MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Investigators in the New York City suburbs continue to scour the home of a Manhattan architect charged in a string of slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings.
Friday marked the fifth straight day of the renewed search by state and local police of Rex Heuermann’s dilapidated, single-family home in Massapequa Park on Long Island.
Police in the early afternoon were seen removing a large rectangular object covered in a blue cloth and loading it into the back of a truck, which was parked in the driveway as it was loaded with evidence pulled from the home.
Other officers emerging from the mobile command units that Suffolk County police set up on the closed-off street also carried cardboard boxes of evidence back into the home but it wasn’t clear their contents.
Vess Mitev, a lawyer representing Heuermann’s two adult children, said the family hasn’t been told when they’ll be able to move back in.
“We have no knowledge of a set end time or date of when the house will be vacated by law enforcement; my clients certainly hope their home will be returned to them sooner rather than later,” he wrote in an email Friday.
Victoria Heuermann, the suspect’s daughter, returned to the neighborhood Wednesday with her mother’s lawyer in order to collect her parked car.
The 27-year-old was the only member of the family at the house when law enforcement officials executed a search warrant early Monday morning. Her mother and brother have been vacationing in South Carolina, the family’s lawyers have said.
Victoria Heuermann, who has been staying at an undisclosed location, drove off without commenting Wednesday, but attorney Robert Macedonio told reporters the family was “surprised” by the renewed search, which he described as “like post-traumatic stress.”
“Their lives have been turned upside down, destroyed,” he said Wednesday. “Their personal property has been taken, obviously for legal purposes, but they don’t understand that.”
Macedonio, who didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Friday, also said the family’s lawyers will be reviewing the search warrant to “see what probable cause was obtained to get back into the residence.”
Investigators spent nearly two weeks last July at the home, located in a suburban town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Manhattan.
That search turned up more than 200 firearms, including dozens stored in a basement vault. Investigators also tore up a wooden deck, used an excavator to dig up the backyard and scanned for buried objects with specialized equipment.
Spokespersons for Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting the case, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
Tierney briefly visited the house Thursday as investigators photographed the front porch and collected paint chips and other materials and placed them into evidence bags.
Heuermann, meanwhile, is expected to be back in Riverhead court June 18 for a status hearing. The 60-year-old has been in custody since his arrest last July and no trial date has been set.
His lawyer didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
