SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — A Norwich woman is among the 11 people suspected of being victims of a Long Island serial killer.
Rex Heuermann has been charged with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders after detectives pursuing a new lead matched DNA from a pizza he ate to genetic material found on the women's remains.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, of Norwich, is the fourth woman in the Gilgo Beach murders in which Huerrman is the prime suspect.
Sullfol County Police officials said Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she went missing and was living on Prospect Street in Norwich. She is believed to have taken an Amtrak train from New London to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on July 6, 2007.
While in Manhattan, she was staying at the Super 8 Motel, located at 59 West 46th St. At the time, Brainard-Barnes was working as a sex worker, advertising on Craigslist, Backpage and other websites. She was known to advertise under the names Juliana or Marie. Her routine was to travel to Manhattan for a few days to work as an escort, and then return home to Connecticut. While in Manhattan, she was known to stay at The Super 8, The Red Roof Inn on West 32nd Street, the Carter Hotel on West 43rd St. and the Manhattan Hotel on 8th Avenue.
On occasion, Brainard-Barnes would travel with another female who worked out of a different room at the same location. They both may have used a male friend, who they would refer to as their cousin, to accompany them and offer a level of safety and protection. Brainard-Barnes traveled with her female friend the weekend she went missing, however, her friend returned home early and Brainard-Barnes stayed behind. Brainard-Barnes was last heard from on July 9, 2007 at 11:43 p.m. when she called a friend in Connecticut. Although she was known to work out of motel rooms, on the night of July 9, 2007, she told her friend she would be going to meet someone outside of the motel on an “out-call.”
Brainard-Barnes was reported missing by a friend to the Norwich Police Department on July 14, 2007. The NYPD assisted the Norwich Police Department in the missing person investigation, eventually taking it over. Brainard-Barnes was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, during the search for Shannan Gilbert, who had gone missing from Oak Beach.
She is believed to be the first victim in what is known as the “Gilgo Four”.
However, in talking about the bodies near Gilgo Beach, investigators have said several times over the years that it is unlikely one person killed all the victims.
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