According to Long Island law enforcement, investigators have identified a fifth Gilgo Beach victim as Karen Vergata. Until now, authorities had referred to the unidentified victim as Fire Island Jane Doe.
Vergata was 34 at the time of her disappearance in 1996, police said at a news conference. She had been living in Manhattan and is believed to have been working as an escort when she disappeared.
Vergata’s remains were located separately on Long Island more than a decade ago, police said. Her legs were found in 1996 near Davis Park and her skull was found in 2011 on Tobay Beach; those beaches are more than 20 miles apart. The two sets of remains were linked by comparing DNA, and then a swab from a relative of Vergata’s cheek.
No one has been charged in connection to her killing at this time, police said. Police also did not say whether Vergata has been linked to the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann.
