Rex Heuermann’s kids are “along for the dark ride” and standing by the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer, according to their lawyer.
Victoria Heuermann and Christopher Sheridanremain by their dad’s side even after he wascharged with two more murders and prosecutors detailed a sickening “planning document” he allegedly kept on a computer in his Massapequa Park home, lawyer Vess Mitev said.
“They continue to bravely face the scrutiny and adversity head-on and they will wait for the legal process to conclude in a courtroom and not in the court of public opinion,” Mitev told The Post on Friday morning.
“They are along for the dark ride, one might say,”Mitev also told the US Sun.
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“Nonetheless, they’re two young adults that have done nothing wrong and they’re trying to keep their lives from completely crumbling in the midst of all this,” the attorney said.
Following his arrest last summer, Heuermann, 60, was charged with the murder of three women whose bodies were found along Ocean Parkway in late 2010.
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He was hit with charges for the killing of a fourth victim –rounding out the so-called “Gilgo Four” – in January.
On Thursday, the hulking father of two was back in Suffolk County court to be arraigned for the 1993 slaying of Sandra Costilla, and the 2003 death of Jessica Taylor.
During the proceedings, prosecutors unveiled what they called Heuermann’s “blueprint” for his alleged crimes – including lists on possible dumping grounds and strategies for avoiding detection as he preyed on young women.
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The gruesome find was pulled from hard drive on a laptop in the basem*nt of Heuermann’s home where he lived with his wife and children.
Mitev declined to comment on whether Victoria and Christopher had read the bulk of the evidence, but said that the pair want to see the case against their dad for themselves at his trial.
“There’s a quantum leap between allegations and a conviction, as any criminal defense attorney will tell you, so whether it’s one or 100 charges, they’re still allegations,” Mitev noted.
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Who were the Gilgo Beach victims?
Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann — a New York City architect and married dad of two — was arrested in connection with thelong-unsolved Gilgo Beach murders. The arrest is tied to the so-called “Gilgo Four,” women found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in late 2010.
The years-long investigation that led to the arrest revolved around thediscovery of more than 10 sets of human remainsalong Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County between December 2010 and April 2011.
Most victims were petite female sex workers with green or hazel eyes. But there were also two exceptions: a 2-year-old girl and a young Asian man.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24
- Barthelemy was a sex worker who lived in the Unionport section of the Bronx and dreamed of one day opening her own beauty salon. She was last seen alive in her basem*nt apartment on Underhill Avenue on July 12, 2009. Heuermann was charged for Barthelemy’s murder in July 2023.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25
- Brainard-Barnes was living in Norwich, Connecticut. She went missing after taking an Amtrak train from New London, Connecticut, to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on July 6, 2007. Her remains were found in December 2010. Heuermann was charged for Brainard-Barnes’ murder in January 2024.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27
- Costello, 27, was a sex worker and heroin addict who lived in West Babylon, New York, at a home with a woman and two men. She advertised on Craigslist and Backpage to support her and her roommates’ drug habits. Costello was found on December 13, 2010, after having been last seen leaving her home September 2, 2010. Heuermann was charged for Costello’s murder in July 2023.
Megan Waterman, 22
- Waterman, a 22-year-old mom of one, was last seen on June 6, 2010. She lived in Scarborough, Maine, and earned a living as an escort. She was last seen by her family boarding a New York-bound Concord Trailways bus in Maine. Her body was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach. Heuermann was charged for Waterman’s murder in July 2023.
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Jessica Taylor, 20
- Remains belonging to Jessica Taylor, a 20-year-old woman working as an escort in New York City, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her additional remains — initially labeled “Jane Doe No. 5” — were discovered on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.
Valerie Mack, 24
- Valerie Mack was 24 years old and living in Philadelphia when she went missing. She worked as an escort, using the alias “Melissa Taylor.” Relatives last saw Mack in the spring or summer of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey, but she was never reported as missing to the police. Her partial skeletal remains were found in Manorville in September 2000 but were initially known as “Jane Doe No. 6.” More bones were found on April 4, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.
Unidentified Asian man
- The skeletal remains of a yet-to-be-identified Asian man were found along Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011. It is estimated that the man was between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. He was approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall with bad teeth.
‘Peaches’ and her daughter
- An African American woman’s partial remains were discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park back in 1997, and she had become known as “Peaches” because of a bitten tattoo of a peach on her left breast. On April 4, 2011, police uncovered the remains of a toddler, who was about 2 years old at the time of her death. DNA testing confirmed that one of the skeletons was that of the 2-year-old girl’s mother, “Peaches.”
Karen Vergata
- A victim previously referred to as Jane Doe No. 7 has been identified as 34-year-old Manhattan woman Karen Vergata. Vergata is believed to have disappeared around Feb. 14, 1996; two months later, her legs were found in a plastic bag at a park near Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. At the time of her disappearance, Vergata was believed to have been working as an escort. Two sets of Vergata’s remainswere identified in August 2023.
Shannan Gilbert, 23
- Gilbert was a Craigslist escort who lived in Jersey City, traveled with her driver Michael Pak from Manhattan to meet a client, Joseph Brewer, at his home in the Oak Beach Association on the morning of May 1, 2010. She spoke with two neighbors before disappearing. Her body was discovered in a marsh near Oak Beach — about half a mile from where she was last seen alive — on December 13, 2011.
Jessica Taylor, 20
- Taylor, a 20-year-old woman working as an escort in New York City, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her additional remains — initially labeled “Jane Doe No. 5” — were discovered on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.
Sandra Costilla
- Costilla was murdered in 1993 but had not been included among the so-called Gilgo Beach victims — until now. Investigators suspected convicted serial killer John Bittrolff in Costilla’s death, but he was never charged in her slaying — which remains one of several unsolved Long Island murders.
“They’re not going to get carried away or swept along in the court of public opinion, they’re going to wait until this case is determined by a jury and a judge inside the four walls of the courtroom.”
Heuermann’s children have remained mostly out of the public eye since his bombshell arrest – though Victoria was pictured alongside her mother, Asa Ellerup, during court proceedings in April.
Ellerup married Heuermann in 1996. She filed for divorce days after he was arrested, but has since insisted that her husband is not capable of the brutal murders.
Last year, it was revealed that Ellerup and the two children would receive at least $1 million for participating in the NBC/Peaco*ck documentary on the Gilgo Beach case.
