Suffolk DA identifies Gilgo Beach victim Jane Doe No. 7 as Manhattan escort after 27 years
A 34-year-old Manhattan sex worker, known for nearly three decades only as Jane Doe No. 7, was identified Friday through DNA evidence as the fifth victim in the Gilgo Beach serial killings.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said during a press conference that Karen Vergata disappeared on Valentine’s Day 1996.
Her legs and feet were found on the Bayside shore of Fire Island in April 1996, with her skull located 15 years later after the discovery of another slain woman, said the DA.
“The FBI was able via a genetic genealogy review to identify Ms. Vergata presumptively as Fire Island Jane Doe,” he said. The match was confirmed in October with a swab from a relative of the victim.
Despite the location of her body, Tierney said that the woman’s death has been included in the Gilgo Beach investigation.
“I think it’s important that we remember and honor not only Ms. Vergata, but all the victims on Gilgo Beach,” he added.
He declined to answer any questions, saying only the investigation into the 27-year-old killing was ongoing.
The prosecutor added he would not discuss any potential suspects at this point, but said the breakthrough in identifying the victim came last August after the serial-killing probe was reopened.
“It’s important to note that there are no charges at this time,” he said. “Ms. Vergata’s disappearance was in 1996 which is 27 years ago. We are going to continue to work this particular case, as we did the Gilgo Four investigation.”
The news conference came one day after Tierney told Newsday another sex worker killed in an unsolved Gilgo Beach murder was bound with a unique belt bearing the initials HW or HM — and possibly holding another crucial piece of evidence.
He said hair removed from the buckle of the belt was still being tested.
The new revelations involve the killing of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, one of four women slain more than a decade ago in the remote suburban stretch.
Long Islander Rex Heuermann was already charged in three of the killings and declared a suspect in the fourth open investigation.
Tierney told Newsday the initialed belt was one of three used to bind the 25-year-old victim, and police had previously said the belt was handled by the suspect in the killing.
Heuermann, 59, was arrested July 13 in Manhattan and charged with killing three sex workers — Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello — whose remains were found in 2010 near Gilgo Beach, in the same area where the fourth victim’s body was found.
