A suspect was charged in the Gilgo Beach serial killings cold case. Here's a timeline of the case and the investigation

For more than a decade, a string of unsolved killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders terrorized residents and confounded authorities on Long Island's South Shore after a woman's 2010 disappearance led investigators to find at least 10 sets of human remains and launched the hunt for a possible serial killer.

Authorities announced a major breakthrough in the case on Friday, charging New York architect Rex Heuermann, 59, with murder in connection to the killings of three of the four women who became known as the "Gilgo Four."

The suspect was taken into custody Thursday night, authorities said. He has been indicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in each of the three killings - Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello in 2010, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.

Heuermann, who told his attorney he is not the killer, is also the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance and death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, according to a bail application from prosecutors. He has not been charged in that homicide but the investigation "is expected to be resolved soon," the document says.

Authorities said once Heuermann was identified in early 2022 as a suspect, they watched him and his family, getting DNA samples from items in their trash as they built a case.

He was remanded without bail Friday. He entered a not guilty plea through his attorney. His next court date is scheduled for August 1.

Here is a timeline of the Gilgo Beach murders, how the investigation unfolded and what ultimately led to Heuermann's arrest.