For over a decade, a killer hid in plain sight.

On a cold December morning in 2010, police searching for a missing woman stumbled upon four bodies wrapped in burlap along a desolate stretch of Ocean Parkway. What began as a missing persons case exploded into one of the most chilling serial killer investigations in American history—the hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer.

Eleven sets of remains. Thirteen years of dead ends. One suspect who lived among us.

In July 2023, Rex Heuermann—a Manhattan architect, husband, and father—was arrested and charged with multiple murders in connection to the Gilgo Beach killings. The question that haunted investigators for years was finally answered: How does a serial killer operate undetected in one of America's most populated areas?

The Gilgo Beach Murders takes you inside the investigation that captivated a nation, from the first grim discovery to the shocking arrest that shook Long Island to its core. Author James G. Edwards II meticulously chronicles the lives of the forgotten victims, the frustrating years of investigative failures and corruption, and the technological breakthroughs that finally brought a predator to justice.

This is the complete story of:

• The victims whose lives were cut short and the families who never stopped searching
• The botched investigation hampered by corruption and jurisdictional infighting
• The digital forensics revolution that cracked the case wide openRex Heuermann's secret life and the evidence that connected him to murder
• The unanswered questions that still haunt this case

More than a true crime story, this is an examination of how society fails its most vulnerable, how justice can be delayed but not denied, and how a community confronts the unthinkable reality that a monster lived in their midst.

Some secrets don't stay buried forever.