NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Amanda F, the sister of Melissa Barthelemy, one of the victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killer, detailed the horrifying ordeal she and her family endured at the hands of the suspect. She said that the man, who was arrested last week, used to call her from her sister’s cellphone and taunt her with details of the murder.

“He had a strong accent, New York, Long Island. He was very monotone when he talked, like a middle-aged white guy,” Amanda told PIX11 in 2020 shortly after the Netflix movie about 'Gilgo Four' was released. “He knew my name. He knew what I looked like.”

'He killed Melissa after having sex with her'

"He killed her; he raped her. Maybe one day he'd tell me where she was," shared Amanda F, laying bare the emotional turmoil inflicted by the relentless calls. Amanda said that the man called her seven times in 2009 when she was just 15 and shortly after her sister disappeared from the Bronx where she worked as an escort. While recalling a phone call he made back then in 2020, Amanda said he called her sister derogatory names and admitted to killing and raping her. “He killed Melissa after having sex with her,” Amanda recalled. “In the final call, he said he’d killed her.”

Police traced the calls which originated from locations close to where Rex Heuermann worked and lived

Police traced the calls and found that they originated from Penn Station in Manhattan and Massapequa on Long Island. These locations are reportedly close to where Rex Heuermann, 59, a Manhattan architect, worked and lived. Heuermann was charged with first and second degree murder in connection with the deaths of Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. He is also the prime suspect in another killing. Barthelemy’s body was found on December 11, 2010, along Ocean Parkway on Long Island, near a sign with the letter G. This matched a clue given by a psychic hired by the family to help find her remains. Three other bodies were found nearby two days later, sparking a massive investigation into a possible serial killer.

'God has brought peace to the families'

Amanda’s cousin, Amy Brotz, told the publication that the arrest brought some peace to the family, but also reopened old wounds. “God has brought peace to the families,” Brotz said. “Maybe we can start the healing.” However, she also expressed concern about the upcoming trial and the possibility of not getting justice. “The fact that my family is going to have to sit and listen to all this, to every specific, tiny little detail is making me sick,” Brotz said. If convicted on all charges, Heuermann would face multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. Even as the grieving father has too expressed relief that the suspect is in custody now, the victims' mother Lynn Barthelemy recently told NBC, "Death is too good for him. I´d like him to suffer at the hands of other inmates."