Julia Ann Bean: FBI joins probe into missing woman 'last seen’ with Rex Heuermann in 2017
SUMTER COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: Rex Heuermann, a 59-year-old architect, was arrested in New York for allegedly killing four women whose bodies were found wrapped in burlap along Ocean Parkway in December 2010, can be involved in yet another murder.
He has pleaded not guilty to three counts each of first and second-degree murder in the deaths of Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22.
He has been formally named the “prime suspect” in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.
How did Cameron Bean recognize Rex Heuermann as the last person she saw with her mother?
Cameron Bean is the daughter of Julia Ann Bean, a South Carolina woman who went missing in 2017.
She recently came forward to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office with her recollection of the night her then-36-year-old mother vanished in June 2017.
She said she saw her mother with a man resembling Heuermann who was driving a dark truck, similar to the vehicle that belonged to the Gilgo Beach murders suspect.
“I have chills … That was the last man I saw her with personally,” Cameron Bean texted to a family friend named Heidi Kovas after seeing photos of Heuermann, New York Post reported.
Kovas also told PIX 11 that the Gilgo Beach victims shared a striking resemblance to Bean who she said “was more than likely escorting” when she disappeared, just like the Long Island women.
"She recognized him right away," Kovas said, adding, "She said that was the last person she ever saw with her mom.”
“They look like Julia,” Kovas said. “They look just like Julia. The blonde hair, the green eyes, petite," she continued.
What are the hopes from the investigation into Julia Ann Bean’s disappearance?
The FBI has been asked to help investigate Bean’s case which was re-opened after Cameron's statement, as per the family.
“Miss Bean may have a connection with the serial killer in New York, Rex Heuermann,” Sumter County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mark Bordeaux told WLTX.
“It’s still unclear, but there’s enough hope that our investigators are doggedly pursuing an answer,” he continued.
However, Bordeaux cautioned that so far there is “zero” direct evidence linking Heuermann to Bean’s disappearance.
“Thus far, the connection is zero,” he told NBC. “We have hearsay, we have supposition, but whether or not that man was Rex Heuermann, we have yet to be able to determine," he added.
He said that his investigators have “guarded excitement” but they have to “operate in the world of facts.”
Is there any connection between Rex Heuermann and cold cases in other states?
Reports say Heuermann owns a property in a wooded area in South Carolina’s Chester County — about 90 minutes from Sumter — where he reportedly plans to retire.
Although he did not buy that property until 2021, his brother, Craig has lived in the Chester area since about 2000, records show, as per New York Post.
The architect was first linked to the Gilgo Beach killings by his distinctive dark Chevrolet Avalanche truck which was hauled away from his South Carolina property soon after his arrest in New York.
Officials are also looking for possible ties between Heuermann and cold cases in several states, including Nevada, where he has long owned timeshares in Las Vegas.
Bean’s daughter confirmed in a statement to NBC News that she is working with investigators about the case.