#458: Breaking News in the Long Island Serial Killing Case
Real Crime Profile
Real Crime Profile / Wondery
4.2 • 10.5K Ratings
🗓️ 5 August 2023
⏱️ 17 minutes
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Summary
Today we give an update on the newly identified remains of a woman found near the Fire Island Beach area of Long Island, New York. News broke on Friday August 4th when DA Raymond Tierney called a press conference at very short notice to report that this woman, previously known to police as "Fire Island Jane Doe" had been positively identified as Karen Vergata. She is one of at least eighteen other victims murdered in the Gilgo Beach/Jones Beach/Fire Island vicinity. Karen went missing on Valentine’s Day in 1996, last seen in Manhattan which is at least sixty miles away from where some of her remains were discovered. Is she connected to Rex Heuermann, the suspect arrested on July 13th charged with the murders of Amber Costello, Megan Waterman and Melissa Barthelemy, three women who all went missing in 2009 and 2010 before their bodies were found along Gilgo Beach? Join us as we talk it out. Our thoughts go out to Karen's family and friends as they process this new information about their loved one.
#HerNameWasKarenVergata #SheWasSomeone #GilgoBeachMurders #SerialKiller #HerNameWasAmberCostello #HerNameWasMeganWaterman #HerNameWasMelissa Barthelemy #BreakingNews #TrueCrime #Podcast #FollowTheEvidence #Victimology #ExpertAnalysis #RealCrimeProfile #CriminalBehavior #SuffolkCounty
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening at free on Wondry Plus. |
| 0:03.4 | Today, we are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo Test Force re-examination of all |
| 0:09.0 | the evidence in the case, we are able to identify Fire Island Jane Doe as Karen Vergata, |
| 0:15.5 | who was 34 years old at the time of her disappearance. |
| 0:18.9 | And I believe we have a picture of Miss Vergata. |
| 0:22.5 | And I think it's important that we remember and honor not only Miss Vergata, but all the |
| 0:28.8 | victims on Gilgo Beach. |
| 0:31.4 | Miss Vergata went missing at approximately February 14, 1996 at the time she lived on West |
| 0:38.7 | 45th Street in Manhattan, and was believed to be working as an escort at the time of |
| 0:43.8 | her disappearance. |
| 0:45.4 | There was no missing person's complaint filed at the time of that disappearance. |
| 0:50.5 | In August of 2022, approximately six months after we formed this Gilgo Test Force, a DNA |
| 0:57.6 | profile suitable for genealogical comparison was developed from the remains of Karen Vergata. |
| 1:03.7 | In September of 2022, the FBI was able to, was able via a genetic genealogy review to identify |
| 1:12.3 | Miss Vergata presumptively as Fire Island Jane Doe. |
| 1:16.1 | There after in October of 2022, using a bookleswab from a relative of Karen Vergata, we were |
| 1:24.2 | able to definitively identify her. |
| 1:27.6 | It's important to note that there are no charges at this time. |
| 1:32.0 | Miss Vergata's disappearance was in 1996, which is 27 years ago. |
| 1:37.2 | We are going to continue to work this particular case as we did the Gilgo Four investigation. |
| 1:44.0 | We're going to have no comment on what, if any suspects we developed at this time, this |
| 1:50.1 | is a confidential investigation. |
... |
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