Rex Heuermann, the 60-year-old Manhattan architect charged with killing three women almost 30 years ago on Long Island’s South Shore, was charged with the killing of a fourth woman on Tuesday after DNA evidence connected him to the crime.

The investigation into the potential serial killings began in December 2010 after the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker who fled a client while fearing for her life. While searching for Gilbert’s body on a marshy stretch of highway near Gilgo Beach, investigators found the remains of 11 more people, including some who had been missing since the 1990s. Gilbert’s body was eventually found about nine miles from the other bodies in Oak Beach. The murders remained unsolved for decades until the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office opened a new investigation into the cold cases. Police found five hairs from an unrelated male on the burlap sacks during the initial investigation, but the DNA was too degraded at the time for a positive ID. As forensic DNA technology advanced over 13 years, investigators were finally able to identify Heuermann as a suspect. Heuermann was matched to the hairs after investigators matched the DNA to saliva found on a discarded pizza box in Manhattan, according to court records. Heuermann was first identified in March 2022, and investigators then spent over a year putting together what Tierney called a “massive amount” of evidence against the suspect, including cell phone records, car ownership records that match witness testimony and physical burner phones Heuermann may have used to send threats to victims’ families.

Although Heuermann has now been charged with four murders, seven more bodies were found in the same area he allegedly dumped his victims. Prosecutors have not directly connected Heuermann to these murders, and several victims remain unidentified, including the bodies of a mother and toddler.