Gilgo Beach Investigation
GILGO BEACH CASE FILES
shannan gilbert was the catalyst for what has become long island’s largest homicide investigation. police now not only believe that they have found her body, but that her death was accidental. it was while searching for gilbert on dec. 11, 2010, that police found the first set of human remains along ocean parkway. by april of 2011, police had discovered the 10 sets of remains on gilgo beach, all found about seven miles apart along ocean parkway. police have said the remains belong to eight women, a man and a toddler. at least five of the victims were prostitutes, including maureen barnes, melissa barthemay, amber lynn costello and megan waterman. the four women are the only ones police have positively identified.
Gilgo Beach Investigation
Gilgo Beach Bodies Discovery
Investigation: On December 11, 2010, police searching for Gilbert found the first set of human remains along Ocean Parkway. This discovery led to an extensive investigation into the area
November 21, 1993 Two hunters discovered 28-year-old Sandra Costilla’s body in a wooded area in North Sea, Southampton.
June 28, 1997, a dismembered female torso was discovered in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake State Park in Lakeview, New York. The remains were found inside garbage bags placed in a Rubbermaid container, located approximately 200 yards north of Peninsula Boulevard on the west side of Lake Drive. Both arms, the head, and the legs below the knees had been severed and have never been recovered.
July 26, 2003 Partial Remains belonging to Jessica Taylor, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003.
December 2010, police found the bodies of four women, wrapped in burlap and hidden in thick underbrush along a remote beach highway that runs parallel to the ocean at Gilgo Beach, on the coast of Long Island, New York. Within a few months, they discovered six more bodies in the same area, including the skeleton of a toddler. All were petite females approximately 22 to 28 years old, all had missing clothing and personal possessions, all had been killed by homicide, all had contact shortly before their disappearances with a person using a “burner” cellphone (i.e., cellphones without an associated verified identity), and the cellphones of two of the four victims, Brainard-Barnes and Barthelemy, were used by the killer after their deaths.
In addition, each of the four victims were found similarly positioned, bound in a similar fashion by either belts or tape, with three of the victims found wrapped in a burlap-type material. *Some reports in 2010 – 2011 stated all four victims were wrapped in burlap.
Chief Varrone spoke Safety Committee of the Suffolk County Legislature was held in on Thursday, May 5, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. But all the attempts to solve a case were diverted by James Burke who became a chief of Police at the end of 2011 Learn More About Disgraced Ex-Chief of Police.
Chief Varrone
A task force was created, a homicide task force, involving three immediate supervisors and 13 — about 13 Detectives. We took the best of our best, we took a couple of our best people in cell phone technology as well as computer forensics and assigned them to this task force; we’ve been working on the case ever since. The FBI was contacted and brought in in December, we had number of contacts with their Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico. Many of us, almost the entire command staff of the Suffolk County Police, have gone through the FBI National Academy, we’re well aware of their abilities and capabilities; many of us trained down there, myself included. We were in phone consultation with them and then finally in February of 2011 they flew up an entire team of their investigators from the Quantico unit. They spent a couple of days with us, we took them to the sites where we recovered the remains, we showed them everything that we had in the case. We sat down at a round table and brainstormed and discussed all the ramifications and possibilities and discussed various investigative strategies and we’ve been consulting with them since.
Marine Bureau Officer
Police felt that additional search had to be conducted, but of course the winter — “we were in the winter then, the ground was frozen, and we all know the amount of snowfall over the winter”. They were going to expand the search after the snow-melt and prior to the growing of the foliage in the spring, which we did. And that, of course, resulted in a find on March 29th by a Marine Bureau Officer who happened to be — after we had done another extensive search in the Oakdale area — again, we’re still looking for Shannon Gilbert — he’s driving along Ocean Parkway towards the end of our search on that particular day and something catches his attention on the side of the road. I’m not going to mention what it was other than to tell you that it had absolutely nothing to do with anything, but it just caught his attention and caused him to look and peer in beyond the bramble and he observed something that raises a suspicion, his curiosity. He took it upon himself to walk in now 30 feet into the bramble and he made another discovery. That was different from the first discoveries, of the first four, because in those it was obvious that the killer apparently transported his victims, we believe by vehicle, off the shoulder of the road of the Ocean Parkway.
Gilgo Beach discovery
THE SEARCH AND DISCOVERY
Search For Nissing Shannan and Discovery
IMarch 29th discovery, this Marine Bureau Officer, it was a whole different thing. We were kind of concentrating on the shoulder, but now we realize, “Wow, we have to cover the entire area.” And we also realized that that area had been covered by K-9 and here a Marine Bureau Officer found it on his own, so we were clearly of the understanding that we had to rely on more than dogs. We had to utilize more human assets, more visual assets, and that’s why the search was continued again. You’re all aware of it, well publicized. We utilized trucks with officers on top of the trucks to drive along the bramble and peer in, and of course we utilized our local volunteer fire departments and that resulted in the discovery of additional remains.
And how we found them I can’t — I’m not going to be able to discuss with you other than to say — and some of this has been reported by the media. Other than to say that they are different in many ways from the first four, which is, again, a dilemma for investigators and something that we’re looking at.
Gilgo Beach discovery
Search For Nissing Shannan and Discovery
The remains discovered, including those later found in Nassau County, were all sent to the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, where Brad Adams and his team are currently conducting the forensic analysis. Initially, we hoped for quicker results, but the process has proven to be far more complex due to the condition and commingling of the remains. In some cases, it appears that multiple individuals’ remains may have been mixed together.
As a result, instead of extracting just one sample per recovery site, the forensic team must collect and test multiple bone samples from each set of remains. They are now working to extract DNA from the bones, compare the profiles, and establish whether any remains are connected or belong to distinct individuals.
Once the DNA extractions and internal comparisons are complete, the data will be uploaded to the CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), which is only updated once per week. That upload typically happens on Wednesdays, though we weren’t certain if it occurred this week or not.
If DNA profiles from the remains match existing profiles in the system, we may be able to identify the victims relatively quickly. However, if there are no existing matches, the identification process will become much more labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Gilgo Beach Murders Investigation
The Gilgo Beach murder investigation began on December 11, 2010, when Suffolk County Police were searching for missing Shannan Gilbert near Ocean Parkway on Long Island. While using a cadaver dog, officers instead discovered the remains of another woman wrapped in burlap later identified as Melissa Barthelemy. Over the next few days, police uncovered three more sets of remains Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello in close proximity. This shocking discovery launched a major investigation into what authorities soon believed was the work of a serial killer. The case expanded over the years as more remains were found in the area, sparking national attention and a decade-long hunt for the perpetrator
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- Gilgo Beach Bodies Discovered
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- The Search and Discovery
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- Brainard-Barnes was found at Gilgo Beach
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- Body Dump Area
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- Brush area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- Brush area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- Brainard Brush area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- Gilgo Beach Task Force and The FBI
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- Brush area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- Brush area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- Gilgo Beach Search
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- Gilgo Beach Search
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- Brush area along Ocean Parkway. where remains were recovered
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- Melissa Barthelemy’s remains were discovered on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, on Dec. 11, 2010.
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- Gilgo Beach Body Found
Gilgo Beach Investigstion
Gilgo Beach Murders Timeline
Timeline
1993
- November 21, 1993 Two hunters discovered 28-year-old Costilla’s body in a wooded area in North Sea, Southampton. She had been strangled to death and left partially clothed. Her remains were in the woods for several days prior to
being discovered.
1996
- February 14, 1996: Karen Vergata last seen.
- April 20, 1996: Partial remains of Karen Vergata found, Fire Island, New York.
1997
- June 28, 1997: Partial remains of “Peaches” / “Jane Doe No. 3” found, Hempstead Lake State Park, Long Island, New York.
2000
- 2000: Valerie Mack last seen by family members in spring or summer, Port Republic, New Jersey.
- November 19, 2000: Partial remains of Valerie Mack found, Manorville, Long Island, New York.
2003
- July 2003: Jessica Taylor last seen, Port Authority Bus Terminal, Manhattan, New York.
- July 26, 2003: Partial remains of Jessica Taylor found, Manorville, Long Island, New York.
2007
- July 9, 2007: Maureen Brainard-Barnes last seen, Manhattan, New York.
- July 2007: A friend of Brainard-Barnes’s, Sara Karnes, receives a phone call from a man claiming that he had just seen Brainard-Barnes and that she was alive and staying at a “whorehouse in Queens.”
2009
- July 12, 2009: Melissa Barthelemy last seen at her apartment, 1149 Underhill Ave in the Unionport section of the Bronx, New York.
- July 17, 2009 – August 26, 2009: Amanda Barthelemy, sister of Melissa Barthelemy, receives a series of “vulgar, mocking and insulting” calls from a man using Melissa Barthelemy’s cell phone. There are additional calls on July 23, Aug. 5, Aug. 19 and Aug. 26. The caller eventually tells Amanda Barthelemy that her sister is dead.
2010
- May 2, 2010: Shannan Gilbert makes a panicked phone call to 911 at 4:51am after fleeing a client’s house; she bangs on doors of several neighboring houses and disappears, Oak Beach, Long Island, New York.
- June 6, 2010: Megan Waterman, 22, who had traveled to Long Island from Maine for sex work, last seen at a motel, Hauppauge, New York.
- September 2, 2010: Amber Lynn Costello last seen at her residence, West Babylon, New York.
- December 11, 2010: Remains of Melissa Barthelemy found along Ocean Parkway, Long Island, New York.
- December 13, 2010: Remains of Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes found along Ocean Parkway, Long Island, New York.
2011
- March 29, 2011: Further partial remains of Jessica Taylor found along Ocean Parkway, Long Island, New York.
- April 4, 2011: Remains of Valerie Mack, “Asian Male” and “Baby Doe” (the 16-24-month-old daughter of “Peaches”) found in brush area along Ocean Parkway, Long Island, New York.
- April 11, 2011: Further partial remains of “Peaches” / “Jane Doe No. 3” found near Jones Beach State Park, Long Island, New York.
- April 11, 2011: Further partial remains of Karen Vergata found, Tobay Beach, Long Island, New York.
- December 13, 2011: Remains of Shannan Gilbert found in a marsh, Oak Beach, Long Island, New York.
2016
- December 2016: “Peaches” and “Jane Doe No. 3” positively identified as the same person.
2020
- May 2020: Police announce forensic identification of formerly unidentified remains of Valerie Mack.
2023
- July 2023: Rex Heuermann charged in relation to the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello and named as a suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
- August 4, 2023: Police announce forensic identification of formerly unidentified remains of Karen Vergata.
2025
- April 23, 2025, law enforcement finally confirmed the identities: “Peaches” was Tonya Denise Jackson, and the little girl was Tetiana Marie Dykes. After nearly 28 years, the unnamed mother and child were finally given back their names.
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- 2009 Rex Heuermann
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- Rex Heuermann
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- Rex Heuermann
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- Rex Heuermann
Valerie Mack
Valerie Mack was a 24-year-old woman from New Jersey who vanished in 2000 and remained unidentified for two decades. Her dismembered remains were later connected to the Gilgo Beach murders, and in December 2024, prosecutors charged Rex Heuermann with her murder
Gilgo Beach Murders
Sandra Costilla was a 28-year-old woman from Trinidad and Tobago who was murdered in November 1993 in Suffolk County, Long Island. For decades, her killing remained unsolved—until DNA evidence linked her case to Rex Heuermann, the suspected Long Island Serial Killer.
Jessica Taylor
Jessica Taylor was a 20-year-old woman from upstate New York whose brutal murder and dismemberment in 2003 would not be fully understood until nearly a decade later her remains were linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killings. She is one of the victims tied to serial killer Rex Heuermann.
Possible Connections
Prosecutors revealed in June, 2024 that Heuermann allegedly used a planning document between 2000 and 2002, This document is considered crucial evidence in the ongoing investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders. DA Tierney announced the significance of two phone numbers linked to the case. 917-294-4402 is linked to a Danielle Faith Goodling in Queens. Red More
February 1st, around 3:00 am she had left Hammerheads nightclub, which was located in a converted supermarket at 135 Sunrise Highway in West Islip and may have attempted to hitchhike back to her house in Brentwood.
The last verified sighting of her was near the exit of the nightclub Learn More about Tina
Carmen Vargas
On September 11, 1989, a body was discovered along the right shoulder of Meadowbrook State Parkway in Freeport, NY by a passerby. The body was later identified as Carmen Vargas. Carmen was found with a towel over her face, a rope around her neck, and her ankles bound with a cord. Her body was located approximately a half mile south of Merrick Road in Long Island, New York.
Tiffany Dixon
October 10, 1991 Tiffany Dixon, of Hart St., Bushwick, was last seen dropping her brother, Israel Morales, 8, at the corner of Smith St. and First Place in the Carroll Gardens section, where he is a third-grader at Public School 58. Norma Delgado, 28, the girl’s mother, said Tiffany then usually walked about four blocks to JHS 142, where she is a seventh-grader. But On Thursday the girl didnt arrive at school.
Judith Ramona Veloz
March 3, 1993 Judith Ramona Veloz. aka “Aries Jones” was last seen in the vicinity of 30th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue in Manhattan, NY
Judith left her childhood home at 16, pregnant at 17 and gave birth to a daughter in Spring 1992. Judith boyfriend and her daughters father was an older man, with a violent past, been grooming her and forcing Judith to work the streets and acted as her pimp. AJ passed away in 2005.
Alicia Adams
Alicia Adams, a 22, was discovered naked and mummified in the brush about 2 months after she was last seen in April 2013 near the Imperial Hotel in East New York, Brooklyn.
Alicia Adams, a 22, was discovered naked and mummified in the brush about 2 months after she was last seen in April 2013 near the Imperial Hotel in East New York, Brooklyn.She had a green dragon tattoo on her upper left chest and another tattoo on her right thigh with the words “Daddy Rock.” Her body was found near South Conduit Avenue, close to the woods that lead to Long Island, into Nassau County.
Karen Vergata
Her father last heard from her on his birthday on Valentine’s Day 1996 when she was living on West 45th Street in NYC.
July 2017, her father Dominic N. Vergata had her officially declared deceased. In that legal filing, the father states that he spoke to multiple law enforcement agencies to try to report her missing, hired a private Investigator to determine her whereabouts, and spoke to several acquaintances of hers.
Andre Jamal Isaac
Andre Isaac, also known as “Sugar Bear,” was a professional drag queen who disappeared from East New York in 2002. According to a friend, Isaac was last seen shortly before Thanksgiving, getting into a car with a “secret friend.” The vehicle was described as a red BMW-type coupe driven by a Hispanic man. On December 17, 2002, a plastic bag containing a partial human torso was found in Arverne, Queens, NY. The bag contained a skirt, a black bodysuit, and a tank top. The bag was found on Beach 63 Street between Larkin Street and the boardwalk; however, this location may be slightly inaccurate, as Beach 63 does not connect with Larkin or the boardwalk.
Unidentified Asian man
The skeletal remains of a yet-to-be-identified Asian man were found along Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011.
It is estimated that the man was between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. He was approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall with bad teeth.
Asian Male died between 2001 and 2006 – discovered 750 yards east of the Gilgo Four.
June 28, 1997, a dismembered body was discovered in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake State Park, Lakeview, New York. The torso was found on the west side of Lake Drive, about 200 yards north of Peninsula Boulevard. Both arms, head, and legs below the knee were severed, she had become known as “Peaches” because of a bitten tattoo of a peach on her left breast. “Peaches” was the nickname given to a black or biracial female whose torso was discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997. Her nickname originates from a distinctive tattoo she had. She was inside a plastic Rubbermaid container along with a red towel and a floral pillowcase, covered by plastic garbage bags The last verified sighting of her was near the exit of the nightclub Learn More about Tina
Lindsay Marie Harris (September 3, 1983 – May 2005) was a young woman whose dismembered legs were found in a wooded area near Interstate 55 in 2005. She was identified 3 years later. On May 4, 2005, Harris disappeared from her home in Henderson, Nevada. She was last seen making a bank deposit at the bank near her home. Her rental car was found abandoned in the desert at the southern end of the valley and her credit cards had not been used. Later that November, America’s Most Wanted aired a segment on Harris’ disappearance.
On March 3, 2007, woman’s torso, stabbed and stuffed inside a suitcase, washed ashore in Mamaroneck. One of her leg bones and her right foot with her toe nails half polished washed up from the Long Island Sound later on March 27 among the rocks in Cold Spring Harbor. On March 28, her severed leg bone washed up in a plastic bag a short distance away at the estate of Cablevision billionaire James Dolan. The rest of her has never been found.
Victoria Camara
August 11, 2003 at 7:18 a truck driver discovered the body of a Hispanic female in the desert area just south of the haul road located approximately 1200 feet west of US 95, mile marker 52. August 11, 2003 LVMPD Detectives identified the body of the Hispanic female as Victoria Camara. More
Jamie Seymour
Jamie Diane Seymour was 21 years old when she was last seen in Brick Township, NJ on July 22, 2005. She had moved out of her Jackson Township residence and was drifting from place to place. On July 22, she called her father and said she was heading to the Port Authority New York area.