Officials release new details, renderings of victim found near Gilgo Beach

Officials in New York on Monday released new renderings and details about an unidentified homicide victim whose skeletal remains were discovered in 2011 along a highway on Long Island, where a string of murders known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings occurred.

The victim, referred to as "Asian Doe," was determined to be a biological male of Asian descent between the ages of 17 and 23, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said during a news conference Monday. The remains of the victim were found on April 4, 2011, on Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach but investigators believe the victim died during or before 2006.

At the time of the discovery, the victim was wearing women's clothing, according to Tierney. The victim, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, was wearing a blue, ribbed short-sleeve shirt with a crew neck; women’s pants; and a bra, Tierney said.

While the victim's gender identity remains unclear, Tierney said new forensic images are facial reconstructions that depict the victim as both male and female. Sketches released in 2011 had only portrayed the victim as male-presenting.

"Those reconstructions depict what the victim may have looked like prior to their disappearance and murder," Tierney said at Monday's news conference. "Because the victim was wearing exclusively women's clothing at the time of death, it is possible that they identified as a woman, or were known by others as being a woman."

Tierney also noted a "significant development" with investigators utilizing genetic genealogy to learn more about this victim's ethnicity. Investigators were able to determine that the victim was likely of Southern Chinese, or Han, descent.

Investigators are seeking the public's help in identifying the victim, who was found along the same stretch of Ocean Parkway near two other Gilgo Beach victims, according to Tierney.

"Prior to 2006, this person had friends, possible classmates or co-workers, and a family," Tierney said. "Someone knows who this individual is and we need that person or persons to contact us."

Gilgo Beach killings:Police search home of Rex Heuermann, accused in Gilgo Beach slayings, for second time

'Asian Doe' discovered in the same area as other victims

Tierney said the victim may have been working as a sex worker around the time of their disappearance and had spent some time in New York City before their death.

According to Tierney, the victim suffered a "violent death." The cause of death was homicide by blunt force trauma and the victim's remains were on Ocean Parkway for at least five years before being discovered in 2011.

Authorities have not charged anyone in connection with the victim's murder. 

The Gilgo Beach serial killings spanned from the early 1990s to 2011 and many of the victims' bodies were found between 2010 and 2011 along Ocean Parkway. A total of at least 11 bodies were recovered with most of the victims identified as sex workers.

"Asian Doe" was found near two other victims, identified as 22-year-old Megan Waterman and 20-year-old Jessica Taylor, according to Tierney.

"I think it was about 300 or so feet from Megan Waterman in that same stretch of the parkway. So it was between Megan Waterman and Jessica Taylor," Tierney said.

"Each one of these victims, it’s a separate crime scene. Start from that separate crime scene and you work your way up, which we’re doing," Tierney added. "It’s all nice to speculate, but it basically doesn’t matter until you can bring charges, and we’re certainly not at that stage."

New York architect accused of killing 6 Gilgo Beach victims

Over the last two years, New York authorities have charged Rex Heuermann — a former New York architect who lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found — in the slayings of six women tied to the case.

Heuermann, 60, was accused in July 2023 and earlier this year of killing four sex workers — Waterman; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; and Amber Costello, 27. In June, Heuermann was indicted in the killings of Jessica Taylor, 20, whose dismembered remains were found days after she disappeared in 2003, and Sandra Costilla, 28, whose body was found in 1993.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Kayla Jimenez, and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY