Attorneys representing the wife and children of Rex Heuermann, the suspect in the Gilgo Beach murders, said the family is struggling to meet their basic needs after a police search of their Long Island home left extensive damage.

The attorneys stressed what law enforcement have previously said: that Asa Ellerup and her children, 33-year-old Christopher Sheridan and 26-year-old Victoria Heuermann, did not have any knowledge of the killings of four women whose bodies were found on the Long Island, New York, beach in 2010. Authorities alleged that Rex Heuermann lived a double life and that in at least three of the killings acted only when his family was out of town.

Thats made the family victims as well, the attorneys said, as they announced at a news conference on Friday that the family will file a notice of claim, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, to protect their rights against law enforcement who they say damaged their Massapequa Park home during the 12-day search.