Netflix alert: this docuseries is a must-see for crime lovers
Raise your hands if you also have a slight true-crime addiction Nothing to be ashamed of, it's also mega interesting to dive into all those bizarre stories. Netflix gets that, and gives us another new title to look forward to. ‘Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer’ shows how one disappearance turns into a thirteen-year-long murder investigation; and why this might be the police's fault.
A much larger case
It is May 1, 2010, when 23-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert disappears without a trace after visiting a client. She calls the police because she believes she is being followed, but when the officers arrive, she is nowhere to be found. A large search along the coastline of Long Island begins, with results. However, no one expected this discovery. The bodies of four young women are found, but not Shannan's. The women also worked in the escort industry and had been missing for a long time. The police continue to search the area and find more bodies after two months, again of female sex workers and still no Shannan. It is not until a year and a half later that her body is recovered. The police now suspect a serial killer, but the investigation is slow. The families of the victims feel they are not being taken seriously and believe that the police are not doing everything possible to find the perpetrator due to their judgment about the women's work. It ultimately takes thirteen years before there is finally a breakthrough. In 2023, architect Rex Heuermann is arrested after DNA evidence links him to three of the found women. Later, the charges are expanded, and he is now suspected of seven murders; but not that of Shannan. The police believe she got lost in the marshland of the island and ultimately died there; her family is certain she was murdered and continues to fight for justice. Heuermann denies all charges, and to this day, it remains a question of whether he is indeed the Long Island Serial Killer and whether there are more victims.
New information
Director Liz Garbus previously delved into the case. In 2020, she made the film ‘Lost Girls’, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Robert Kolker. The mystery drama tells the story of Mari Gilbert, Shannan's mother, who, due to the lack of attention from the police, goes in search of her daughter herself and discovers that the story is much bigger than she ever could have imagined. With the arrest of Heuermann, the case came back into the spotlight, and Garbus decided to delve into it again. She spoke with journalists, law enforcement, and friends and family members of the victims and of Heuermann. Together, they explored the years-long struggle for justice. The documentary focuses on the difficult investigation but also aims to show that the women were more than just the prejudices. Her new research also gave Garbus the chance to further investigate the role of the police which turned out to be much larger than initially thought. For all my fellow home detectives: we still need to be patient for a little while longer to discover how it really is.
‘Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer’ will be available on Netflix starting March 31.
Image: Netflix
