A member of the media takes a photograph of a new Gilgo Beach homicide victim before a press conference with Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney and members of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force at the Suffolk County Police Academy in Brentwood, New York, US, September 16, 2024. © REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
(Gilgo Beach, NY) – It’s well-documented now that New York City architect Rex Heuermann is the alleged Gilgo Beach Serial Killer. But with upwards of a dozen bodies found at the remote Suffolk County location over the past 20 years or so, it remains to be seen if any other suspects are connected.
This week we found out cops have accused a separate man of a murder that’s connected to Gilgo Beach’s location. On Wednesday, 66-year-old Andrew Dykes was arrested near Tampa, Florida. He now awaits extradition to face murder charges in New York, on a fugitive warrant.
Dykes’ charges stem from the 1997 death of Tanya Jackson, who’s been known as “peaches” in news reports — because of a distinct peach tattoo she had on her body. It was June 1997 when her body was found stuffed in a container — in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake Park, Long Island. So that’s technically about a half hour drive from Gilgo Beach, but in the general area where bodies have been found.
Reports say that Dykes is in fact the biological father of Jackson’s two-year-old daughter Tatiana Marie Dykes (previously known only as “Baby Doe”), whose scattered remains were found in 2011 just miles away from her mom’s body. Early this year, investigators used genetic technology to determine both victims’ identities.
This brings some potential conclusion to a tragic mystery, as some believed “Peaches” and her daughter may have been victims of Heuermann. But Nassau County authorities have seemingly made it clear they don’t believe this case is connected to the Massapequa Park man — who remains in custody and faces multiple murder charges. In April, cops struck a more uncertain tone: “We’re not saying it’s [Heuermann], but we’re not saying it’s not him,” said Nassau County Homicide Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick at that time.
There was no new comment offered from the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment as to Dykes’ arrest.
Heuermann is currently charged with seven murders (Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, Megan Waterman, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Sandra Costilla) and has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for next year.
