What to Know
- Investigators have identified the woman who has become known as "Peaches," due to a tattoo found on her body when her remains were found in 1997, as Tanya Denise Jackson. She was a Jane Doe for nearly 30 years.
- Jackson was born on Oct. 22, 1970, in Alabama, Nassau County Police Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick revealed during the Wednesday morning press conference. When her body was found, she was 26 years old. Jackson was a US Army veteran who at the time was living in Brooklyn, drove a black 1991 Geo Storm and was possibly worked at a doctor's office.
- In 2011, the remains of an unidentified female toddler were also discovered nearby.
More than five years later, in Dec. 2016, DNA analysis found that the unidentified toddler found on Gilgo Beach was roughly 2 years at the time of her death and was believed to be the daughter of "Peaches." The little girl was publicly identified Wednesday as Tatiana Marie Dykes. She was born March 17, 1995 in Texas.
The identity of one of the first victims to be found in a possible connection to the Gilgo Beach killings was revealed by police Wednesday morning.
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WATCH HEREInvestigators have identified the woman who has become known as "Peaches," due to a tattoo found on her body when her remains were found in 1997, as Tanya Denise Jackson. She was a Jane Doe for nearly 30 years.
Jackson was born on Oct. 22, 1970 in Alabama, Nassau County Police Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick revealed during the Wednesday morning press conference. When her body was found, she was 26 years old. Jackson was a U.S. Army veteran who at the time was living in Brooklyn, drove a black 1991 Geo Storm and was possibly worked at a doctor's office.
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SIGN UP Jackson served in the army from July 1993 to February 1995 in various locations, including Texas, Georgia and Missouri.
Jackson's dismembered torso was discovered in a rubber garbage bin, along with a red towel and a floral pillowcase, in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake State Park in the Nassau County hamlet of Lakeview on June 28, 1997. It was believed that the woman had been killed about three days before the body was found, according to federal investigators.
When Jackson's body was found, investigators noted a scar on her abdomen, which the FBI said may have been the result of a cesarean section performed. There was also a unique tattoo on her torso: a peach in the shape of a heart, with a bite taken out of it. Two drips from the peach fell further down onto the victim's breast, according to the FBI.
It wasn't until 2011 that the woman's severed arms and legs were recovered in Jones Beach State Park. Her head was never found. When police found additional remains of another Gilgo Beach victim, Valerie Mack, along Ocean Parkway in April 2011, the remains of an unidentified female toddler were also discovered nearby.
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More than five years later, in Dec. 2016, DNA analysis found that the unidentified toddler found on Gilgo Beach was roughly 2 years old at the time of her death and was believed to be the daughter of "Peaches." The little girl was publicly identified Wednesday as Tatiana Marie Dykes. She was born March 17, 1995, in Texas.
Detectives do not have a manner of death for the baby since her remains were too skeletal when she was found. A cause of death for Jackson was also still unclear.
Aside from the then-Jane Doe having brown hair and brown eyes, police did not have any other information to describe the victim, making it near impossible for them to identify her for decades.
Both mother and daughter were linked through the help of DNA analysis in 2015, according to law enforcement. In 2020, the FBI helped them with the DNA with genealogy analysis and family interviews. In 2024, they were positively identified. Authorities waited to publicly identify them because "the needs of the investigation dictated that we withhold that information until we talked to the family, settled their remains and lay them to rest."
The mother and daughter were buried together back in Alabama with full military honor "within the last month or two," according to Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said they have identified the father of the child, describing him as "cooperative." Although he did not report the two missing, Fitzpatrick said that Jackson's relationship with many people was estranged, including her own family, and since she was traveling with the military, it is possible as to why she was not reported missing for a long time.
"Although Tanya and Tatiana have commonly 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," Fitzpatrick said.
"Today is a bittersweet day," Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said. "The reality is, our work has just begun. Knowing the identities of the mom and the little baby is just the first step to help us solving these murders. Having their identities helps us now say to the public — please, if you knew Tanya, if you worked with her, if you met her at the grocery store, if you had an interaction with her, please contact us and let us know. Every little thing we can find out about her leading up to her death will help us solve this horrific, horrific crime."
Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan architect, was charged in 2024 in the string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings. Since late 2010, police on Long Island have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway not far from Gilgo Beach.
The so-called "Gilgo Four" -- Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello -- were discovered during the search for Shannan Gilbert, an escort, like the others, from Jersey City who vanished after meeting a client on nearby Oak Beach that spring. Her remains were found in a swampy marsh not far from away in 2011, 19 months after she disappeared.
Heuermann, who lives in nearby Massapequa Park, was arrested in 2023 and charged in the deaths of three of the victims between 2009 and 2010: Barthelemy, Costello and Waterman. While in custody, he was subsequently charged in the deaths of four other women: Valerie Mack in 2000, Jessica Taylor in 2003, Brainard-Barnes in 2007 and Sandra Costilla in 1993.
Heuermann has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all counts.
No trial date has been set for the case, which Heuermann’s legal team wants to break into multiple trials, due to concerns about the “cumulative effect” of the evidence presented by prosecutors. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office opposed that request.
Philip Marcelo of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
