Detectives have been seen scouring woodland close to where body parts from victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killings were found more than a decade ago.
Search teams with K9s are sweeping the forest area in Manorville, New York, for a third day, where the partial remains of two women, Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor, were discovered in 2000 and 2003 respectively.
It is not known why cops started a fresh search of the area this week in relation to the case. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the specifics of the search.
It comes as Rex Heuermann, 60, who is charged with killing four female sex workers whose bodies were found on a remote stretch of Gilgo Beach around the same time, continues to insist that crooked cop James Burke is involved in the killings.
The former Long Island architect is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
Detectives have been seen
scouring woodland close to where torsos from victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killings were found more than a decade ago
Search teams with K9s are sweeping the forest area in Manorville, New York, for a third day, where the bodies of two victims, Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor, were discovered in 2000 and 2003 respectively
A new search is underway in connection to the Gilgo Beach murder investigation, according to police sources. Rex Heuermann, 60, is charged with murdering four female sex workers
Investigators said that Heuermann, who lived in Massapequa Park across the bay from where many of the bodies were found, was probably not responsible for all the deaths. He has not been connected with the slayings of Mack and Taylor.
'The Suffolk County Police Department, the New York Police Department and the New York State Police are working with the District Attorney´s Office on an ongoing investigation,' prosecutors said in a statement about the fresh search.
'We do not comment on investigative steps while they are underway.' The searches come after the father-of-two's home was raided following discovery of the bodies. His alleged victims were found wrapped in burlap and buried along the remote stretch of Ocean Parkway on Long Island's South Shore over a decade ago.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts and currently remains in jail awaiting trial.The women's remains were discovered during the search for 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert, an
istanbul escort bayan from New Jersey who had vanished in May 2010 after making a frantic 911 call.
Her remains were found along the same stretch of coast in December 2011 - and it was her body that led police to the discovery of the 'Gilgo Four.'
Investigators said that Heuermann, who lived in Massapequa Park across the bay from where many of the bodies were found, was probably not responsible for all the deaths. He has not been connected with the slayings of Mack and Taylor
It is not known why cops started a fresh search of the area this week in relation to the case. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the specifics of the search
'The Suffolk County Police Department, the New York Police Department and the New York State Police are working with the District Attorney´s Office on an ongoing investigation,' prosecutors said in a statement about the fresh search
Multiple agencies searching Manorville location in connection with Gilgo Beach investigationCops with K-9 units searched the Manorville Woods on Wednesday The women known as the 'Gilgo Four' were discovered close to Heuermann's Long Island home. However, other bodies - including those of sex workers - have been found in the area
The first victim, 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, from Maine, was found two days later
Heuermann is also charged with killing Amber Costello (left) and Maureen Brainard-Barnes (right) DNA found on the burlap wrapped around Waterman's body was a 99.96 percent match to samples from a discarded pizza crust and napkin in a garbage bin outside Heuermann's firm, police said
No one has ever been charged in Gilbert's death and police said it may have been accidental - but her family believe she was
murdered.
The women were among 11 found on the desolate stretch of coastline close to Heuermann's Long Island Home between 2010 and 2011.
All of the victims worked as escorts who advertised themselves on Craigslist.Heuermann was linked to the killings by DNA on the burlap used to transport the bodied which was compared to samples taken from a pizza crust and napkin that were discarded outside his Manhattan architectural firm, police said.
The samples boasted a 99.96 percent match, according to law enforcement.Prior to testing the DNA, cops said they were alerted to Heuermann as a potential suspect after a witness linked Heuermann's Chevrolet Avalanche to Costello's murder.
The car was then tied to Heuermann's cellphone records, which allegedly linked him to locations related to the murders.
The indictment stated that Heuermann had used different burner phones to contact each of his victims.
Heuermann, a father-of-two, has been held in jail without bail since his arrest and has pleaded not guilty
Police confirmed they are probing Heuermann's potential link to the murders of two other sex workers: Valerie Mack, 25, went missing around the summer of 2000. Her remains were located that September, and more remains were discovered nearly 11 years later
The Heuermann family home in Massapequa Park was torn apart by authorities as they combed the property for evidence
The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the nature of the new search. Pictured: Investigators suit up outside Heuermann's home last July
Cops also accused Heuermann of using Barthelemy's phone to make taunting phone calls to her family from the comfort of his office.
Her sister Melissa told how she was bombarded with threatening phone calls from the killer who boasted of the killing and was keeping tabs on her movements.
In October, it was revealed that Heuermann is being probed over the slaying of two additional sex workers.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison confirmed he had assigned additional investigators to the case of two other women, Valerie Mack and Karen Vergata.
At the suspected time of the murders, Heuermann's now ex-wife Asa Ellerup was away from home. She filed for divorce less than a week after he husband's arrest.
The accused killer was back in court for a procedural hearing on April 17. He listened intently to the hearing, which centered around troves of potential evidence seized from various devices related to the case.
Ellerup was also spotted pulling up in a black Mercedes outside the Long Island courthouse.Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A.