Long Island search is not connected to suspected Gilgo Beach case – but another suspected serial killer

Investigators are looking for evidence in the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla, which they hope to tie to convicted murderer John Bittrolff, 57, police sources say

A new search recently launched on Long Island is not connected to suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann – but instead is believed to be linked to another serial killer suspect.

Investigators are looking for evidence in the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla, which they hope to tie to convicted murderer John Bittrolff, 57, police sources with knowledge of the Suffolk County case told The New York Post.

Officers descended on an area of Long Island’s Manorville on Wednesday, but the extensive search has since shifted to North Sea, a hamlet within Southampton Town, where 28-year-old Sandra Costilla, 28, of Queens, was found by hunters savagely beaten and strangled on 20 November 1993.

It’s unclear what led them to the location or if they have found anything in their search, but police sources say they are hoping to tie Costilla’s murder to Bittrolff.

Bittrolff was previously named as a suspect in Costilla’s murder but has never been charged.

He is currently in prison after being convicted of killing two other women on Long Island – Rita Tangredi, 31, a known sex worker who was found dead on 2 November 1993, in East Patchogue, and Colleen McNamee, 20, who was found dead on 30 January 1994, in a wooded area along William Floyd Parkway.

In 2017, jurors found Bittrolff guilty of second-degree murder in both cases. He is now serving 50 years to life.

For years after his arrest, Mr Bittrolff was also the lead suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders, sources told The Post and was suspected in at least one of the 10 murders attributed to the Gilgo Beach killer, the Suffolk County prosecutors said at his sentencing.

He was found guilty of second-degree murder in both cases and is now serving 50 years to life.

Bittrolff was dismissed as Gilgo Beach suspect months before Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann was arrested in July 2023 and charged with murder in the deaths of four women whose bodies were found covered in burlap near the beach on Long Island more than a decade ago.

Alleged Gilgo serial killer Rex Heuermann, right, along with his attorney Michael Brown, appears inside Judge Tim Mazzei's courtroom in February 2024 after being charged with the murders of four women (Getty Images)

Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney later publicly said Bittrolff was not involved in the Gilgo Beach serial murders.

The women – known as the “Gilgo Four” – have been identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes and Amber Costello.

Mr Heuermann, 60, was initially charged with killing Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello. He was charged with killing Brainard-Barnes, in January of this year. He has pleaded not guilty to the four murder charges.

Two sets of remains of young women, Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor were found more than 20 years ago – in 2000 and 2003, respectively, in Manorville –  three miles from Bittrolff’s residence.

Both women were sex workers at the time of their disappearance.

Further remains of both women were also during a parallel search along Gilgo Beach’s Ocean Parkway in 2011.

Melissa Barthelemy, top left, Amber Costello, top right, Megan Waterman, bottom left, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose bodies were found in 2010 are the Gilgo Four ((Suffolk County Police Department via AP))

The new investigations come after Mr Heuermann’s estranged wife last month said she did not believe he was capable of the crimes he is accused of and she visits him in jail weekly despite pending divorce proceedings.

Asa Ellerup filed for divorce in the days after Heuermann’s arrest, but told outlet Newsday in a statement issued through her lawyer that she would “listen to all of the evidence and withhold judgment until the end of trial.”

Ms Ellerup added, “I have given Rex the benefit of the doubt, as we all deserve.”