- Authorities have finally identified one of the 11 victims whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach.
- Karen Vergata, 34, disappeared in 1996. Some remains were found that year on Fire Island, and her skull was found in 2011.
Long Island authorities announced Friday they have identified the remains of a woman who has long been known simply as "Fire Island Jane Doe" or "Jane Doe No. 7," whose skull was discovered near Gilgo Beach along with the remains of 11 other people in 2011.
Karen Vergata, 34, disappeared around February 14, 1996, though she was never reported missing, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney told reporters at a news conference. Parts of her remains were first found on Fire Island in April 1996 before her skull was found nearly 15 years later.
The news comes just weeks after authorities arrested Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex Heuermann, who has been charged with killing three women who went missing in 2009 and 2010. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Long Island authorities did not link Heuermann to Vergata's disappearance on Friday. Tierney said no one has been charged in connection with Vergata's death, and that authorities are still investigating the circumstances. Tierney did not identify how she died.
Tierney said Vergata was believed to have been working as an escort when she disappeared, and lived in midtown Manhattan at the time. Authorities showed a photograph of Vergata with her hair in two pigtails tied with long red ribbons.
In total, 11 victims are associated with the Gilgo Beach killings. Heuermann has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, and has been named the prime suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
But other killings remain unsolved, including those of four sex workers: Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, Shannan Gilbert, and Karen Vergata. The victims also include an unidentified Black woman known as "Peaches" due to her tattoo, her 2-year-old daughter, and an unidentified Asian man.
Tierney said that just months after Long Island authorities convened a new task force to reinvestigate the Gilgo Beach killings in 2022, they were able to develop a DNA profile suitable for genealogical comparison from Vergata's remains.
Ultimately, authorities used a DNA sample from one of Vergata's relatives to definitively identify her remains. Authorities then contacted her family members to notify them, Tierney said.