The police search in a remote area on Long Island is not linked to Rex Heuermann, the suspected Gilgo Beach killer, but to another potential serial killer, according to police sources informed The Post.
Authorities are seeking new evidence related to the 1993 murder of Sandra Costilla, aiming to connect the case to convicted killer John Bittrolff. The focus has shifted from Manorville to North Sea, a hamlet within Southampton Town.
Costilla was found brutally beaten and strangled in North Sea in 1993. Bittrolff, who is serving time for killing two other women on Long Island, was previously a suspect in Costilla’s murder but was never charged.
During the ongoing search in North Sea, detectives are using cadaver-sniffing dogs to aid in the investigation. It remains unclear what new information prompted the searches.
Bittrolff, a former carpenter, lived in Manorville and was arrested in 2014 for the murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee. He was convicted in 2017 and is currently serving 50 years to life.
Investigators have not been able to definitively connect Bittrolff to Costilla’s murder. However, he was a prime suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders investigation for several years.
After Bittrolff’s sentencing, it was revealed that he was also a suspect in at least one of the murders attributed to the Gilgo Beach killer.
Two of the Long Island Serial Killer’s victims, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack, were found in Manorville, close to Bittrolff’s residence. Tangredi’s daughter mentioned that her mother was friends with Melissa Barthelemy, one of the Gilgo Beach victims.
Prior to her disappearance, Barthelemy made calls to a Manorville number, although the owner of the number was never disclosed by the police. Bittrolff was ruled out as a suspect in the Gilgo Beach case before Heuermann was arrested for four of the murders.
Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney stated that Bittrolff was not involved in the Gilgo Beach serial murders. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the four murder charges he faces.
