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The site where Jessica Taylor was found

Crime Scene Location in Manorville, New York, United States

This is the site where Jessica Taylor was found.

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

Taylor is believed to be a victim of the Long Island serial killer (LISK).

On July 26th, 2003, a dog walker discovered the 20-year-old's naked torso at the end of this paved access road.

The decomposing remains of the young sex worker were found lying on a pile of tree branches and scrap wood. Notably, her killer made no effort to conceal the body. Instead, he placed it out in the open, just yards from the treeline.

This access road is only 0.5 miles away from the wooded area where LISK had previously dumped the torso of another victim named Valerie Mack.

Jessica Taylor disappeared in July of 2003

A fellow sex worker named "Crystal" reported Taylor missing in July of 2003. At the time, she was regularly bouncing between Washington, D.C., and New York.

She also spent time in Atlantic City, Long Island City, and the East Williamsburg area of Brooklyn.

According to the police, she was last seen "turning tricks" near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan between July 18th and July 21st.

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

Tattoo

Taylor's killer removed her head and hands in an attempt to hinder her identification. He also mutilated a tattoo that was 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 LISK had cut at the tattoo with a sharp object, he was not thorough enough. Consequently, the medical examiner's office was able to piece the tattoo back together and release a photograph of it.

Shortly afterwards, a detective in Washington, D.C., saw the image and realized that the tattoo might belong to Taylor, whom he had previously arrested.

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

The rest of Taylor's remains were discovered at Gilgo Beach

Nearly eight years later, the bodies of four missing women were uncovered at a roadside near Gilgo Beach. This shocking discovery led to a broader search of the area 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.

The identification of these remains proved that the Long Island serial killer had been operating in both Manorville and Gilgo Beach.

Jessica Taylor crime scene location

Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location.

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the site are:

40.878734, -72.782170

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps Link

Address

The full address for this location is:

Halsey Manor Road
Manorville
New York
NY 11949
United States

Directions

The entrance to the paved access road is just 300 feet north of where Halsey Manor Road crosses over the Long Island Expressway.

Details about the general area

Manorville is a hamlet on the western edge of the Long Island Central Pine Barrens.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

Aerial image

The site is just a stone's throw away from the Long Island Expressway.

The photograph of Taylor on the left was taken just days before her disappearance.

The 20-year-old was petite, standing at just 5 ft. 3 tall. She was originally from Poughkeepsie, New York. Her family and friends often called her "Lala".

LISK dumped the torsos of Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack in the same area of Manorville

In 2000, LISK dumped the torso of Valerie Mack at a site near the Peconic River in Manorville. Then, in 2003, he left Jessica Taylor's remains at the end of this access road near the Long Island Expressway.

These two locations are only 0.5 miles apart.

His decision to reuse this part of Manorville as a dump site indicates that he is somewhat familiar with the area.

Halsey Manor Road

Image source: Newsday

This newspaper clipping is from an article that was published on July 27th, 2003.

Because Taylor was last seen between July 18th and July 21st, it is possible that her torso had been lying out in the open for 5–8 days.

Google Street View

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

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

Taylor's remains were dumped in two different locations

This satellite photo shows the two locations where Taylor's remains were found.

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

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

Aerial photo from 2001

This aerial image of the site was taken in 2001, which was roughly two years before Taylor was murdered.

In the top-left corner, you can see a photograph of the exact spot where her remains were discovered. Her torso was resting on a sheet of plastic that had been placed on top of a pile of branches and wood scrap.

His decision to leave her body out in the open is telling.

We know that he wasn't under time constraints, as he dismembered her remains and then dumped the body parts in two separate areas that were 45 miles apart. Therefore, it stands to reason that he could have easily devoted a few more seconds to concealing her torso.

Notably, this part of Manorville is pretty secluded, especially at night. There is also a wooded area beside the access road.

Despite all of this, he still chose to leave the torso in plain sight.

It seems plausible that he wanted someone to find it, as sadists in particular are narcissistic creatures who often enjoy spreading fear within their own communities. Witnessing the impact that their crimes have on society makes them feel powerful.

For example, he may have enjoyed reading newspaper articles about the murder. He may have also gotten a kick out of thumbing his nose at the authorities and hearing people talk about the case.

Creating such a gruesome scene would have stirred up a heightened sense of anxiety in the area and caused a lot of talk among local residents. If this was his aim, then he clearly succeeded. According to one local, "It was the talk of the neighborhood." It also made everyone "a little more security-conscious."

This kind of situation would have undoubtedly given him psychological gratification. So much, in fact, that there's a good chance that he took part in the neighborhood gossip and even initiated conversations about the crime.

However, this "public posing" ultimately backfired on him when the authorities were able to piece Taylor's tattoo together and identify her using DNA tests.

Picking up a newspaper and seeing her face staring back at him would have undoubtedly shocked him and filled him with worry. Now that his victim's identity was known, there was an increased possibility that detectives would be able to track her last known movements and connect him to the crime.

In the weeks and months that followed, it is likely that a lot of "what-ifs" were circling around in his head.

Following her identification, the Long Island serial killer stopped dumping his victims out in the open. This change in M.O. was most likely driven by Taylor's identification and the realization that DNA technology was becoming an increasingly powerful tool for investigators.

In other words, it was a wake-up call that "playing games" was far too risky.

At the same time, it may have also begun to dawn on him that all of his dump sites at Gilgo Beach remained undiscovered.

Crime scene

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 that the killer made no effort to hide Taylor's body:

"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

Halsey Manor Road is eerily quiet, even during the day. If the killer dumped Taylor's remains at night, then he would have had a lot of time and space.