Multiple Las Vegas cold case murders are being investigated for connections to the Gilgo Beach suspect
- Las Vegas authorities are looking into unsolved cases for a connection to the Gilgo Beach suspect.
- Rex Heuermann, 59, was charged last month in the murders of three women in Long Island.
In the 17 years since Glendene Grant last saw her daughter, she's had so many false leads and dashed hopes that she can't bring herself to fully believe that her daughter's disappearance may someday be solved. But when she learned that authorities have begun investigating the Gilgo Beach murder suspect for his potential involvement, she couldn't help but notice that some of the details added up.
"This isn't the first time this has happened," Grant told Insider in an interview. "I've kind of learned over the last 17 years — I always get really hopeful. And then I try to say to myself, 'Don't get too hopeful.' You know, the higher you go, the farther you fall."Grant told Insider she learned from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that her daughter is one of several unsolved cases Las Vegas authorities are investigating for connections to 59-year-old Rex Heuermann, who is accused of killing multiple sex workers on Long Island.Grant's daughter, Jessie Foster, was 21 years old when she went missing in Las Vegas in the spring of 2006. Grant said her daughter fell into a human trafficking scheme and was forced to prostitute herself before vanishing. Her body still hasn't been found.Grant isn't the only one speaking up — the family of Jodi Brewer, who disappeared in Las Vegas in 2003 has also spoken to local media in recent days about new developments in the cold case, saying authorities are investigating a link to the Gilgo Beach suspect.A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Insider that detectives are investigating Heuermann's involvement in multiple cold cases."We are aware of Rex Heuermann's connection to Las Vegas. We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement," the spokesperson said.Like the Gilgo Beach victims, Foster and Brewer were both young sex workers. And like the Gilgo Beach victims, whose bodies were discovered wrapped in burlap, Brewer's torso was found wrapped in a sheet and plastic in the desert near an interstate.Heuermann, a New York architect, was arrested last month and charged with killing three women who went missing in 2009 and 2010 and whose bodies were later found buried near Gilgo Beach: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello. Authorities said Heuermann is also considered the prime suspect in the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, though he has not been charged in her death.Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and denied harming any of the women.