Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer

As a former Australian police officer I found this documentary very well worth watching.

While not going into all the forensic aspects (the trial will give us that information in 2026), it covered the human, political and community issues well.

Others reviewers say "the victims were sex workers, they got themselves into the situation " just doesn't cut it.

They didn't want to be sex workers, they had their own issues which left them with little choice, and, they are human beings, they don't deserve to be treated any less than anyone else.

The corruption episode was not a surprise, but answered a lot of questions I had from the first episode, and finally, in episode 3 we find out who the offender is (in Australia anyhow).

Well done Netflix.

One of the better true crime docu-series that I've seen in awhile. I went into it completely blind and had no idea about the case or any of the details involving it. This was a very pleasant surprise. It's very well done and is incredibly shocking and entertaining. I only wish that they'd have waited a bit until after the accused trial for a proper ending to it. I definitely felt a little disappointed by how it ended. Overall this is one of Netflixs' better true crime series that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject. Like I said before, it would have been extremely satisfying to see the trial and the conviction of Red and really don't understand why they didn't wait until they could do an episode on that before wrapping it up, but maybe there will be a follow up. Knowing Netflix probably lol.

True crime documentaries are not really my cup of tea. They are often sensationalist and voyeurist, concentrating on the gruesome nature of murder to provide entertainment. Gone Girls offers a victim-focus that is a welcome perspective.

Since I knew nothing of this case I may be an outlier, however this limited-episode series was, to me at least, an interesting and engaging overview of these events. It would be disingenuous to claim that Gone Girls is enjoyable, however this is not to criticise the documentary's creators. It certainly stands above other entries in the genre that I have seen.

The facts of what happened are shocking enough on their own merits that sensationalism is not required; the conclusion (thus far) of the case raises many concerns, not least the manner in which authorities appear to have reinforced the wider presumption that there are members of society that they consider not deserving of justice. That these human beings are often amongst the most vulnerable is a damning irony.

It is clear that there remains much still to be uncovered; if a follow-up series was to maintain a victim-focussed narrative it would be worthwhile viewing.

The pointless, unhelpful commentary by the two journalists in the first episode made me want to just stop watching this series. Robert Kolker was especially annoying, using the purple prose from his silly articles, such as "A gigantic meteorite hit Long Island." I would suppose he was referring to the impact of the discovery of skeletons. He also had nothing to contribute in the way of factual information about the case.

The other journalist, reporter Jaclyn Gallucci, wasn't much better, making her comments center on herself: what she was thinking, etc. Maybe this was an attempt to avoid a narrator, but narration may have been better than having two self-important journalists making comment.

Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer is a decent documentary about one of the most publicized serial killer investigations of all time. After years of sex workers going missing and remains being found in the Gilgo Beach area of upscale Long Island an arrest of Manhattan architect, Rex Huermann, was made. This movie takes place pre-trial phase of this investigation and arrest. The angle is very much based upon the Shannon Gilbert disappearance, which is the case that blew the case open; however, has not been linked to the other disappearances and murders. There is a lot of news footage. There are many press interviews. There are many questions still remaining, but this does a good job summarizing the case and investigation up until it was made.