Authorities explain the evidence they say led them to Rex Heuermann | Forensic Files

before Amber Costello went missing her friend and former roommate Dave Schaller says she had received repeated phone
calls from a client this guy was so relentless he called several times he was on the phone with her for quite a
while each time on September 2nd 2010 police say amber Costello an escort left her home to meet that client and was
never seen again I walked out the front door with her she she gave me a hug she's like I love you
and she left after Amber's disappearance Schaller told police about Amber's clients and
described one as large looking like an ogre and having a first generation Chevy Avalanche at least back then also knew
Amber's client was using a burner phone and they knew that Megan Waterman and Melissa Bartholomew were also contacted
by burner phones right before they disappeared in 2012 with the help of the FBI they determined those calls
connected to cell towers inside a small area of Massapequa Park New York they called it the Box
in 2022 a new task force came across that old description in the case files and started looking for a large man who
lived in that box area and owned a Chevy Avalanche at the time of the disappearances was there a aha moment
when all of a sudden his name came up once we were able to attach the Avalanche inside of that Massapequa box
which then attached to Rex Sherman that was a moment where we said okay there's something here
investigators also say they discovered huermann set up email accounts using fake names one of those accounts linked
to human prosecutors say was used to conduct quote thousands of searches related to sex workers sadistic
torture-related pornography and child pornography there was a lot of torture uh porn and depictions of women uh being
abused uh being raped and being killed investigators say that while they were busy watching huermann huermann was
trying to watch them conducting searches on the investigation and the Gilgo victims not only pictures of the victims
pictures of their relatives their their sisters their children and he was trying
to locate those individuals the circumstantial evidence against human was building but investigators also had
physical evidence from the crime scenes they wondered if they could link to him after authorities found Megan Waterman
in 2010 they found a male hair sample on the burlap around her body in January 2023 a surveillance team
tailed huermann and recovered a pizza box he threw out in Manhattan the pizza which was you know obviously very
significant district attorney Ray Tierney says the DNA on that pizza crust was consistent with the DNA profile from
the hair found with Megan Waterman's body that was a remarkable day it was you know the weekend and you know you
read you get the report and you read it and then you read it again and then you read it a third time and then you read
it a fourth time and then you start making calls after his arrest for the murders of Megan Waterman Amber Costello
and Melissa barthelemy Rex heuerman pleaded not guilty

Dave Schaller told them that before his roommate Amber Costello went missing, he saw a man that looked like an “ogre," and had a Chevy Avalanche. Over a decade later, his description helped lead investigators to Rex Heuermann.

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Brief Summary

Amber Costello vanished in 2010; DNA links suspect Rex Heuermann to her and other victims.

Key points

Amber Costello's Disappearance. Amber Costello, an escort, went missing after leaving to meet a client.
DNA Evidence Links Suspect. DNA from a pizza crust matched evidence found at a crime scene, implicating Rex Huermann.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I love you, and she left.

Amber's last words to her friend before disappearing.

0:25WatchSep 16, 2023

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