Danielle Goodling
The tip came in on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024.
A Pennsylvania woman wrote to my Facebook page and asked, "Is it possible to speak with you regarding another potential victim of Rex Heuermann?"
I had just arrived on the west coast of Florida for a short trip; Tropical Storm Debby was several days away from causing flooding and travel chaos.
Yet after covering the Long Island Serial Killer investigation for more than thirteen years, the message certainly caught my attention.
"I'm not familiar with this case," Stephanie wrote, "but I found my best friend's phone number is listed in the new documents recovered from his (Heuermann's) home."
The cell phone number in question was (917) 294-4402.
Stephanie said it was the old number for her friend, Danielle Goodling, locked into her contacts as 'Dani Girl.'
I immediately asked the woman, Stephanie, to send me her phone number so we could talk. I am not publishing her last name to protect her privacy.
Stephanie said she was trying to find out how Danielle Goodling died in 2021, after finding an obituary on Legacy.com. She said she was stunned when she saw the "kill" planning documents from the serial killer case, while scrolling through Facebook. The Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney had released them on June 6th, saying they evinced Rex Heuermann's "intent to meticulously plan and execute the murder of six innocent victims." D.A. Tierney had added two more names to Heuermann's existing criminal indictment: Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla.
The phone number Stephanie wrote about was found in Exhibit B of the bail affidavit submitted to the court that June day. Under a section titled 'Recon Reports', the document talked about video cameras on the LIE (Long Island Expressway) and SS Parkway (Southern State Parkway).
The section ended with a reference to T-1 Info: Cell # 917-294-4402.
Prosecutors believed T stood for Target 1. Earlier in the document, there was a reference to a T-1 named Megan. Stephanie said the cell number belonged to Danielle Goodling, who had lived in the Bronx for years.
Section of 2002 ‘Planning Document’ with Danielle Goodling’s old cell number
Stephanie said she had met Danielle at Eastern State School and Hospital in Pennsylvania in the early 90's, when they were adolescents. Both of them were getting treatment in a mental health unit.
Stephanie said Danielle ran away from Pennsylvania when she was 16 and ended up in New York City. She said Danielle had been traumatized by sexual abuse, turned to drugs, and was then vulnerable to the grip of sex traffickers.
"She was blonde with a small build," Stephanie observed. "She was tiny."
Stephanie said Danielle Goodling told her, at one point, that she'd made a ton of money working as a dominatrix. Stephanie believed Goodling once used her middle name, "Faith," in her work. She wasn't aware of Goodling using "Megan."
Stephanie also noted that Danielle Goodling suffered tragedy in her life.
She had given birth to five children.
Her two oldest were boys.
Her third child, a daughter, died when she was about six months old. The cause was attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Goodling later gave birth to another daughter and son.
When Stephanie saw one, particular phrase on the planning document, SMALL IS BETTER, she became alarmed. She noticed that Danielle Goodling looked like other women associated with the Gilgo case: Melissa Barthelemy and Shannan Gilbert. Gilbert is not listed as an official victim of the Long Island Serial Killer (LISK), but her disappearance spawned the search that led to the discovery of ten sets of remains on Ocean Parkway in December 2010 and the spring of 2011.
Photo of Danielle Goodling from X
"I'm hoping you can point me to someone who I can trust will help me with the information I have," Stephanie had written on Facebook.
I suggested she speak to the office of District Attorney Ray Tierney, which she did.
The D.A. recently said he didn't redact the phone number from the bail affidavit, because his team was hopeful that a member of the public would come forward.
Stephanie's information could provide links between Rex Heuermann's alleged planning document and his reported contact with sex workers.
When Danielle Goodling died in April 2021, reportedly from a suspected drug overdose and liver trouble, her obituary was featured on Legacy.com and distributed online by the Staten Island funeral home that handled her burial arrangements.
"Danielle was brilliant, feisty, independent, and complicated," the obituary said. "Her life was filled with hardship including trauma and loss of the worst kind, and was shaped by efforts to recover and overcome. Despite long odds, she survived and always tried to do the right thing for those she loved, including her children."
The tribute continued, "Some experience evil and become what they have seen, but Danielle turned much of her life toward loving others without limit and working for good, in sometimes unexpected ways and no matter the personal cost. She found meaning in helping and encouraging friends, acquaintances, and even strangers on the street through pain, addictions, and struggles. Much of the good she did went unheralded and unknown, except to those whose lives she changed."
Obituary photo of Danielle Goodling from Legacy.com
I briefly reached Danielle Goodling's mother Cindy in Pennsylvania last week and she confirmed the family had asked mourners to make contributions to the International Justice Mission when her daughter died in 2021, in lieu of flowers. The International Justice Mission is an organization that works to save women and children from violence, trafficking and slavery.
Danielle Goodling's family is caring for the children she left behind.
Stephanie said she will never forget her troubled yet incredibly kind friend, who ran away with her a few times from the institution where they spent their younger teen years.
"When we ran away, I would wake up to her 'half frozen' and shivering with most of her clothes piled on top of me to keep me warm. She was always there for the people she loved."