The beach where Karen Vergata was found

This is the location where Karen Vergata was discovered.

It is situated on Blue Point Beach, Fire Island, New York.

Vergata is believed to be the second known victim of the Gilgo Beach serial killer.

The 34-year-old remained unidentified for 26 years, during which she was known as Fire Island Jane Doe (FIJD) and Jane Doe No. 7.

Discovery

Vergata's severed legs were found floating near the bayside shoreline of Blue Point Beach. It is likely that the killer dismembered her remains in an attempt to hinder her identification.

At around 5:30 p.m. on April 20, 1996, seasonal residents Robert and Andrew Ragona were walking along the beach when they saw a black bag with a bone sticking out of it.

Thinking it might be a deer, they fished the bag out of the water and placed it on a plank of wood. However, once they opened it, they saw a human thigh bone and painted toenails.

The Ragonas believed that the bag had floated in from across the bay, as debris from the mainland regularly washed ashore.

The police described the victim as a white woman, between the ages of 18 and 50, who had red-painted toenails and multiple scars on her legs. Some of the scars indicated she may have undergone ankle surgery or received stitches in the past.

Gilgo Beach

In December 2010, a large-scale search operation was launched after the police discovered the remains of four women at a site near Gilgo Beach on Jones Beach Island.

Four months later, investigators uncovered a human skull off Ocean Parkway, near Tobay Beach.

Around the same time, a retired homicide detective contacted the police and told them about the severed legs that had washed ashore on Fire Island in 1996. The remains had been stored in a freezer at the medical examiner's office for more than 15 years.

In July 2011, DNA testing revealed that the skull and legs belonged to the same person.

Bridge

Fire Island has very limited vehicle access. Therefore, it is likely that the killer threw the bag containing Vergata's legs into the bay, where it drifted until the tide eventually washed it ashore.

The Great South Bay Bridge, which connects Jones Beach Island with the mainland, sits roughly halfway between the two discovery sites.

Given that Vergata's skull was found near Tobay Beach, it is plausible that the killer threw the bag from this bridge.

The crossing isn't particularly busy, especially after nightfall, so he would have had ample time to slow down and toss it over the side.

Identification

Despite the DNA match between the skull and the legs, another decade would pass before the victim could be identified.

Eleven years later, in September 2022, the FBI used investigative genetic genealogy to identify Vergata as a potential match. They subsequently confirmed her identification using a DNA buccal swab from a relative.

Although the FBI identified Vergata in October 2022, the Gilgo Beach task force decided to withhold her name from the public due to the ongoing investigation into Rex Heuermann.

At the time, the 59-year-old architect was still under surveillance. It is likely that the task force withheld Vergata's name because they didn't want Heuermann to believe they were making any meaningful progress in the case.

Had he learned about such an important development, he may have grown paranoid and destroyed vital evidence before they got the chance to search his properties.

The authorities have not commented on whether they believe Heuermann is responsible for Vergata's murder. However, their decision to withhold the victim's name until after his arrest suggests they view him as a potential suspect.

Karen Vergata

On August 4, 2023, the authorities publicly announced that Fire Island Jane Doe had been identified as a former Glen Head resident named Karen Vergata.

Vergata was a sex worker who was living on West 45th Street in Manhattan when she disappeared. The 34-year-old struggled with drug addiction and had numerous run-ins with the law.

She had also lost custody of her two sons, who were placed in foster care and later adopted by another family.

Vergata was hit by a truck in the late 1980s, which may explain the scars on her legs.

During the early-to-mid 1990s, she was arrested multiple times for sex-work-related offenses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Her father, Dominic Vergata, last heard from her on February 14, 1996, when she called him from prison. Relatives said that she rarely stayed in contact and only visited on special occasions.

Dominic realized something was wrong after he learned his daughter never reclaimed bail money that she had posted for a friend. She also failed to show up for a court appearance that was scheduled for March 12, 1996.

Although he attempted to file a missing person report with the NYPD, he received significant pushback from officers due to her age.

In an attempt to find her, he began contacting various police departments, sheriff's offices, correctional facilities, and other agencies.

In 1997, he admitted to himself that his daughter was likely dead. Months had passed, and she had failed to resume her periodic phone calls for financial assistance.

Despite this, he continued his search.

Roughly two decades later, Dominic attempted to find closure by hiring a private investigator. However, they were unable to uncover any leads.

In 2017, Vergata was officially declared dead.

In October 2022, investigators reached out to Dominic to inform him that his daughter had been positively identified as Fire Island Jane Doe.

After decades of searching, he finally had an answer. Two months later, on December 22, 2022, Dominic passed away at the age of 87.