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Lifetime's 2021 movie 'The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother's Hunt for Justice' has been updated with new information about the suspected killer's arrest.

Published on August 4, 2023

Lifetime is digging into its archive following the arrest of suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann. The network will rebroadcast its 2021 movie The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother’s Hunt for Justice. The movie told the story of Mari Gilbert, whose quest for the truth after her daughter Shannan went missing led to the discovery of the bodies of multiple murdered women. 

‘The Gilgo Beach Killer’ will air August 6 

Lifetime has updated the movie with new information to reflect Heuermann’s arrest. It will air again on Sunday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET under the new title The Gilgo Beach Killer as part of the network’s “Ripped from the Headlines” August programming.

The Gilgo Beach Killer will feature new content from executive producer and Emmy-winning journalist Deborah Norville, who provides new details on the case. 

The original movie starred Kim Delaney as Mari Gilbert. After her daughter Shannan disappears, she refuses to give up hope of finding her daughter. Her search for answers leads police to find the bodies of numerous other young women on Long Island, who may have fallen prey to a serial killer. 

Police say Rex Heuermann is the Long Island serial killer 

Shannan Gilbert, who was working as an escort, vanished in May 2010. She was last seen leaving a client’s house in the secluded community of Oak Beach on Long Island’s south shore. Months later, while searching for Shannan, police found the remains of several other people. They included Megan Waterman, 22; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. Police suspected that the same person killed all four women. 

Shannan Gilbert’s body was eventually discovered in a marshy area not far from Oak Beach. Police believe she drowned accidentally. 

The cases fascinated the public and were the subject of multiple documentaries and books. But the identity of the killer remained a mystery. Then, in July 2023, police announced they’d arrested Heuermann, 59, who worked as an architect in Manhattan and lived on Long Island. They found evidence linking Heuermann to the deaths of Waterman, Barthelemy, and Costello. They believe he is also responsible for the death of Brainard-Barnes, though he has not been charged in that case. 

In addition to the Lifetime movie, Netflix’s 2020 movie Lost Girls is also inspired by the then-unsolved case. Based on a true-crime book by Robert Kolker, it stars Amy Ryan as Mari Gilbert. It chronicles Mari’s efforts to find her daughter and the relationships she formed with the mothers and sisters of the other missing women. 

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