August 01, 2023
Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann — who was charged last month for Long Island murders that took place more than a decade ago — is not connected to the 2006 deaths of four women in Egg Harbor Township, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday.
Detectives from Atlantic County and Suffolk County, New York met recently to compare timelines, dates and methodologies of the New Jersey and New York cases but did not establish ties between them, Prosecutor William Reynolds said in a statement.
“The 2006 case remains an open joint investigation between ACPO and the Egg Harbor Township Police Department with continued assistance from our local, State, and Federal partners," Reynolds said.
In November 2006, four women — all sex workers in Atlantic City — were found dead behind the Golden Key Motel along Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township, just outside Atlantic City. The unknown culprit is often referred to as the "Eastbound Strangler."
The bodies were placed face down in a drainage ditch behind the motel about 60 feet apart from one another. They were all found clothed but barefoot. The victims – Barbara V. Breidor, 42, Molly Jean Dilts, 20, Kim Raffo, 35, and Tracy Ann Roberts, 23 – are believed to have been strangled to death. Police believe the women were killed at different times, based on their bodies' varying states of decomposition.
"Authorities will continue to follow all leads until the perpetrator of those crimes is brought to justice. Given the open nature of the investigation, there will be no further comment on this case in order to minimize the possibility of controlled information getting out into the public that could ultimately jeopardize the investigation," Reynolds said.
The update from prosecutors comes after authorities in New York were examining a number of unsolved homicide cases that they believed could be connected to Heuermann, including the Egg Harbor Township murders.
Heuermann, 59, an architect from Massapequa, was charged on July 14 with killing three of four women whose bodies were found at Gilgo Beach in December 2010. He is also considered the prime suspect in the death of the fourth woman.
The bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway during a search for another woman, whose disappearance led New York investigators to uncover the remains of 10 people in the next year.
Many of the victims of the Long Island killings were strangled and most of them were sex workers, investigators have said.
Heuermann was identified through a combination of cell phone records, witness testimony about a vehicle linked to the crimes, DNA evidence and the suspect's physical description, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.
At this time, Heuermann has not been linked to any of the other women found dead in Long Island. This includes Valerie Mack, an Egg Harbor native who went missing in 2000 and was living in Philadelphia around the time of her disappearance.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed last month in Suffolk County.
Anyone with information regarding the 2006 murders in Egg Harbor Township can contact the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or the Atlantic County Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234.
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