Detectives in South Carolina are reviewing a near-decade-old missing person case to see whether suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann may have been involved, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Cops in Rock Hill, just 20 miles from where Heuermann bought a wild 18-acre plot of land confirmed they are looking anew at the case of Aaliyah Bell Hall who went missing in 2014.
The news has brought new hope of closure for Aaliyah’s family, who have had to live without knowing what happened to the pretty 18-year-old, who vanished after leaving her uncle’s house on November 25, 2014.
Now they are hoping police will search Heuermann’s property to see if Aaliyah – or anyone else – could be buried there.
‘We’ve had a lot of false leads, a lot of people who said they saw things, but nothing has been solid,’ her aunt Laroy Hall told DailyMail.com.
‘I can understand why they would want to look into it, because a lot of what is being brought up now was said at the time. People saw a dark truck close to where she vanished.’
Aaliyah Bell Hall was 18 when she vanished in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on November 25, 2014
Rex Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the charges of three murders in Gilgo Beach
Rex Heuermann bought 18 acres of undeveloped land 20 miles from where Aaliyah went missing. Now the family hopes police will search it to see if any bodies are buried there
A spokesman for Rock Hill Police Department told DailyMail.com: ‘We have not been contacted by any other agencies. But we are reviewing the case and investigating any potential links or matching timeframes regarding Aaliyah Bell’s disappearance with Rex Heuermann.’
Heuermann has been charged with the murders of three women whose bodies were found on Gilgo Beach on Long Island, New York, in 2009 and 2010, and is expected to be charged with a fourth.
Police in New York say that Heuermann targeted sex workers. Aaliyah’s relatives say that she wasn’t involved in prostitution – but admit they heard after her disappearance that she ‘did what she had to in order to get by’.
Aaliyah was last seen leaving her uncle’s house at about 10pm on November 25, 2014, two days before Thanksgiving.
Family members told DailyMail.com that neighbors heard ‘screaming’ and spotted a dark colored vehicle in the area shortly before she vanished.
The teenager regularly used the path down Chestnut Street to reach the home of her godmother on Confederate Avenue where she was staying
Aaliyah’s aunt, told DailyMail.com that the police had not been in touch with the family regarding the possible update, despite a new detective being put on the case in 2020.
She said: ‘I think at this point any lead that they might have is worth them looking into because her family still has hope. Her mom wants her home and the rest of her family are hoping and praying that we get some kind of closure.
‘But it would make sense that the police would want to look into it, neighbors said it was almost like she knew the person.
‘As a family we want her home and some closure into what happened with her.
‘It’s not that I have any thoughts on him, we don’t know if he is the person responsible.
‘But I will say for anyone involved, we know the lengths we are willing to go to protect our family.’
Hall said whoever killed her niece ‘should be punished to the utmost’.
‘This is somebody’s child. She vanished into thin air and has just gone. We want justice and closure to what happened.
‘If the police department is taking it seriously to see if it ties in, then we appreciate that,’ the aunt said.
‘Up until now there hasn’t really been any support from them. We haven’t had anyone reach out to us, no teams were put together. My niece was not granted the support of the police department, the FBI or anyone else.
‘It’s amazing to me that here we are nine years later and they are going to look into this. It is what it is, we hope that we can get closure but we aren’t going to put all of our eggs in one basket.
Hall said she will never forget going to Thanksgiving and her niece not showing up. ‘It’s a traumatic experience that my family deals with every single day,’ she said.
DailyMail.com understands Heuermann sold his green Chevy to his brother, Craig, who neighbors described as ‘crazy’ and ‘a nut’. Craig Heuermann was seen leaving his property on Tuesday morning
Family members of Hall told DailyMail.com that neighbors heard ‘screaming’ and spotted a dark colored car in the area shortly before she vanished. The green Chevy is seen being seized by police on Tuesday
Land registry documents revealed that Rex Heuermann purchased $154,000 worth of land in Chester in 2021, with neighbors saying he had planned to create a ‘compound’ with his brother who lives on the property
The family spent weeks scouring creeks and woodland searching for Aaliyah, desperately trying to bring her home saying they ‘did all they could do’.
Aaliyah had been doing her younger sister’s hair before she left her uncle’s house.
Her cousin Latricia Hall, added that while they had hoped for her to return, a part of them believed she had been killed in the area.
Aaliyah’s cousin Latricia Hall told DailyMail.com that while the family had hoped for her to return, a part of them believed she had been killed in the area
‘She was a wildcat. She would have fought anyone that tried to take her, none of it makes sense,’ she said.
‘Aaliyah wouldn’t have just gone off. She had money from her uncle that she was going to use to buy new shoes.
‘They left them in the store hoping she would get them, but she didn’t. She was a massive sneaker head and she wouldn’t have just upped and vanished.
‘A lot of us didn’t find out until the next morning that she had gone missing, we knocked on doors and were searching woodland looking for her.’
Aaliyah’s family organize a balloon release every year on the anniversary of her disappearance, and have always hoped for answers. They post about her disappearance, hoping to jog someone’s mind or conscience.
‘Her mother needs something to hold on to because she wants her daughter back,’ said Latricia. Even if it’s finding out what has happened to her.
‘In my heart I feel he probably is the person that did this, and we won’t know unless he talks.
‘But I hope that he will give her mom closure to know what happened to her daughter because that’s the worst feeling in the world. Hopefully we can find the ending to this and she will know.
‘For all we know there are bodies in that area in Chester,’ added Hall. ‘The police should be looking into everything that they can.’
Police in Rock Hill said Hall’s family will be ‘immediately notified’ if any leads develop.
Aaliyah’s family spent weeks scouring creeks and woodland searching for her, desperately trying to bring her home saying they ‘did all they could do’
Police in New York say that Heuermann targeted sex workers, with relatives of Aaliyah saying that she wasn’t involved in prostitution but had heard after her disappearance that she ‘did what she had to in order to get by’
In 2020 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed photo depicting what Bell might look like aged 24
Aaliyah was last seen leaving her uncle’s house at about 10pm on November 25, 2014, two days before Thanksgiving. She regularly used the path down Chestnut Street to reach the home of her godmother on Confederate Avenue where she was staying
After her disappearance there were possible sightings of Bell at hotels or apartment complexes in Columbia, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina, but officers located the women thought to be her.
Police have not been able to find any tax records, police records, registrations or signs that she has applied for a credit card since going missing.
Rock Hill Police detective, Tayler Tucker, took over the cold case last year. He said in an update at the time: ‘It’s difficult to imagine an 18-year-old girl just up and vanishing from nowhere.
‘There are no leads, no signs of a struggle on the path, it’s like she up and vanished.
‘We are always going to have hope of solving the case,’ added Tucker. And we are going to continue to work until we do solve the case.’
In 2020 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed photo depicting what Bell might look like aged 24.
Authorities in Las Vegas also confirmed that they are reviewing their cold cases after it was revealed that Heuermann has a timeshare in a luxury condo just minutes from the strip.
DailyMail.com confirmed that married Heuermann purchased his share of the two-bedroom and two-bathroom condo in Nevada for $16,955 in 2005 with his wife, Asa Ellerup, four years before any of the Gilgo Beach murders took place.
The Vegas apartment is in a lavish complex which boasts a resort-style pool, spa, tennis court, putting green, and exercise facility.
The Las Vegas Police Department confirmed it was ‘aware’ of the Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect’s connections to the city and already actively investigating possible links to crimes.
In a statement they said: ‘We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement.’
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to murdering Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were all found on Gilgo Beach close to his home in Massapequa Park.
He has also been named the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, with officials ‘confident’ that they will be able to charge him in that case.
Suffolk County police officials have also confirmed they have not ruled out ties to six other bodies found in a similar area in 2010 and 2011.
Land registry documents revealed that Heuermann purchased $154,000 worth of land in Chester in 2021, with neighbors saying he had planned to create a ‘compound’ with his brother Craig who lives on the property.
Melissa Barthelemy, top left, Amber Costello, top right, Megan Waterman, bottom left, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Authorities on Long Island are vowing to continue investigating the Gilgo Beach murders after charging an architect in the deaths of three of the 11 victims
Aaliyah had been preparing for family Thanksgiving and had been doing her younger sister’s hair before she left her uncle’s house and vanished in 2014. Her family is hoping for justice
Authorities swooped on the run-down compound on Friday, the day after Heuermann was arrested outside his Midtown Manhattan office, and removed a green Chevy Avalanche truck.
Cops linked the Avalanche to Costello’s murder. Her body was found in December 2010. She had gone missing three months earlier.
A witness had seen the rare first generation vehicle in Costello’s driveway.
DailyMail.com understands Heuermann sold the vehicle to his brother who has regularly been driving it on the roads around his 18-acre compound in Chester, South Carolina.
Chester County Sheriff’s Office would not confirm if they were looking to make any arrests in the area in relation to the Long Island murders. Currently Rex Heuermann is the only person held.
In a statement they said: ‘On Thursday, July 13, 2023 Rex Heuermann was criminally charged and arrested in the Gilgo Beach murder investigation in Suffolk County, New York.
‘During the investigation and prior to the arrest, the Chester County Sheriff’s Office was requested by the Gilgo Beach Task Force to assist in gathering evidence in Chester County relevant to their investigation.
‘The Chester County Sheriff’s Office has and will continue to work closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Suffolk County law enforcement authorities during this very important and arduous investigation.’
