A Jane Doe whose body was found in 1997 and has long been linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killing victims was identified on April 23 as 26-year-old Tanya Denise Jackson.
Her dismembered torso was discovered inside a container in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake State Park in Lakeview, New York, on June 28, 1997, and authorities said her death was days earlier. Because of a tattoo found on her torso, she had long been referred to as “Peaches.” Other remains were uncovered in 2011 in Jones Beach State Park near Gilgo Beach.
A toddler whose remains were found on Gilgo Beach was later determined to be her child. The toddler was identified as Tatiana Marie Dykes, 2 years old at the time of her death. She was long referred to as “Baby Doe.”
Rex Heuermann, the suspect in several other murders of women whose bodies were also found on Gilgo Beach and surrounding areas, has not been charged in Jackson’s or Dykes’ deaths.
“Although Tanya and Tatiana have commonly been linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killings because of the timing and locations of their recovered remains, we are not discounting the possibility that their cases are unrelated from that investigation,” Stephen Fitzpatrick with the Nassau County Police Department said.
Authorities said on April 23 that they were still seeking information about what happened to the mother and child. They offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
“We will never give up, not on an unsolved homicide, not on Tanya and Tatiana. We will follow every lead, we will pull at every thread, until we can get justice for this mother and this child,” said District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
