What to know about an infamous serial killer case & the NC native at the center
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Amber Lynn Costello was last seen Sept. 2, 2010 and found Dec. 13, 2010 on Gilgo Beach.
- Rex Heuermann, 62, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2026 to strangling eight victims.
- The killer drove a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche, leading to Heuermann.
Amber Lynn Costello was born in Charlotte, raised in Wilmington and murdered on Long Island. On April 8, the man who killed her — Rex Heuermann, 62 — pleaded guilty to strangling eight of his victims.
FULL STORY (April 8, 2026) : NC Native Amber Costello Among 8 Victims of Gilgo Beach Killer
Here are key takeaways:
• Costello was 27 when she vanished. She was living in North Babylon, New York, and was last seen leaving her home on foot on Sept. 2, 2010, to meet a client. She was never reported missing. Her body was discovered on Gilgo Beach on Dec. 13, 2010.
• She moved to New York after a falling out with family over her drug dependency, her former husband Michael Wilhelm of Kannapolis told the Associated Press in 2011. Her sister had gotten her into rehab in New York.
• Costello’s case broke the investigation wide open. Her procurer told police the killer drove a “first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche.” Police searched registration records and were led to Heuermann.
• Her Gaston County aunt never stopped pushing for answers. Bonnie Sasse told Queen City News she had been calling the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office for years. “Amber was such a beautiful, beautiful, loving human being, and I miss her terribly,” Sasse said.
• Heuermann admitted to hiring the women as “escorts,” strangling them and leaving their bodies wrapped in burlap along Ocean Parkway. He had been arrested in July 2023 and initially pleaded not guilty.
• Heuermann owned property in Chester County, South Carolina, where a Chevrolet Avalanche was seized — either the same truck or one similar to the vehicle linked to Costello’s murder.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.
