Netflix's documentary, Gone Girls: The Search for the Long Island Serial Killer, gives an update on the Gilgo Beach serial killings. The story was first made into a film called Lost Girls, which was released before the prime suspect was arrested for the murders. genuinely scary true-crime documentaries on Netflix and is largely told from the perspectives of the victims' loved ones.

While Lost Girls is a much shorter movie and focuses on the police department's failure to take the case seriously until several bodies were found, Gone Girls takes a more in-depth approach. Gone Girls interviews several friends and family of the victims, building the story up from the moment Shannan Gilbert raised the alarm to the arrest of the main suspect. Gone Girls might start with Gilbert's frantic phone call, but she was not the first woman to be found, and it was the discovery of The Gilgo Four that helped to solve her disappearance.

The Gilgo Four Were The First Bodies Found In The Long Island Serial Killer Case

The Discovery Of The Gilgo Four Led To A Major Investigation

In December 2010, after the disappearances of several sex workers were reported in the Long Island area, police were searching for signs of one woman. Shannan Gilbert had made a panicked call to 911 in May 2010 and had not been seen since. While Gilbert was not immediately found, a police officer instead found the body of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was reported missing in 2007. The resulting extensive search also uncovered the bodies of Amber Costello, Megan Waterman, and Melissa Barthelemy, bound and wrapped in burlap near Gilgo Beach. These women became known as The Gilgo Four.

This was likely the work of an active serial killer who deliberately preyed on sex workers.

The initial investigation had been criticized for its lack of urgency and gravity, likely due to the stigma against sex work. After the bodies of The Gilgo Four were found, the search turned into a major investigation, revealing more bodies in the area. The fact that most of the people discovered near Gilgo Beach were also sex workers revealed that this was likely the work of an active serial killer who deliberately preyed on sex workers and lived nearby. Netflix's Gone Girls gives a voice to the families of these women and some investigators involved in the case.

Over Eleven Bodies Have Now Been Found In The Area

Rex Heuermann Has Been Accused Of Seven Murders, Including The Gilgo Four

While the search of the area is reportedly still ongoing, there have been over eleven bodies discovered in the Gilgo Beach area to date. This includes the body of Shannan Gilbert, whose frightened call to 911 is played at the beginning of Gone Girls. While most of the bodies have been identified, some have not. This includes a mother and her toddler daughter, and another person who may have either been a trans woman, or a man dressed up by the killer. Surprisingly, considering the number of bodies, this was a lesser-known true crime case until a suspect was found.

Many people interviewed in Netflix's Gone Girls documentary believe that the same person is responsible for the murders of all eleven people who were found in the Gilgo Beach area. This is Rex Heuermann, who fits the "enormous ogre" description that many of the surviving potential victims give in the documentary. Heuermann lived in the area, kept what appeared to be murder instruction manuals linked to the missing women, and all the murders occurred when his family was out of town. Heuermann is currently awaiting trial for seven of the murders, including The Gilgo Four.