According to recently unsealed court records in Suffolk County Criminal Court, the bodies were discovered in December 2010 along Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore.
The women’s remains were found wrapped in burlap in a marshy area near Gilgo Beach.
“Each of the four victims was found similarly positioned, bound in a similar fashion by either belts or tape,” the court documents stated.
Barthelemy disappeared in July 2009, Waterman disappeared in June 2010 and Costello was last seen in September 2010. The three women were in their 20’s. All of them worked as sex workers, according to court documents.
A fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in July 2007, was believed to be killed by the same suspect. Heuermann is not currently charged but is the “prime suspect in her death.”
DNA matches
In 2010 when the bodies were discovered Mitochondrial DNA testing was not yet available. But all the evidence was collected and safely preserved.
Heuermann’s DNA was found on the bodies. Police were able to confirm that he was the primary suspect from a pizza box he discarded.
