Police identify Gilgo Beach victim but won’t comment on link to Rex Heuermann – live

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sport Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium News World Americas US Crime News Rachel Sharp Friday 04 August 2023 19:31 Close Search of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer’s home ends The Gilgo Beach murders victim previously known only as Jane Doe 7 has finally been identified more than 26 years after her partial remains were first discovered along the Long Island shores. In a press conference on Friday, Long Island officials announced that they had identified the victim as Karen Vergata. Vergata, 34, was last seen alive in Manhattan in 1996 while working as an escort. Police refused to take any questions and would not comment on whether or not they believe her disappearance and murder may be linked to serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann . This comes as prosecutors have asked the court to obtain a swab of DNA from Mr Heuermanna and as his wife broke her silence in her first interview since his shock arrest to reveal she is filled with ‘anxiety’ and their two children ‘cry themselves to sleep’ every night over the horror case. Mr Heuermann, 59, was arrested on 13 July and charged with the murders of Amber Castello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy. He is also the main suspect in Maureen Brainard-Barnes’ killing. The women all went missing in 2009 and 2010 before their remains were found along Gilgo Beach. 1691173823 In a statement released through her lawyers Macedonio & Duncan, Rex Heuermann’s wife has pleaded to be left alone. ‘On behalf of my family and especially my elderly neighbors, who have also had their lives turned upside down by the enormous police presence, in addition to the spectators, and news crews,’ Ms Ellerup’s statement read. ‘They deserve to live peacefully; they should be able to walk their dogs and go to the grocery stores without cameras shoved in their faces. ‘I am pleading with you all to give us space so that we may regain some normalcy in our neighborhood.’ Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 19:30 1691172023 The remains of at least 11 victims’ were found in the Gilgo Beach area though it remains unclear if they are all the work of the same killer. Many were sex workers who offered escort services on Craigslist or worked in New York City. The first victim found was Melissa Barthelemy whose remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway on 11 December 2010 during the search for Shannan Gilbert – a 24-year-old sex worker from New Jersey who vanished after visiting a client in Oak Park and making a chilling 911 call where she revealed fears for her life. Two days later on 13 December, the remains of three other victims – Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello – were found close by. All three women were known to advertise escort services on Craigslist. Brainard-Barnes – known as one of the Gilgo Beach Four – was last seen alive in early June 2007 in New York City while Costello was last seen leaving her North Babylon home one day in early September 2010. Waterman was last seen alive in early June 2010 at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge. From L: (top) Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman (bottom) Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, John Doe Seven months later, on 26 July 2011, the remains of Jessica Taylor were found in a wooded area in Manorville during the ongoing search for Gilbert. Taylor worked as an escort in New York City. Valerie Mack also worked as an escort but was last seen alive in Philadelphia in 2000. Her remains were found on two separate occasions in Manorville in 2000 and in Oak Beach in 2011 but she was only identified in 2020 through the use of genetic genealogy. On 4 August 2023, Long Island officials announced that another victim – known as Jane Doe 7 or Fire Island Jane Doe – ha finally been identified. Karen Vergata, 34, was last seen alive in Manhattan in 1996 while working as an escort. Her legs were first found wrapped in plastic at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach in 1996. Almost exactly 15 years later on 11 April 2011, her skull was then found off Ocean Parkway. In a press conference announcing her identity, officials refused to confirm whether or not her murder may be linked to Mr Heuermann. Some of the other victims are yet to be identified. The skeletal remains of an Asian male, aged between 17 and 23 years old, around 5 feet 6 inches tall and with poor dental health, were found along Ocean Parkway in April 2011. He is believed to have died around five to 10 years earlier. That same day, the remains of a female toddler were discovered. She was later identified as the daughter of the also-unidentified female victim dubbed ‘Peaches’ whose remains were found in Nassau County. Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 19:00 1691170223 ‘While news of the arrest of Long Island resident Rex Heuermann on multiple counts of murder may have sent ripples of shock through his community, the revelation that a ‘normal’ man was capable of such heinous acts of violence was hardly surprising for sex workers and their advocates. Violence – including infrequent but horrendous instances of serial predators and killers – is too often a reality for those engaged in sexual labour. ‘Media coverage has typically focused on dissecting the police investigation, and now the killer’s biography. Of course, the media has long been interested in stories of serial killers preying on sex workers, and there has been no shortage of such cases. From the sensationalist reporting of Jack the Ripper in Victorian-era London to the Yorkshire Ripper case in 1970s England, from Robert Pickton’s terrorising of Indigenous women in Vancouver (1990s) to Seattle’s ‘Green River Killer’ (1980s-90s), serial predators have long targeted people in the sex trades. The Dallas police have just arrested a man on suspicion of the murders of three sex workers.’ We can prevent serial murders of sex workers Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 18:30 1691168423 Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 18:00 1691166623 The Gilgo Beach murders victim previously known only as Jane Doe 7 has finally been identified more than 26 years after her partial remains were first discovered along the Long Island shores. Karen Vergata, a 34-year-old woman who was last seen alive in Manhattan in 1996 while working as an escort, was named on Friday by Long Island officials. The huge breakthrough in the case comes almost three decades after some of her remains were first discovered – and weeks after 59-year-old father-of-two architect was arrested and charged with the murders of three other victims. It was 20 April 1996 when a woman’s legs were found wrapped in plastic at Davis Park on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. Jane Doe 7’s remains were found on Fire Island in 1996 and then along Ocean Parkway in 2011 Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 17:30 1691164823 At this time, no one has been charged with the murder of Karen Vergata. Suffolk County DA Rodney Tierney said that there are ‘no charges at this time’ but that the ‘confidential investigation’ is ongoing. He would not confirm or deny any ties to accused killer Rex Heuermann – or say if there was a suspect on his radar. ‘We are going to continue to work this particular case as we did the Gilgo Four investigation,’ he said. ‘We’re not going to comment on what – if any suspects – we developed at this time. This is a confidential investigation so I’m not going to be taking any questions.’ Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 17:00 1691163923 Long Island officials identified the victim in October but kept the major breakthrough under wraps until now, citing both the investigation into Rex Heuermann and the need to contact Karen Vergata’s family members. ‘Prior to disclosing, we needed to contact all Vergata’s family members and around the same time we were beginning the grand jury confidential investigation into the murders of the victims known as the Gilgo 4,’ said Suffolk County DA Rodney Tierney. ‘So we decided not to make it public… until the results of that investigation became public and we had made notice to Vergata’s family.’ He added: ‘Today we are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo taskforce’s reexamination of all evidence in the case we are able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe as Karen Vergata.’ The DA said that ‘it is important that we remember and honour not only Ms Vergata but all the vicitms on Gilgo Beach’. Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 16:45 1691163023 Gilgo Beach murders victim Jane Doe 7 identified as Karen Vergata Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 16:30 1691162123 Suffolk County officials revealed how investigators were able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe almost three decades after her remains were first discovered. In August 2022 – around six months after the new Gilgo Beach taskforce was launched – a DNA profile suitable for genealogical comparison was developed from the remains of the victim. The next month, the FBI was able to presumptively identify the victim using genetic genealogy as Karen Vergata. Then, that October, investigators tracked down a relative of Vergata and take a buccal swab. Using this, they were able to definitively identity the victim as Vergata. Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 16:15 1691161223 Karen Vergata was 34 years old at the time of her disappearance, according to officials. Vergata lived on West 45th St in Manhattan and is believed to have been working as an escort at the time. She went missing around 14 February 1996 – Valentine’s Day. Police said that no missing persons report was filed at the time of her disappearance. Rachel Sharp 4 August 2023 16:00 Rex Heuermann Gilgo Beach Murders Long Island Karen Vergata (inset) was identified as Jane Doe 7. Her remains were found along Long Island (pictured police during the searches for remains in 2011) AP/Suffolk County DA Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in