Is Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer based on a true story? Details explored ahead of Netflix premiere

Netflix’s newest true-crime docu-series Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer unties the knots of a case that has creeped out Long Island for more than 10 years.

In this terrifying three-part docu-series, Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, director Liz Garbus dives deep into the real-life fears revolving around the murders on the Gilgo Beach. The investigation, which had run for years, was smeared by systemic failures and alarming discoveries.

But is the docu-series based on actual events or is it just a Netflix original crime series? The answer is an unsettling yes to the former question. Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer is unfortunately based on real-life events of real-life murders.

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The real crimes that inspired Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer

The Long Island Serial Killer case started to unfold way back in 2010-2011 when authorities went in search of a missing woman and they came across human corpses in Ocean Parkway, Suffolk County.

Over time, a whole lot of new dead bodies were found, leading investigators to at least consider the possibility of a serial killer preying on susceptible women, many of whom were s*x workers.

For over 10 years, the case was cold and was considered unsolved. Families of the victims tried their best to fight diligently for justice, dealing with not just grief but also the law’s lack of determination to solve the case.

Many theories laid out believed that the stalling of the case was due to the preconception the authorities had against the victims—because of their work line being s*x work.

Director Liz Garbus, who formerly worked on this case with Netflix with her 2020 drama Lost Girls, makes a comeback with Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer to look at the entirety of the investigation.

Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer not only looks at the timeline of the events unfolding but also highlights the systemic corruption and lack of skill that let the serial killer go for a long time.

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The investigation and arrest of the alleged serial killer

For years, the identity of the Long Island Serial Killer remained unknown. Then, in 2023, the case finally had a breakthrough when authorities detained a New York architect named Rex Heuermann. He was accused of the murders of three of the victims, known as the "Gilgo Four," and he remains a suspect for the 4th victim along with other various cases.

The prosecuting attorneys constructed their case using DNA proof and Rex’s mobile phone data. A hair strand found on one of the victims supposedly matched Heuermann’s DNA, which had been recovered from a left-over pizza crust.

Furthermore, investigators found numerous burner phones connected to him, as well as alarming internet searches associated with s*x workers and aggressive/brutal crimes.

Regardless of the accumulating evidence, Heuermann preserves his innocence. His defense attorney has defined the case as circumstantial, claiming that Heuermann—a father and well-off businessman—does not fit the profile of a serial killer. Nevertheless, authorities carry on to examine, trusting that Heuermann could be to blame for murders that are still unsolved.

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Liz Garbus’ return to the case and the docuseries’ impact

Liz Garbus has always been engrossed in the Long Island Serial Killer case. In Lost Girls, she gave a picture of the story of Mari Gilbert, a mom who persistently pushed the law forward to investigate her missing daughter, Shannan. That hunt eventually led to the findings of the Gilgo Beach victims.

With Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, Garbus makes things even bigger with combining actual accounts from the victims’ families, journalists, and law enforcement officials. The docu-series also uncovers corruption inside the Suffolk County Police Department, which may have stalled the investigation of the case for years.

The documentary does more than just narrate the events—it treats the victims as humans. Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer highlights how these women were humans beyond their profession.

Garbus says;

“These are people’s daughters, sisters, mothers.…hopefully, we can all understand and not judge.....”

As the legal trials against Heuermann go on, Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer acts as a strong remembrance of how systemic failures can lengthen the grief of victims' and their families.

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Netflix’s Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer is more than just yet another Netflix crime series. It is a walk through around the delay of justice delayed.

With a strong and real story, negative eye-openers, and personal accounts with story-telling, the docu-series paints a disturbing picture of the fight for answers.

As new facts come up in the case, this series assures to be factually correct as well as provoke thought amongst the audience watching at home.

Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer premieres on March 31, 2025 on Netflix.