Missy will be speaking before the Commission on Forensic Science and the DNA Subcommittee tomorrow, Friday 10/9/2026.
I will post a link for anyone who wishes to watch it live or replay, in the comments.
"Nicolette Brainard-Barnes is a young woman from New England whose life has been profoundly impacted by the themes in this film. When she was just 7 years old, she lost her mother, Maureen, to anti-sex worker violence. Maureen was working as an escort in 2007 when Rex Heuermann, a serial killer targeting sex workers, murdered her. Heuermann wasn’t caught until 2023, and a media frenzy has been harassing his victims’ families for decades. Nicolette was not only forced to grow up without her mom, but also in the long, painful shadow of anti-sex worker bias from neverending news cycles, films, books, and podcasts about her mother’s case. Her story, illuminated by the wisdom of her sex worker lineage, sheds light on the generational impacts of stigma and violence."
This documentary explores the historic media bias against sex workers. Nicolette brings a faceted perspective as Maureen is her Mom.
Seeing Red is still in production and is largely crowd-funded by a united community of sex workers, victims and family members and allies. Your support is greatly encouraged- follow the link on the 2nd image to donate in many different ways.
Image one: Nicolette at the Vigil for Gilgo Victims, NYC, April 2026
Image two: Artina Darkly- business owner and advocate.
(Posted with endorsement from Nicolette)
I do not believe I have seen this posted before. But it appears Rex’s mother passed at the end of 2025. Below is a link of the page someone put together on findagrave.com. The reason I am sharing this is because there is a picture of Dolores and, well… the resemblance is striking.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/294980399/dolores_rose-heuermann
Long Island in 1994: Shulman, Bittrolff, Heuermann and the aftermath of Rifkin’s arrest
Liane and I just released the second part of our documentary collaboration with Joe Giacalone from True Crime with the Sarge, featuring retired FBI profiler Mark Safarik.
For those here who follow the cases beyond Gilgo, this looks at what was happening on Long Island in 1994. Rifkin was already in custody, but other killers were still out there.
We spend a substantial part of the film on Robert Shulman, Lisa Ann Warner and her mother’s fight to bring her home from Hart Island. We also cover Colleen McNamee, John Bittrolff, the Medford Jane Doe and Heuermann’s life during this period.
One thing we wanted to explore is how these cases look when you put their timelines alongside each other. We visit locations connected to the cases and discuss the investigations with Joe and Mark, while keeping the women and their families central to the story.
Full disclosure: this is our film. I’d be interested in hearing what this community thinks, particularly about the lesser-covered cases and anything you believe deserves a closer look.
Watch the documentary on YouTube