Gilgo Beach murders investigators identify woman’s body found in 1996
The body of a woman found 27 years ago among the remains of the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach murder victims has finally been identified by police.
The woman, known until now as “Jane Doe No 7”, has been named as Karen Vergatta, officials said in a news conference on Friday.
The 34-year-old last made contact with her family on Valentine’s Day 1996, calling her father to wish him a happy birthday.
She was officially presumed dead in 2017, according to court documents.
The announcement on Friday follows a fresh examination of evidence after the remains of 10 people – eight women, one man and a toddler – were found more than a decade ago along a highway in Gilgo Beach, on Long Island in New York.
The unsolved murders became the subject of 2020 Netflix film Lost Girls – amid fears a serial killer could be responsible.
Architect Rex Heuermann was arrested last month and has since been charged with three of the killings.
Rex Heuermann is charged with the murders of three women
He is also the prime suspect over another victim – collectively known as the “Gilgo Four”.
However it is currently unclear whether Ms Vergata’s death will be linked to the case against the 59-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty and denies killing anyone.
Part of Ms Vergata’s remains were found on Fire Island in Suffolk County, New York, in 1996, with more bones found near Gilgo Beach in 2011, more than 20 miles from the original site.
Suffolk County district attorney Ray Tierney said Ms Vergata’s remains on Fire Island were “presumptively identified” after a DNA profile suitable for genealogical comparison was developed in August 2022.
District Attorney Raymond Tierney gave an update on the case on Friday. Pic: AP
No missing persons report was filed after Ms Vergata disappeared, Mr Tierney said.
She is believed to have been working as an escort – with other Gilgo Beach victims also said to be sex workers, investigators said.
Her late father, Dominic Vergata, said he alerted the authorities and contacted acquaintances in an attempt to track her down.
Mr Tierney said authorities delayed publicly identifying Ms Vergata while contacting her relatives.
What do we know about the Gilgo Beach victims?
(L-R) Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. Pic: Suffolk County Police
Heuermann is alleged to have killed Melissa Barthelemy, who disappeared in 2009, as well as Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello, who both vanished a year later.
Prosecutors say they are working towards charging him with the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who went missing in 2007.
The four women, all sex workers, were known as the “Gilgo Four”.
Heuermann’s DNA was linked to a hair found on a restraint used in one of the murders, detectives said.
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Man arrested in connection to serial killings
The architect appeared in court on Wednesday, when his estranged wife, who has filed for divorce, revealed their adult children “cry themselves to sleep”.
The skeletal remains of a fifth victim, Jessica Taylor, were found in 2003 – with more body parts discovered in 2011.
The body of 24-year-old Valerie Mack was found in 2000, the same year she went missing, with additional remains found in 2011 – but it took 20 years to identify her.
Clockwise from top left: Shannan Gilbert, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Valerie Mack and Jessica Taylor. Pics: Suffolk County Police
Some of the victims have yet to be identified – including a woman nicknamed “Peaches” because of a tattoo on her body, whose remains were found inside a plastic tub in Hempstead Lake State Park, New York, in 1997.
More of Peaches’ remains were found in 2011, including the remains of an unidentified toddler, believed to be her daughter.
The 10 bodies were found while police were searching for a missing woman, Shannan Gilbert, near Gilgo Beach in 2010.
Ms Gilbert’s body was discovered about three miles east in a marsh in Oak Beach.
Investigators believe she drowned – but this is disputed by her family.
Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Mr Giuliani suffered “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg” when his vehicle was struck from behind while driving on a highway near Manchester on Saturday evening, according to Michael Ragusa, Mr Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Mr Ragusa said in a statement on X, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Mr Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, according to Mr Ragusa.
His head of security said the 81-year-old had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf. The crash shortly after was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Mr Ragusa said.
Rudy Giuliani attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January. Pic: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters
Mr Giuliani, who worked as an attorney for Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be released from hospital in a few days.
His son, Andrew Giuliani, thanked people for reaching out after hearing about his father’s accident, writing on X: “Your prayers mean the world.”
“As a son, I can tell you that I’m honored to have a Dad that I can call the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen,” he added.
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US
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
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