They were somebody's daughter. Somebody's sister. Somebody's mother. And according to prosecutors, they were chosen because the man who allegedly took them believed nobody would come looking.

Rex Heuermann, 62, is expected to plead guilty at an April 8th court appearance to charges connected to the murders of seven women — Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Jessica Taylor, Sandra Costilla, and Valerie Mack. If the judge accepts the plea, he reportedly faces life without parole. No trial. No testimony. No cross-examination.

For the families who've waited years — some of them more than a decade — this was supposed to be the moment where they finally sat in a courtroom and watched the system hold someone accountable in front of the public. A guilty plea takes that from them. It may bring finality. But it doesn't bring the full accounting many of them have been waiting for.

And it doesn't bring answers for everyone. Heuermann is charged in connection with seven deaths. Additional remains were found near Gilgo Beach. Those families are still waiting.

Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer examines what this moment means — for the families who get a resolution, for those who don't, and for the investigation that took so long to get here.

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Sandra Costilla changes everything about the Gilgo Beach case. If you thought the killings started in 2007, prosecutors say you're off by 14 years. Sandra was found in the woods of Southampton in November 1993 — not on Gilgo Beach, not along Ocean Parkway, but 60 miles east, in a location nobody connected to the pattern until prosecutors applied advanced DNA technology to hairs found on her body. The results, according to the indictment: a 99.96 percent match to Rex Heuermann.

Episode 1 of "The Seven" — one episode per victim, starting with the earliest alleged case and building chronologically through to Amber Costello.

Sandra's case is the thinnest in publicly known evidence — the defense called it a single hair on a shirt — but it may be the most significant in terms of what it reveals. If Heuermann was allegedly killing in 1993, he was doing it before the marriage, before the children, before the suburban life prosecutors say gave him cover. And the seven-year gap between Sandra and the next known victim, Valerie Mack in 2000, raises questions prosecutors haven't publicly answered. The evidence, the defense challenge, the judge's ruling, and what Sandra's case means for understanding the full alleged scope — all covered here.

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Melissa Barthelemy was 24. Megan Waterman was 22. Amber Costello was 27. Maureen Brainard-Barnes was 25. Jessica Taylor was 20. Sandra Costilla was 28. Valerie Mack was 24. Their remains were found scattered along isolated stretches of Long Island — some near Gilgo Beach, some in Manorville, some in remote wooded areas. For over a decade, no one was charged. Their families waited. And waited. And now, reportedly, the man accused of taking all of them is expected to stand in a Suffolk County courtroom and say the word "guilty."

This week's look back at the most compelling developments in the Gilgo Beach case centers on what this expected plea means for the people who've carried this weight the longest. Rex Heuermann is reportedly set to change his plea on April 8. The deal is still being finalized. A judge must accept it. But if it holds, there will be no trial. No testimony. No cross-examination. The families who have waited since the first remains were discovered will hear the plea — and that may be the closest thing to a courtroom reckoning they get.

His daughter has said publicly she believes he most likely did it. Files recovered from his computer allegedly contained checklists — a systematic approach to limiting noise, cleaning bodies, destroying evidence. His defense challenged the DNA evidence twice and lost. The motion to try the cases separately was denied. Life without parole was the only outcome either way. But a plea means the story ends on his terms — not theirs.

And then there are the others. Andrew Dykes' arrest in the murder of Tanya Jackson — the woman known as "Peaches" — proved that Ocean Parkway was used by more than one killer. Four additional victims found along that corridor remain uncharged. Their families don't get a courtroom. They don't get a plea. They get silence.

Someone needs to answer for all of them.

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