Karen Vergata’s body linked to Gilgo Beach murder investigation

Karen Vergata disappeared without a trace in 1996.

Now her remains have been identified – in the hunt for the Gilgo Beach serial killer.

In July, Rex Heuermann, 59, was charged with the murders of three women found on the same beach in 2010.

On Valentine’s Day 1996, 34-year-old Karen Vergata disappeared without a trace. In a last conversation, the mother of two had congratulated her father on his birthday, writes New York Post.

The American, who lived in Manhattan in New York, is believed to have worked as an escort at the time of the disappearance – which has not yet been resolved. Her father, who died last year, had in 2017 unsuccessfully started a campaign to have his daughter declared dead.

Now, the investigation into a suspected serial killer who ravaged the New York area between 2010 and 2011 has led to Vergata’s remains.

In mid-July, 59-year-old Rex Heuermann, a well-established architect and married father of a daughter and a stepson, was arrested on suspicion of three murders that took place more than ten years ago.

Between 2010 and 2011, the remains of eleven bodies were found on Gilgo Beach on Long Island in New York. There were nine women, one man and an infant, writes the BBC.

Four of the women, whose bodies were found on the beach only a few days apart, have been dubbed the “Gilgo Four” in the American media.

Heuermann is charged with the murder of three of the women; Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, and Amber Costello, 27. The architect is also the main suspect in the investigation surrounding 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who was also found murdered in similar fashion, in the same area. Brainard-Barnes was also a sex worker, just like the three other women – and Vergata.

The hunt for a perpetrator began in 2010 when the body of 24-year-old sex worker Shannan Gilbert was found after she left a client’s house. The murders have long puzzled investigators, and in 2020 the Netflix movie “Lost Girls”, a mystery drama based on the incident, was made.

At a news conference Friday, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said Gilgo Beach investigators, with the help of the FBI, were able to identify Vergata as early as last October. They had not been able to release this information publicly because the investigation into the murders was still ongoing.

Vergata’s remains were first found on Fire Island in New York in 1996. With the help of a DNA analysis, it was also possible to link the remains to other bones found in 2011 near Gilgo Beach – about 24 kilometers away.

Vergata’s two sons, Eric and Gary, learned of her identification through the press conference.

– He just thought she was missing, Eric’s girlfriend Michelle told the New York Post after the news because, according to the newspaper, he was “too upset to talk”.

Vergata’s stepsister Brenda said the discovery was “something of a shock”.

According to Ray Tierney, there is no connection between Heuermann and Vergata’s death.

– It is important to note that there are no charges against him at the moment, says the prosecutor.

Police who had a span on Heuermann was able to link him to three of the murders in March of this year when they found his DNA from a pizza edge he threw in a trash can. The DNA findings matched the DNA previously found from a hair on one of the sack weavers used in the murders.

Had 92 guns

Police investigators were also able to link him to disposable mobile phones used to meet up with the murdered women. Until he was arrested, he allegedly continued to use disposable phones to abuse sex workers and search the Internet for child pornography. He should also have access to 92 pistols, according to the prosecutor.

– This is a long-awaited day. Hopefully it will bring peace to the community and families, New York City Mayor Kathy Hochul said.

Investigators are now awaiting another DNA test to see if Heuermann can be linked to the other unsolved deaths.

Heuermann’s attorney says he denies all charges.

FACTSGilgo Four

Read more