Netflix documentary on Gilgo Beach serial killings premieres this month

PHILADELPHIA — The decades-long search for the man behind the notorious Gilgo Beach killings is now the subject of a new Netflix docuseries.

“Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer” is the story behind the deaths of several Long Island women and the story of Rex Heuermann, the New York architect charged in their deaths last year. The three-episode series is set to premiere on March 31.

Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus says “Gone Girls” delves into the twists and turns behind the case and the longtime search for Heuermann. It features a mix of reenactments and interviews with law enforcement officials, victims’ friends and family members, and friends of Heuermann.

The chilling two-minute trailer for the Netflix series opens with the death of Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old sex worker from Jersey City, whose disappearance triggered the start of what would become the “Long Island serial killer” search. Many of the victims were female sex workers, which Garbus says led to apathy about the deaths from the general public and stretched out the length of the case.

“Young women who worked in the sex industry were disappearing from New York City and Long Island, and no one was looking for them,” according to the trailer.

Garbus told Netflix’s blog, Tudum, that preconceived notions about the victims’ sex work were part of the reason the investigation took so long and that she hopes “Gone Girls” illustrates how multifaceted the victims’ lives were.

“[You’re] going to see stories of young women who were coming of age and trying to make it in a tough economy. But they were moms, and they were showing up for their sister’s birthday parties, and they were living a full other life,” she said. “Your morality may make you believe you would never do that, but you don’t know what someone is facing. Hopefully we can all understand and not judge and certainly not believe that they deserved anything that they got.”

Heuermann, who was charged with the deaths of seven women — including Valerie Mack of Philadelphia — as of December 2024, is being held at the Suffolk County Jail. He maintains that he is not guilty.