Netflix’s Gone Girls: The Search for the Long Island Serial Killer journeys into the Gilgo Beach murders— the harrowing killings of four young women in Long Island, New York.
The bodies were discovered along Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011, but the murders of the four women – AKA “The Gilgo Four” began in 1993.
The families’ pushed to get justice but the case remained unsolved for decades – partly because of prejudice in the media and policing and justice systems towards the victims because of their profession: they were all sex workers. You can read more about the case here.
But then in 2023, three decades after the first victim was brutally killed, came a breakthrough: architect Rex Heuermann, based in Manhattan, was arrested and charged with the murders of seven of the 11 victims.
The docuseries is a haunting watch: it delves beyond the headlines, spotlighting the brutality of the killings and the heartbreak of the victims’ families.
It’s mainly told from their perspectives, building from the moment Shannan Gilbert, a sex worker who was murdered at just age 24, raised the alarm – right before her disappearance – to the arrest of the main suspect.
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But she wasn’t the first woman to be found – it was discovery of The Gilgo Four that ultimately helped solve the mystery of her disappearance.
So, who are The Gilgo Four?
The Gilgo Four refers to the first bodies that were found in the Long Island serial killer case.
In December 2010, after the several sex workers’ disappearances were reported in the Long Island area, police searched for signs of one woman.
Shannan Gilbert made a distressed call to 911 in May 2010 and had not been seen since. Gilbert wasn’t immediately found but a police officer instead found the body of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
The search that followed also uncovered the bodies of Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, and Melissa Barthelemy, their murdered bodies bound and wrapped up near Gilgo Beach.
It was these first four discovered murdered women that became known as The Gilgo Four.
The Gilgo Four: The women behind the number
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was a 25-year-old from Norwich, Connecticut was reported missing in 2007, after being threatened with eviction by her landlord. She feared her unstable housing situation would see her lose custody of her child.
According to her friend and fellow escort Sara Karnes (via Netflix's Tudum) who’s interviewed in Gone Girls, she hoped to make $3,000 working in New York on the day she disappeared. Money, she hoped, would stave off her financial issues.
That night, after deciding to take the train back to Connecticut, her loved ones lost contact with her.
Two years after Maureen disappeared, 24-year-old Bronx native and beauty school grad Melissa Barthelemy disappeared after mentioning she was going to see a Long Island-based client.
After she went missing, her then-teenage sister Amanda Funderburg received taunting phonecalls from an unknown man. The caller wasn’t traced but the location was established as midtown Manhattan.
Another of the Gilgo Four who reportedly began sex work as a means to support her daughter, Megan Waterman went missing on 6 June 2010 when she was just 22.
“Megan was loved by a lot if people,” says her aunt, Elizabeth Meserve. “And this affected a lot of lives.”
CCTV from the hotel she was staying at shows her leaving at 1:15am – presumably to meet a client.
Amber Lynn Costello went missing in September 2010 – when she was living in a Long Island house share with friends.
In the doc, a friend remembers her as “quirky”, “goofy” and generous, saying “[she would] give you the shirt off her back.”
Her flatmates, on one occasion, stepped in to protect her from a client when she’d shouted for help.
On the last night she was seen alive, she’d left home without her purse or mobile phone, going to meet a man who promised her a much higher fee than usual if she stayed with him for 24 hours.
Following her disappearance, the flatmates gave a detailed description of the man they had previously made leave the house – suspecting his involvement. The lead wasn’t pursued.
Years on, their description of the man and his car led directly to the arrest of the suspect, Rex Heuermann.
How did the discovery of The Gilgo Four impact the case?
Once the bodies of The Gilgo Four were found, the investigation (which, as mentioned, had been criticised for being sluggish and without urgency, likely because of the murdered women having made a living by selling sex) ramped up.
Following the discovery of The Gilgo Four, more bodies were found in the area. Most of them, it was discovered, were also murdered sex workers which suggested all these killings were likely the result of a serial killer who specifically preyed on sex workers. And was, likely, local.
As the docu-series airs this week, accused killer Rex Heuermann is due to undergo his pre-trial hearing. Though there are fears that key DNA evidence may not be admissable.
There was been over 11 bodies discovered in the Gilgo Beach area, so far. This includes the body of Shannan Gilbert, whose terrified 911 call is, as mentioned, played at the beginning of Gone Girls.
While most of the bodies have been identified – including The Gilgo Four – others haven’t. They reportedly include a mother and toddler daughter.
