MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — An unidentified homicide victim known as "Peaches" and her toddler have been identified decades after their remains were found near Gilgo Beach, according to the Nassau County Police Department, which has been investigating the Gilgo serial killings.
Tanya Denise Jackson, 26, has been identified as the woman whose partial remains were found inside a plastic container in Hempstead Lake State Park in June 1997. Jackson has been referred to as Jane Doe No. 3—or “Peaches” after a tattoo found on her body—until the identification.
Police and federal investigators said Wednesday that they don’t yet known if their deaths are linked at all to the Gilgo murders case, but their identification brings some closure to a cold case that has been shrouded in mystery for years.
Law enforcement officials also identified the body of Jackson’s daughter, 2-year-old Tatiana Marie Dykes, whose skeletal remains were found near Ocean Parkway in April 2011.
Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran who was living in Brooklyn at the time of her death, possibly worked at a doctor’s office as a medical assistant, police said.
According to Nassau County Police Detective Sergeant Stephen Fitzpatrick, she reportedly left her baby with a female neighbor or friend while she went to work, and investigators are looking to speak with anyone who has a connection with her or the child.
“Did you serve with her in the military? Were you a neighbor or co-worker during her time here in Brooklyn? Maybe you saw them at a medical appointment where she worked or were her friend,” he said. “We want to hear from you.”
The FBI said it joined the investigation in 2020, as solving old cases can be extremely challenging, and law enforcement said the the public is needed to help solve the crime.
It has been unclear if there was a connection between Jackson’s murder and the other women found dead across Long Island since 1993. Police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people, mostly female sex workers.
At the conference on Wednesday, Fitzpatrick warned the public to not make connections until there is evidence to support them.
“Now 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,” he said. “Speculation and theories by people and on the internet should not be brought into this.”
Heuermann, a former Manhattan architect, has been charged with seven of the murders. He has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The two female victims are among three sets of human remains long associated with the Gilgo Beach case that have not been identified, at least publicly, by authorities. Heuermann has not been charged in these cases.
In September, police released more detailed renderings of a homicide victim known by investigators as “Asian Doe,” whose remains were also found along Ocean Parkway in 2011. The victim was a biological male of Asian descent, but may have identified as female as they were wearing women’s clothing. Prosecutors also said that they may have been employed as a sex worker.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, which is prosecuting Heuermann, told the Associated Press in a statement he is not commenting on “any topics even tangentially involved to the investigation” while a pre-trial hearing plays out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.