After almost three decades, the dismembered remains of “Fire Island Jane Doe'' have been identified, but officials won't say if she's connected to Rex Heuermann, the suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation.
Partial human remains found on Fire Island in 1996 — and additional remains found near Gilgo Beach in 2011 — belong to Karen Vergata, according to officials, who say a missing persons report was not filed at the time of her disappearance.
"As part of the Gilgo Task Force reexamination of all the evidence in the case, we were able to identify 'Fire Island Jane Doe' as Karen Vergata, who was 34 years old at the time of her disappearance," said Ray Tierney, the Suffolk County District Attorney, adding that Vergata lived in Manhattan and worked as an escort.
At a news conference Friday, Tierney was tightlipped on whether Vergata's death is linked to Rex Heuermann, the Massapequa Park man arrested last month for the murders of three other sex workers found near Gilgo Beach.
“We're going to have no comment on what, if any, suspects we developed at this time," Tierney said, citing confidentiality.
He said investigators definitively confirmed Vergata's identity through genealogical DNA analysis last October, but kept the information under wraps.
"We needed to contact all of Ms. Vergata's family members and additionally, at around the same time, we were beginning our grand jury confidential investigation into what has been known as the 'Gilgo Four' — that is, the murders of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello," Tierney said.
That grand jury investigation has so far resulted in murder charges against Heuermann in the deaths of Barthelemy, Waterman and Costello, with additional charges for Brainard-Barnes expected soon.
For now, no charges have been filed in Vergata's death but Tierney said the investigation is ongoing.
Investigators are seeking a court order for a DNA sample from Heuermann, who has pleaded not guilty.
