Police Identify ‘Peaches,’ ‘Baby Doe’ Victims Found Near Gilgo Beach

Police have identified two of the Jane Doe victims found along Gilgo Beach, New York — near the dumping ground of the Long Island Serial Killer — nearly 30 years after they were murdered.

At a press conference Tuesday, Nassau County police identified “Jane Doe No. 3” — known as “Peaches” because of a tattoo of that fruit on her torso — as Tanya Denise Jackson, who was 26 at the time of her death. Jackson’s torso was first found inside a Rubbermaid container at Hempstead Lake State Park in June 1997; 14 years later, her severed arms, legs, and head were found near Jones Beach State Park in 2011 amid the discovery of the confirmed LISK victims.

When police uncovered the Gilgo Beach dumping ground in late 2010 and early 2011, among the other victims was the body of an unidentified toddler they dubbed “Baby Doe,” who DNA evidence later determined was the daughter of “Peaches.” On Tuesday, Nassau police identified the toddler as two-year-old Tatiana Marie Dykes, who was born in Texas in 1995.

At the time of their deaths, Jackson and her daughter were living in Brooklyn. Jackson served in the U.S. military, and was “estranged” from her family, which authorities reasoned was why she was not reported missing in the years that followed. Additionally, Nassau police said they had identified Dykes’ father, who “has been cooperative” in the investigation.

Nassau police cautioned that although Jackson and Dykes’ bodies were found in proximity to the LISK victims, it’s likely the cases are “unrelated,” though the investigation remains active. 

Rex Heuermann, the man arrested in connection to the Long Island Serial Killer murders, is currently facing seven murder charges. He was originally arrested in July 2023 and charged with murdering three of the so-called “Gilgo Four” victims, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. Charges pertaining to the fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, were brought in January of this year.

In June 2024, authorities charged Heuermann with the murders of two additional victims, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. Taylor had been missing since 2003, and her partial remains were discovered near Gilgo Beach. But Costilla’s partial remains were found in 1993 in the Hamptons, and her unsolved murder had not been previously associated with the Long Island Serial Killer investigation. In December, Heuermann was charged with the 2000 killing of Valerie Mack. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.