Gilgo Beach search continues in woods near where serial killer victims' torsos were found as suspect Rex Heuermann insists crooked cop is involved in murders

Detectives have been seen scouring woodland close to where body parts from victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killings were found more than a decade ago.

Search teams with K9s are sweeping the forest area in Manorville, New York, for a third day, where the partial remains of two women, Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor, were discovered in 2000 and 2003 respectively. 

It is not known why cops started a fresh search of the area this week in relation to the case. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the specifics of the search.

It comes as Rex Heuermann, 60, who is charged with killing four female sex workers whose bodies were found on a remote stretch of Gilgo Beach around the same time, continues to insist that crooked cop James Burke is involved in the killings. 

The former Long Island architect is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Lynn Costello 27, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25.

Detectives have been seen scouring woodland close to where torsos from victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killings were found more than a decade ago

Search teams with K9s are sweeping the forest area in Manorville, New York, for a third day, where the bodies of two victims, Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor, were discovered in 2000 and 2003 respectively

A new search is underway in connection to the Gilgo Beach murder investigation, according to police sources. Rex Heuermann, 60, is charged with murdering four female sex workers

Investigators said that Heuermann, who lived in Massapequa Park across the bay from where many of the bodies were found, was probably not responsible for all the deaths. He has not been connected with the slayings of Mack and Taylor. 

'The Suffolk County Police Department, the New York Police Department and the New York State Police are working with the District Attorney´s Office on an ongoing investigation,' prosecutors said in a statement about the fresh search. 

'We do not comment on investigative steps while they are underway.' 

The searches come after the father-of-two's home was raided following discovery of the bodies. 

His alleged victims were found wrapped in burlap and buried along the remote stretch of Ocean Parkway on Long Island's South Shore over a decade ago. 

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all counts and currently remains in jail awaiting trial.

The women's remains were discovered during the search for 23-year-old Shannan Gilbert, an escort from New Jersey who had vanished in May 2010 after making a frantic 911 call. 

Her remains were found along the same stretch of coast in December 2011 - and it was her body that led police to the discovery of the 'Gilgo Four.'

Investigators said that Heuermann, who lived in Massapequa Park across the bay from where many of the bodies were found, was probably not responsible for all the deaths. He has not been connected with the slayings of Mack and Taylor

It is not known why cops started a fresh search of the area this week in relation to the case. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the specifics of the search

'The Suffolk County Police Department, the New York Police Department and the New York State Police are working with the District Attorney´s Office on an ongoing investigation,' prosecutors said in a statement about the fresh search

Multiple agencies searching Manorville location in connection with Gilgo Beach investigation

Cops with K-9 units searched the Manorville Woods on Wednesday  

The women known as the 'Gilgo Four' were discovered close to Heuermann's Long Island home. However, other bodies - including those of sex workers - have been found in the area

The first victim, 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, from Maine, was found two days later

Heuermann is also charged with killing Amber Costello (left) and Maureen Brainard-Barnes (right) 

DNA found on the burlap wrapped around Waterman's body was a 99.96 percent match to samples from a discarded pizza crust and napkin in a garbage bin outside Heuermann's firm, police said

No one has ever been charged in Gilbert's death and police said it may have been accidental - but her family believe she was murdered.

The women were among 11 found on the desolate stretch of coastline close to Heuermann's Long Island Home between 2010 and 2011.

All of the victims worked as escorts who advertised themselves on Craigslist.

Heuermann was linked to the killings by DNA on the burlap used to transport the bodied which was compared to samples taken from a pizza crust and napkin that were discarded outside his Manhattan architectural firm, police said.

The samples boasted a 99.96 percent match, according to law enforcement.

Prior to testing the DNA, cops said they were alerted to Heuermann as a potential suspect after a witness linked Heuermann's Chevrolet Avalanche to Costello's murder.

The car was then tied to Heuermann's cellphone records, which allegedly linked him to locations related to the murders.

The indictment stated that Heuermann had used different burner phones to contact each of his victims.

Heuermann, a father-of-two, has been held in jail without bail since his arrest and has pleaded not guilty

Police confirmed they are probing Heuermann's potential link to the murders of two other sex workers: Valerie Mack, 25, went missing around the summer of 2000. Her remains were located that September, and more remains were discovered nearly 11 years later

The Heuermann family home in Massapequa Park was torn apart by authorities as they combed the property for evidence

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the nature of the new search. Pictured: Investigators suit up outside Heuermann's home last July

Cops also accused Heuermann of using Barthelemy's phone to make taunting phone calls to her family from the comfort of his office.

Her sister Melissa told how she was bombarded with threatening phone calls from the killer who boasted of the killing and was keeping tabs on her movements.

In October, it was revealed that Heuermann is being probed over the slaying of two additional sex workers.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison confirmed he had assigned additional investigators to the case of two other women, Valerie Mack and Karen Vergata. 

At the suspected time of the murders, Heuermann's now ex-wife Asa Ellerup was away from home. She filed for divorce less than a week after he husband's arrest.

The accused killer was back in court for a procedural hearing on April 17. 

He listened intently to the hearing, which centered around troves of potential evidence seized from various devices related to the case.

Ellerup was also spotted pulling up in a black Mercedes outside the Long Island courthouse.

Alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann, right, appears in Judge Tim Mazzei's courtroom next to his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on April 17

His ex-wife, Asa Ellerup (pictured), was also spotted pulling up in a black Mercedes outside the Long Island courthouse

James Burke, the disgraced former head of Suffolk County Police Department, has been accused of hampering the Gilgo Beach serial killer probe by booting the FBI off the case in its early stages

Heuermann's lawyer is now attempting to shift the blame for the Gilgo Beach murders on to the corrupt former police chief who was previously in charge of the case.

Speaking outside the Long Island courthouse where his accused serial killer client had a hearing last week, attorney Michael Brown said disgraced PC James Burke is 'involved' in the sordid affair.

'We received approximately almost 3,000 leads on this case,' he told reporters outside Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead.

'There were numerous leads that came into the Suffolk County Police Department, suggesting that Chief Burke was involved in this.'

Burke allegedly led a double life involving crack, cross-dressing and relationships with prostitutes. 

He pleaded not guilty several offences including assault, public lewdness and unlawful solicitation after flashing in a park during a court appearance in September of last year.

He appeared in court in September accused of several offences including assault, public lewdness and unlawful solicitation after flashing in a park 

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos showed disgraced Suffolk police chief James Burke stepping out in public for the first time since a suspect was arrested in the Gilgo Beach murders case

Burke pictured in 2015 outside an FBI office in New York after he was arrested and charged for beating a thief who took a bag of porn and sex toys from his police car then trying to cover up the attack

Burke was previously convicted and jailed on federal charges for beating a handcuffed man suspected of stealing pornography, sex toys and other items from his department SUV. 

The scandal also toppled the county's longtime district attorney and the county's top corruption prosecutor, who were convicted of helping Burke cover up the beating.