Gilgo Beach Murders: Investigators wrap up search of Rex Heuermann's Massapequa Park home
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. -- After scouring alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann's home in Massapequa Park for 12 days, police wrapped up their work Tuesday, removing the crime scene tape and opening the block.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney says it will take time to analyze everything they found inside the house.
"We have reached an end to the search of the Gilgo house," Tierney said.
A neighborhood thrust into the national spotlight with Heuermann's arrest is returning to a new normal.
- What We Know: Who is Rex Heuermann? | Who are the Gilgo Beach murder victims?
The media got the first close look at the house, in disrepair with peeling paint and windchimes oddly hanging above a barebones concrete porch.
Watch Carolyn Gusoff's report
Tierney announced no obvious human remains were found, but a massive amount of potential and trace evidence was gathered.
"And now it's up to the job of the task force to go through that evidence, and ... that's a process. We need to do that process, but we won't know exactly what we have for quite some time because just given the sheer volume," he said.
Inside, he says, the house was very cluttered. Investigators found 279 guns and a basement walk-in gun vault cluttered with boxes.
"The defendant had 92 handgun permits. In addition to handguns, he had quite a few long guns, as well," Tierney said.
Outside in the backyard, after bringing in a backhoe to dig, nothing of note was taken, but trace analysis will take time.
"Hair fibers, DNA, blood, which we'll just have to await the results on," Tierney said.
- Expert Analysis: What are investigators digging for in suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann's backyard?
He says there's no clear evidence either way if anyone was killed at the house.
"Evidence does not point either one way or the other. I would say we have obtained a massive amount of material," Tierney said.
Heuermann is charged in three murders, and is the prime suspect in a fourth murder, of women left along desolate Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. The investigation is seeking any connections with the other six still-unsolved murders. His DNA is to be used in databases around the nation only if he is convicted.
"It's not like TV. It's going to be a while for the analyst to do their job," Tierney said.
Watch the district attorney's press conference
The house has attracted the curious from near and far.
"What drew you here?" CBS New York's Carolyn Gusoff asked one person.
"History. This is history," they said.
"We had to come down here because this is touching to all America," another person said.
"The families of these girls, we are so sorry for them," another person said.
"It's been mayhem, and I'm glad it's wrapping up," neighbor Frankie Musto said.
"I feel very blessed that I was safe and that all of my neighbors are safe, and God bless the poor victims and his family that have to suffer the way they're suffering," another neighbor said.
Nassau Police say they will have zero tolerance for loitering or trespassing. Even stopping in front of the house could result in a $150 summons.
"We are going to give the community back their neighborhood, which has been under siege for the last several days," Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Monday.
He added, "There will be cameras. They'll be hung on a pole. They're not covert cameras, they're overt. We want the world to see we're watching the street to make sure kids are not climbing through yards to go take some pictures or photographs on the property."
Heuermann's wife and grown children are now free to return.
CBS New York spoke with her attorney, who said no decision has been reached as to when she will return but adding anyone trespassing will be arrested.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. He is due back in court on Aug. 1.
