Police Sheriff's office and the DA's office. In March of 2022, a New York State Police investigator tasked with reviewing old case files would come across a statement taken by detectives back in 2011 from Amberlynn Costello's roommate, Dave Schaller. But what caught her attention was Schaller's mention of a man who turned violent during an in call at his home. A huge ogre of a man who drove a first generation Chevy Avalanche. Detectives then look to see who in that area owned a distinctive vehicle allegedly tied to one of the murders. A Chevrolet Avalanche. Using a comprehensive vehicle database, the state investigator quickly found a first generation Avalanche linked to a resident living in Massapequa Park. A man named Rex Heuermann, whose home was located within their sophisticated box. Pulling up Heuermann's picture and seeing his physical description, 6, 4 and weighing 275 pounds, it was plainly obvious that this was the ogre Dave Schaller was talking about. Was there an aha moment when all of a sudden his name came up? Once we were able to attach the Avalanche inside of that Massapequa box to Rex Heuermann, that was a moment where we said, okay, there's something here. But it was when detectives learned that Rex Heuermann had spent the last 36 years commuting to his office in Midtown Manhattan that the Gilgo beach task force knew they had found their man. A real life boogeyman who had evaded capture for over 27 years. A cruel and sadistic monster known as the Long Island Serial Killer. Breaking news to bring you. Police have made an arrest in the Gilgo beach murders investigation. I'm standing here with the Gilgo Task Force to announce the indictment of Rex Gearman. Breaking news out of New York, the arrest of a suspected serial killer. These young women were found in December of 2010 by the Suffolk County Police Department. And then there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. For the next next 13 years, their cases went unsolved. Until today. Handcuffed and flanked by authorities, Rex Sheuerman taken to a Long island courthouse in a case that has confounded investigators for more than a decade. Ladies and gentlemen, Rex Sheeran is a demon that walks among us. Ready to keep listening? Remember, you can binge the rest of the season right now with an I Heart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts plus. You get exclusive bonuses and ad free listening. So head to Apple Podcasts, search I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today. Foreign. Island's Serial Killer is a production of Tenderfoot TV and I Heart Podcasts hosted, written and executive produced by me, Josh Zieman. Produced and written by Kaitlin Colford. Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay are executive producers on behalf of Tenderfoot tv. Matt Frederick and Trevor Young are executive producers on behalf of iHeart podcasts. Original music by Alex Lacarenko, David Little and makeup and vanity set. Our supervising producer is John Street. Editing and writing by Daniel Lonsberry. Additional voiceover provided by Rachel Mills. Additional production provided by Ghost Robot. Sound design, mix and master by Dayton Cole. Cover Design by Byron McCoy. Interns Arnetta Fontenot, Shelby Hansen, Alec Walker and Fox Williams. A and e Television Networks, LLC. Audio from the Killing Season used under license copyright 2025 A&E Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserve. Special thanks to the team at United Talent Agency, the Nord Group, Brad Abramson, Todd Leibowitz, Rich Perillo and Jigsaw Productions, Rachel Mills, Zachary Mortensen, Jen Beagle, David Baker, Joe Jacalone and Evan Krause, as well as the teams at iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV, find us on social media onsterpod. For more podcasts like Monster Hunting the Long Island Serial Killer, search Tenderfoot TV in your podcast app or visit Tenderfoot tv. And if you want to keep following my hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer for a deeper dive into my other true crime content, join me on YouTube at Sinister with Josh Zieman. Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends. The holidays are overwhelming, but I'm tackling this season with PayPal and making the most of my money getting 5% cash back when I pay in 4. No fees, no interest. I used it to get this portable spa with jets. Now the bubbles can cling to my sculpted but pruny body. Make the most of your money this holiday with PayPal. Save the offer in the ends. 12:31 See PayPal.com promoter points can be redeemed for cash and more. Paying for subject to terms and approval. PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457Amazon Five Star Theater presents real customer reviews performed by Eva Longoria. Tonight's review sports briefs. Oh boy, where do I even start with these performance mesh boxer briefs. These boxer briefs are like a man magician's trick. 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Episode 3: Coincidence
Release Date: November 17, 2025
Host: Josh Zeman
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and Tenderfoot TV
In this gripping installment of "Monster: Hunting the Long Island Serial Killer," filmmaker and journalist Josh Zeman, alongside Rachel Mills, traces the tangled investigations, overlooked evidence, and tragic victims that define one of America's most notorious unsolved serial murders. The episode centers on the controversial death of Shannon Gilbert—whose disappearance inadvertently led to the discovery of at least ten other victims' remains along Long Island's beaches—as well as the missed opportunities and systemic dysfunction that delayed justice for over a decade. Zeman meticulously reconstructs the chronology of the investigation, honors the stories of the victims, and examines the confounding question: How could the suspects hide in plain sight for so long, and how many lives might have been saved if the authorities acted sooner?
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Zeman's narration is urgent, empathetic, and unsparing, weaving investigative facts with moments of raw human emotion. The podcast creates an atmosphere of suspense, frustration, and sorrow—frequently underscoring the high personal and communal cost when justice is delayed or denied. The language remains respectful toward the victims and critical of institutional failings.
This episode serves both as a critical investigation into a notorious case and as a memorial for those whose voices have been lost or ignored. It reflects on the struggle to seek justice, the human toll of systemic indifference, and the hope that new investigative cooperation might finally yield answers—and peace—for the victims and their families.