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 26, 2003, a dog walker discovered the 20-year-old's torso at the end of this paved access road. At that point, Taylor had been dead for approximately two to three days.

Taylor was a victim of Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann. On June 6, 2024, prosecutors indicted Heuermann for her murder.

At the time of the killing, his wife and children were on vacation at Smugglers' Notch Resort in Jeffersonville, Vermont.

He was charged with three of the Gilgo Beach murders in July 2023. The following year, he faced additional indictments for the deaths of four others, including Taylor.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2026.

Background

Taylor, a native of Poughkeepsie, New York, stood 5 feet 3 inches tall. Known to family and friends as "Lala," she became involved in the sex industry after her boyfriend and pimp, Khalil White, isolated her from her family.

White, who went by the nickname "Remy," was a Brooklyn-based gang leader from Harlem.

Taylor worked alongside several other sex workers, one of whom was named Crystal. While speaking to the Websleuths community in October 2017, Crystal described White as a violent man who regularly abused them.

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

Taylor left White in the early hours of July 15, 2003, following an argument. When her car broke down at a gas station, a group of people agreed to take her to Bushwick, Brooklyn.

She stayed with her new acquaintances during the days leading up to her disappearance. In that period, she reportedly cut her hair short and dyed it, possibly red. Those who spoke to her at the time said she had grown tired of the lifestyle and intended to return home to Poughkeepsie.

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

Police stated that Taylor was last seen working near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan between July 18 and July 21, 2003.

At the time, the area around 8th Avenue and 42nd Street was a popular spot among sex workers, known locally as "the Forty-deuce" or "the Deuce."

At 8:41 p.m. on July 21, she spoke to her mother, Elizabeth Baczkiel, by phone for seven minutes. Taylor told her mother that she would return to Poughkeepsie for her birthday on July 25.

She made her last phone call at 10:22 p.m.

Baczkiel filed a missing person report after her daughter failed to return home for the planned visit.

Discovery

A dog walker discovered Taylor's body at approximately 11 a.m. on July 26, 2003.

The killer had placed her remains on a surgical drape on a pile of tree branches and scrap wood.

He made no apparent attempt to hide the body, leaving the remains in the open, just yards from the treeline.

During a press conference about the murder, a police spokesperson commented on the lack of concealment:

"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."

Investigation

A witness reported seeing a dark-colored Chevrolet pickup truck on the access road around 10:30 p.m. on July 25, 2003, roughly 13 hours before the discovery.

Investigators also found tire tracks on the access road.

The killer removed Taylor's head and hands to hinder identification. He also mutilated a tattoo on her lower back that featured a red heart with angel wings and the words "Remy's angel."

Although the killer damaged the tattoo with a sharp object, the medical examiner's office reconstructed the design and released a photograph. Soon after, a detective who had previously arrested Taylor in Washington, D.C., recognized the image.

Authorities subsequently tracked down Taylor's family and confirmed her identity using DNA testing.

Her relatives initially suspected her former pimp was responsible for the murder, but that belief changed in 2011.

Gilgo Beach discovery

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

On March 29, 2011, police discovered a skull and two hands during a "recanvass" of a previously searched area near Gilgo Beach. The site was one mile east of where the other women were found.

DNA tests confirmed that the skull belonged to Taylor.

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

This discovery suggested that the killer operated in both Manorville and Gilgo Beach.

Manorville

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

The killer left Mack's remains beside a trail near the Peconic River. About three years later, he placed Taylor's remains at the end of this access road on Halsey Manor Road.

Both sites are directly accessible from Mill Road.

Evidence against Heuermann

Prosecutors said a male hair found underneath Taylor's body on the surgical drape matched Heuermann's DNA.

Forensic analysis of one of Heuermann's computers revealed that he searched for a new Chevrolet Avalanche on July 29, 2003, three days after Taylor's remains were found. He also allegedly accessed a Newsday article about the discovery.

He browsed for a new vehicle despite his truck being just over one year old. Although the make and model were the same, the truck he viewed had a different exterior color.

He removed the search from his browser history, but investigators recovered the data from the Internet Explorer 5 cache folder. Deleted files remain on a hard drive until overwritten or erased by specific software.

During a search of Heuermann's home, police found a New York Post newspaper from July 29, 2003, that contained an article about the discovery of Taylor's remains.

The article was published on the same date that Heuermann searched for a new truck.

In July 2024, prosecutors said that a deleted Word document had been recovered from one of Heuermann's hard drives. The document, allegedly used to plan his crimes, contained a section labeled "DS."

Investigators believe the acronym stands for "dump site."

Under "DS," Mill Road was listed as "DS-1" (dump site one).

On April 8, 2026, Heuermann pleaded guilty to Taylor's murder, as well as the deaths of seven others. His sentencing his scheduled to take place in June 2026.