On Jan. 16, 2024, The New York Times reported that Rex Heuermann was charged with killing Maureen Brainard-Barnes. The 25-year-old disappeared in 2007, and her remains were found in the Gilgo Beach area, near where Heuermann lived. Brainard-Barnes’ death is now among several known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
When Heuermann was arrested in July 2023, he was charged with three other murders related to remains found near Gilgo Beach, and considered a prime suspect in Brainard-Barnes’ death. By Jan. 2024, a hair found on Brainard-Barnes’ remains was linked through DNA to Heuermann’s estranged wife, Asa Ellerup. Meanwhile, phone and online records indicated that Heuermann contacted Brainard-Barnes, a sex worker, not long before she disappeared.
Brainard-Barnes’ remains were also found wrapped with a belt inscribed with “WH,” possibly linked to Rex Heuermann’s father, 6ABC.com reported. Ellerup was reportedly out of town when Brainard-Barnes died. Heuermann pleaded not guilty.
Who was Maureen Brainard-Barnes?
According to GilgoNews.com, Maureen Brainard-Barnes lived in Connecticut but traveled to Manhattan, where she did sex work. She was last heard from on July 9, 2007, when she told a female friend she was meeting a client for an “out-call,” when Brainard-Barnes typically met men in hotel or motel rooms in the city.
She was reported missing five days later, and her remains were found in 2010 near Gilgo Beach, the first of four sets of remains known collectively as the “Gilgo Four.” Since then, ten sets of remains have been recovered in the same area, long believed to be the work of a serial killer referred to as the Long Island Serial Killer, or LISK.
Brainard-Barnes was a mother
According to USA Today, Maureen Brainard-Barnes was a mother of two children — Nicolette Brainard-Barnes and Dylan Haggett — when she died, and she was described as a “devoted mother.” When announcing the news that Rex Heuermann had been formally charged with her death, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said:
“[Brainard-Barnes] was an intellectual; she was a writer; she was an artistic person. She cared very deeply about the people that she loved. She fiercely protected them. … She’s sorely missed by those that love her.”
via USA Today
The other three women Heuermann is accused of killing are Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello, who were all in their 20s when they were killed. When Heuermann’s Brainard-Barnes-related charges were announced, the investigation into the other six people found around Gilgo Beach was ongoing.
Published: Jan 16, 2024 03:44 pm