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Chunks of alleged Gilgo Beach murderer Rex Heuermann’s bathroom were ripped out as part of cops’ nearly two-week search of his Long Island home, his estranged wife revealed Monday.

Photos exclusively obtained by The Post show a piece of the bathtub cut out, as well as most of the tiled floor missing, in Heuermann’s dilapidated Massapequa Park ranch home.

Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, 59, returned to the family’s home with her children last week after cops wrapped up their search into the grisly 13-year-old slayings — and said that her bathroom is now “in parts” and the rest of the house was left in shambles.

“I can’t use my bathroom sink,” she said. “They cut up the bathtub because it’s vinyl, or whatever plastic that they got. And I got a toilet that I can flush but the floor is ripped up.”

Ellerup and her two children, Christopher Sheridan, 33, who has special needs, and Victoria Heuermann, 26, were kicked out of their house after the accused killer was busted on July 13.


  Suffolk County and state police ripped up the bathroom at the home of Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann in a two-week search for body parts or “trophies” from the 13-year-old killings, the suspect’s estranged wife told The Post. NY Post Suffolk County and state police ripped up the bathroom at the home of Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann in a two-week search for body parts or “trophies” from the 13-year-old killings, the suspect’s estranged wife told The Post. NY Post

  Rex Heuermann, 59, is charged with three counts of murder in the slayings of three women and is the prime suspect in a fourth murder. AP Rex Heuermann, 59, is charged with three counts of murder in the slayings of three women and is the prime suspect in a fourth murder. AP

Rex Heuermann, 59, an architect with an office in Manhattan, was charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22.

He is the “prime suspect” in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25. The remains of the so-called “Gilgo Four” were found along Gilgo Beach in December 2010.


  Suffolk County and state police spent nearly two weeks searching the Massapequa Park home of accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann. NY Post Suffolk County and state police spent nearly two weeks searching the Massapequa Park home of accused Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann. NY Post

  Asa Ellerup said the family had to dig through the rubble just to find a chair inside their Massapequa Park home. NY Post Asa Ellerup said the family had to dig through the rubble just to find a chair inside their Massapequa Park home. NY Post

  Piles of boxes inside the accused serial killer’s house after the police search. NY Post Piles of boxes inside the accused serial killer’s house after the police search. NY Post

Cops launched a thorough search of the Heuermann home after the arrest, combing through the house and backyard until packing up and allowing the family to move back in last week.

Officials said the search had to be thorough because the case sat dormant for so long. They also searched an Amityville storage unit belonging to Heuermann.

Authorities have not said what they’ve found.


  Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, 59, returned to the family’s home with her children last week. Dennis A. Clark Heuermann’s wife, Asa Ellerup, 59, returned to the family’s home with her children last week. Dennis A. Clark

“You’re looking for biological evidence,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney told The Post Monday. “You’re looking for blood, DNA, fibers, hair. So, it’s an inch-by-inch, painstaking search. Literally.

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 the long-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 the discovery of more than 10 sets of human remains along 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 basement 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.
NY Post

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 remains were 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.

“We’ll start the discovery procedure, which is going to be very extensive in this case, given the 13 years of investigation that preceded the arrest.”

Heuermann is expected in court Tuesday.

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