For years, the 1997 killing of a young woman whose dismembered body was found in a Long Island state park remained a haunting mystery. She was known only by a tattoo of a peach on her torso. The case appeared unsolvable — until 2011, when investigators uncovered additional skeletal fragments near Gilgo Beach, along with the remains of her 2-year-old daughter. The discovery came as police searched the area during what would become the infamous Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation.
This week, authorities made a breakthrough. A man has been arrested and charged with murdering the woman, now identified as Tanya Denise Jackson, according to two people familiar with the case. The suspect, 66-year-old Andrew Dykes, is also the father of Jackson’s daughter, Tatiana Marie Jackson, those sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the indictment remain sealed.
Dykes was arrested in Tampa and is currently being held at the Hillsborough County jail in Florida as he awaits extradition to Long Island. Records did not immediately list an attorney for him, and the Nassau County District Attorney’s office declined to comment.
Separately, Long Island architect Rex Heuermann has been charged in seven of the Gilgo Beach killings but maintains his innocence. Officials reported no known connection between Dykes and Heuermann.
A total of 10 sets of human remains were found along the oceanfront parkway over the years. Most of the victims were women whose disappearances went largely unexamined before the renewed investigation. Police long suspected that more than one killer might have used the remote area as a dumping ground.
As recently as April, Long Island officials said they were unsure whether Heuermann was responsible for Jackson’s and her daughter’s deaths. That changed when Nassau County police confirmed the identity of “Peaches,” formerly known as Jane Doe #3, through advanced DNA and genealogy techniques. Jackson, 26 at the time of her death, was a Gulf War veteran originally from Mobile, Alabama. She had been living in Brooklyn with her daughter and was estranged from much of her family.
Earlier, investigators had said the toddler’s father was cooperative and not a suspect. Additional details surrounding Dykes’ arrest have not yet been released. He is expected to be extradited to New York in the coming days.
