Two bodies found decades ago on an oceanfront highway near Long Island's Gilgo Beach have been identified. The woman—Jane Doe No. 3, or "Peaches"—in a nod to her fruit tattoo, was Tanya Denise Jackson, a 26-year-old US Army veteran. As long suspected, the toddler found with her was her daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes. The two were living in Brooklyn prior to their deaths, reports the AP. Detective Sergeant Stephen Fitzpatrick of the Nassau County Police Department announced the development at a Wednesday news conference but was noncommittal about whether police believe they were killed by Rex Heuermann, the man suspected of killing seven women in the area.
"Although Tanya and Tatiana have commonly been linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killings because the timing and locations of their recovered remains, we are not discounting the possibility that their cases are unrelated from that investigation," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm not saying it is Rex Heuermann and I'm not saying it's not." Some of Jackson's remains turned up on June 28, 1997, inside a plastic tub in a state park in West Hempstead, Long Island. More remains, and the remains of a child wrapped in a blanket, were found off Ocean Parkway in April 2011, reports the New York Times. DNA evidence and advanced genetic and genealogy research was used to determine their identities.
"The reality is our work has just begun," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. "Knowing the identities of the mom and the little baby is just a first step to help us get to solving these murders." Officials said they had spoken with the child's father, who is not considered a suspect. A final set of remains tied to the Gilgo Beach killings is still unidentified. Officials said in September they are thought to belong to a man of Chinese descent who died in 2006 or earlier, was likely between ages 17 and 23, and stood about 5 feet 6 inches tall. They said the victim was wearing women's clothing.
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