MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A woman and toddler whose remains were discovered scattered along an oceanfront highway not far from the victims of Long Island's infamous Gilgo Beach killings were identified Wednesday as an Army veteran from Alabama and her daughter.
Tanya Denise Jackson, 26, of Mobile, had been living in Brooklyn with her 2-year-old daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes, at the time of their deaths, Nassau County police announced.
The U.S. Army veteran, who police say may have worked as a medical assistant, had been previously nicknamed “Peaches” by investigators after a tattoo on her body.
Police releasing photos and other images related to the two victims Wednesday said there was no evidence at this point to suggest the unsolved killings are linked to Rex Heuermann, who has been charged in the deaths of seven women whose remains were discovered elsewhere on Long Island.
“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,” Homicide Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said.
“I’m not saying it is Rex Heuermann and I’m not saying it’s not,” he added. “We are proceeding as if it’s not, keeping our eyes wide open.”
Some of Jackson's remains were discovered on June 28, 1997, stuffed inside a plastic tub in a state park in West Hempstead on Long Island. More remains, and the skeletal remains of the female child, were found in April 2011 off Ocean Parkway in Babylon, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.
At the briefing Wednesday, law enforcement officials said they had identified the victims through DNA evidence found at the scene and advanced genetic and genealogy research.
“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.”
Fitzpatrick said police spoke with the child's father, who was cooperating with the investigation and not considered a suspect at this time.
He said local authorities initially turned over DNA evidence to the FBI, which provided a likely identification for the two in 2022. Additional DNA samples obtained the following year allowed police to notify surviving family members last year. The two were recently laid to rest, with Jackson receiving “full military honors,” Fitzpatrick said.
Jackson, who drove a black 1991 Geo Storm, was estranged from her family so it was some time before she was reported missing, he added. She served in the U.S. Army from 1993 to 1995, living on three bases in Texas, Georgia and Missouri, according to Fitzpatrick.
“We never gave up on striving for justice for either Tanya or Tatiana,” he said. “We’re determined to find the reasons and circumstances that led to their untimely deaths.”
Nassau Police said they're offering a $25,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest.
It has long been unclear whether there is any connection between the mother and daughter and other women found slain elsewhere on Long Island.
Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered there.
Heuermann, a Manhattan architect, has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all counts. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, which is prosecuting Heuermann, said in a statement he is not commenting on “any topics even tangentially involved to the investigation” while a pre-trial hearing plays out.
The two female victims are among three sets of human remains long associated with the Gilgo Beach case that have not been identified, at least publicly, by authorities.
In September, Long Island officials released more detailed renderings of a victim believed to be of Chinese descent whose remains were found off Ocean Parkway in 2011. The victim died in 2006 or earlier, was likely between ages 17 and 23 and about 5 feet 6 inches (170 centimeters) tall.
Officials for years had identified the victim as male, but said they now believe the person may have presented outwardly as female as they were dressed in women’s clothing.
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Offenhartz reported from New York.
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
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