Gilgo Beach murders investigators identify woman’s body found in 1996

Published

2 years ago

August 4, 2023

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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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

US

Day 34: Why Trump really flipped the script on Ukraine

Published

7 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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Day 34: Why Trump really flipped the script on Ukraine

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As President Trump claims he is “close” to signing a mining deal with Ukraine, and his secretary of state Marco Rubio talks about a lack of “gratitude” from President Zelenskyy for US military assistance, our US correspondents Mark Stone, Martha Kelner and James Matthews discuss if this is the real reason Trump’s administration appears to have turned its back on Ukraine.

And, why Canada is taking its feud with Donald Trump on to the ice.

You can email James, Mark and Martha on trump100@sky.uk

US

Trump fires top US military officers – including America’s most senior commander

Published

7 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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Trump fires top US military officers - including America's most senior commander

Donald Trump has purged top military figures in the Pentagon, including firing America’s most senior commander.

He also pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of US military leadership.

The Pentagon had been bracing for mass firings of civilian staff as well as a dramatic overhaul of its budget and a shift in military deployments.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown – America’s highest-ranking general and only the second black general to serve as chairman – was fired with immediate effect.

The president will also replace the head of the US Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service, and the Air Force vice chief of staff, the Pentagon said.

He is also removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force, critical positions that ensure enforcement of military justice.

The campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks has been condemned by Democrats.

There is nothing apolitical about Trump

By David Blevins, Sky News correspondent

The purge of America’s top military officials, carried out by President Trump and his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, is unprecedented, writes Sky News correspondent David Blevins, in Washington.

Their dismissal late on Friday sent shockwaves through the defence establishment and raised concerns about the direction of military leadership.

General Charles Q Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was abruptly removed two years into his four-year term.

America’s most senior military officer comes into office two years into a presidential term, meaning they serve under two presidents.

The role is intended to be apolitical but there is no such thing as non-partisan politics in the Trump playbook.

Brown’s tenure had been marked by a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, putting him at odds with the administration.

Prior to his appointment as defence secretary, Hegseth questioned Brown’s promotion, hinting that it had been influenced by race.

In his book, The War on Warriors, Hegseth wrote: “The military standards, once the hallmark for competency, professionalism, and ‘mission first’ outcomes, have officially been subsumed by woke priorities.”

Supporters of the administration argue the changes are necessary to refocus military priorities in line with the president’s objectives.

But critics contend that such a sweeping overhaul of leadership undermines the apolitical nature of the military and unsettles the rank and file.

Rhode Island’s senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “Firing uniformed officers as a type of political loyalty test… erodes the trust and professionalism that our servicemembers require to achieve their missions.”

Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the firings were “un-American, unpatriotic, and dangerous for our troops and our national security.”

“This is the definition of politicising our military,” he said.

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “Firing uniformed leaders as a type of political loyalty test, or for reasons relating to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism that our servicemembers require to achieve their missions.”

During the election, Mr Trump spoke of firing “woke” generals and those he saw as responsible for the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Defence secretary and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth has questioned whether General Brown would have got the job if he were not black.

There is no indication his appointment was not based on merit.

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On Friday, Mr Trump said: “I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”

It’s unclear who Mr Trump will choose to replace the judge advocates. Mr Hegseth previously criticised military lawyers, saying most “spend more time prosecuting our troops than putting away bad guys”.

US

Dozens turn out in support of Luigi Mangione over killing of US healthcare boss Brian Thompson

Published

7 hours ago

February 23, 2025

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Dozens turn out in support of Luigi Mangione over killing of US healthcare boss Brian Thompson

Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.

Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.

The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.

Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.

Dozens more queued in the hallway.

Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.

The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.

In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.

Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.

He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.

The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.

A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.