The site where Jessica Taylor was found

This is the site where Jessica Taylor was found.

It is located on Halsey Manor Road in Manorville, New York.

On July 26th, 2003, a dog walker discovered the 20-year-old's naked torso at the end of this paved access road. By that stage, she had been dead for approximately 2–3 days.

Taylor is believed to be a victim of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann. Heuermann was indicted for her murder on June 6th, 2024, more than 20 years later.

Her remains were found lying on a surgical drape that had been placed on top of a pile of tree branches and scrap wood. A male hair underneath her body was found to be a match with Heuermann's DNA.

A witness said that they saw a dark-colored Chevrolet pickup truck on this access road at around 10.30 p.m. on July 25th, 2003, which was roughly 13 hours before the body was discovered.

According to investigators, Heuermann did an online search for a new Chevy truck following the murder. He also accessed a Newsday article about the murder.

His wife and children were on vacation in Jeffersonville, Vermont, when the killing occurred.

Taylor's killer made no effort to conceal her body.

He placed it out in the open, just yards away from the treeline.

Taylor's mother, Elizabeth Baczkiel, filed a missing person report after she failed to return to Poughkeepsie on July 25th to celebrate her birthday. Her pimp, Khalil White, and a fellow sex worker named "Crystal" also claimed to have reported Taylor missing.

At the time of her murder, she frequently traveled between Washington, D.C., and Manhattan. She had also spent time in Atlantic City, North Carolina, Long Island City, Cheverly in Maryland, and the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Taylor left Khalil in the early hours of July 15th, 2003, after the pair had a fight. When her car broke down at a gas station, a group of people agreed to bring her to Bushwick in Brooklyn.

She stayed with her new acquaintances in Bushwick in the days leading up to her disappearance. During this period, she reportedly cut her hair short and dyed it, possibly red.

When her acquaintances last saw her, she was leaving their apartment with a cellphone, red-heeled sandals, and a purse containing a bible.

The police stated that Taylor was last seen working the streets near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan between July 18th and July 21st, 2003. She made her last phone call at 10.22 p.m. on July 21st.

This means that she was likely picked up by the killer on the 21st or 22nd.

Taylor's killer removed her head and hands in an attempt to hinder her identification. He also mutilated a tattoo on her lower back.

The tattoo consisted of a red heart with angel wings, which had the words "Remy's angel" written across them.

Although the killer damaged the tattoo with a sharp object, he was not thorough enough. As a result, the medical examiner's office was able to piece the tattoo back together and release a photograph of it.

Shortly afterwards, a detective who had previously arrested Taylor in Washington, D.C., saw the image and realized that it was hers.

At that stage, the authorities tracked down members of Taylor's family and confirmed her identity using DNA testing.

Her relatives initially suspected that her pimp may have been involved in her murder. However, that belief was shattered in 2011.

In December 2010, the police found the bodies of four missing sex workers at a roadside near Gilgo Beach. This discovery led to a broader search of the bushes along Ocean Parkway.

On March 29th, 2011, investigators found a skull and two hands at a site that was just one mile east of the location where the other women had been dumped.

Subsequent DNA tests confirmed that the skull belonged to Taylor.

This was a crucial discovery, as it indicated that the killer had been operating in both Manorville and Gilgo Beach.

The Manorville connection was significant because three years prior to Taylor's murder, a group of pheasant hunters had discovered the torso of Valerie Mack in a wooded area off Mill Road.

In July 2024, prosecutors announced that a deleted Word document had been recovered from one of Heuermann's hard drives. The document, which Heuermann allegedly used to plan out his crimes, had a section called DS, which investigators believe refers to "dump site." Under DS, Mill Road was listed as DS-1 (dump site one).

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

A dog walker discovered the body

Image source: Newsday: July 27th, 2003

Taylor may have been dead for a number of days. Her last cellphone activity occurred on the night of July 21st.

Dump site

The Google Street View image above was taken in July 2012.

The red arrow is pointing towards the general area where a dog walker made the discovery.

Access road

Image source: The Bad Place (The Hunt For The Long Island Serial Killer)

The road provides access to a sump on Halsey Manor Road.

Taylor's remains were dumped in two different locations

This aerial image shows the two locations where Taylor's remains were found.

It seems as though LISK quickly arrived at the conclusion that Gilgo Beach on Jones Beach Island was a safer place to dump identifying body parts such as skulls and hands.

By the time 2003 rolled around, he had already hidden the identifying remains of four victims among the thick bushes and brambles beside Ocean Parkway.

As time wore on and the body parts at Gilgo Beach remained undiscovered, it is likely that his confidence in the area continued to grow.

The Long Island serial killer made no attempt to hide the body

Image source: The Bad Place (The Hunt For The Long Island Serial Killer)

The road sits between a low-lying water sump (top) and a wooded area (bottom).

Despite having a number of options, the Long Island serial killer made no attempt to hide Taylor's body.

Crime scene

Image source: News 12

These images of the crime scene at Halsey Manor Road were taken from a News 12 report. The photo on the left shows police standing at the entrance to the access road.

During a press conference about the murder, a police spokesperson said:

"It doesn't really seem like they were concerned that the body would have been found. It certainly would not be a place to put a body if you were looking to hide it."

Halsey Manor Road

The area is eerily quiet, even during the day.

Gilgo Beach

On March 29th, 2011, a search team uncovered Taylor's skull, hands, and forearm at this section of Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.

By that point, her remains had been lying in the thicket for nearly eight years.

This discovery confirmed that the killer had been operating in both Gilgo and Manorville.

View Location

Manorville

Image source: The Killing Season

LISK placed her torso at the end of this access road in Manorville. A dogwalker found the remains lying on a surgical drape.

Tire tracks

Tire tracks were found on the access road.

Taylor was last seen near the Port Authority Bus Terminal

Taylor was last seen working the streets near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan between July 18th and July 21st, 2003.

At the time, the area around 8th Avenue and 42nd Street was a popular spot among sex workers. Locals called it "the Forty-deuce" or simply "the Deuce".

Taylor ran away from her pimp a few weeks before she went missing. This means that she was most likely working the streets by herself.

Those who spoke to her during this period said that she had grown tired of the lifestyle and was intending on returning home to Poughkeepsie.

Taylor, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Melissa Barthelemy were all apparently picked up in Manhattan. The family of Valerie Mack said that she was going to New York. Karen Vergata was living on West 45th Street when she disappeared.

All of this indicates that the Long Island serial killer was familiar with this section of New York City.

This isn't surprising, as the authorities believe that he was a regular "john" who only killed when the circumstances were right.

It is likely that LISK had been picking up sex workers in Manhattan for quite some time before he eventually crossed paths with Taylor. He may have realized his opportunity when he noticed that she was by herself, with no pimp or fellow working girls.

Taylor was alone, and the pickup occurred in a busy city that was miles away from Long Island. Despite this, he still had to approach her in public, in plain view of potential witnesses. By 2003, public security cameras in Manhattan were also more widespread.

For this reason, it is likely that her identification came as an unwelcome shock. This would explain why he stopped dismembering his victims and leaving their torsos out in the open.

Engaging in this behavior seemed like a good idea until he started envisioning police cars pulling up outside his house.

Coordinates: 40.757224, -73.989749

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