Gilgo Beach Killer's Victim Identified After 20 Years: Police

GILGO BEACH, NY — Twenty years after her death, a woman dismembered by the Gilgo Beach killer has been identified, police said.

On Thursday, Suffolk County police, along with the FBI, revealed the name of the woman known as"Manorville Jane Doe," or "Jane Doe #6," as Valerie Mack. Mack, who also used the name Melissa Taylor, went missing in 2000 at the age of 24, police said.

She was working as an escort in Philadelphia at the time of her disappearance and family members last saw her in the spring or summer of 2000 in the area of Port Republic, New Jersey, police said.

Mack's partial remains were found by hunters Nov. 19, 2000, in a wooded area off Halsey-Manor Road in Manorville. More than a decade later, other dismembered remains were found in April, 2011, near Cedar Beach along Ocean Parkway.

Mack, who was 5 feet tall and 100 pounds with brown hair, was identified after authorities used genetic genealogy, the first time a law enforcement agency in New York State has used the new scientific techniques as part of an investigation, police said.

"For two decades, Valerie Mack's family and friends were left searching for answers and while this is not the outcome they wanted, we hope this brings some sense of peace and closure," Suffolk County police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. "We will continue to use every investigative tool available to aggressively investigate these murders."

DNA analysis confirmed that the two sets of remains were a match, Hart said.

"Our goal was and continues to be bringing justice to the victims and to their families," Hart said.

Of Mack, Hart said, "She was never reported missing."

The new scientific techniques led to the establishment of a genetic profile that gave homicide detectives leads to pursue that directed them to areas of New Jersey where Mack had ties, Hart said. Interviews were conducted with relatives, who also gave DNA samples for analysis that led to her identification.

While progress has been made in the investigation, Hart said there is much work still to be done: The remains of two Suffolk victims are as of yet still unidentified. Those victims, Hart said, "present additional challenges."

The Suffolk County Police Department launched the Gilgonews.com website in January as a platform to update the public on developments related to the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation.

In January police released a "significant piece of evidence," in the Gilgo Beach murders — a black belt embossed with the letters "HM" or "WH,"; the letters are 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. The belt was found at the initial stages of the investigation at a crime scene and is believed to have been handled by the suspect and did not belong to the victims, Hart said at a press conference.

Hart said the investigation was one of the most "well-known and complex that this department has ever undertaken ... We will remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver justice and in doing so, give a sense of closure."

Hart detailed the timeline of the years since 10 sets of remains were found; those remains included an unidentified toddler, her mother, whose remains were found in Nassau County, an unidentified Asian male between the ages of 17 and 23, and the women located.

Shannan Gilbert's remains were found in 2011 in Oak Beach; Gilbert was a New Jersey escort who disappeared 10 years ago after meeting a client for sex on Oak Beach, leading to the discoveries of 10 sets of human remains believed to be the victims of a Long Island serial killer.

Hart said investigators have not ascertained that her body was related to the human remains found belonging to the other women as they did not "match the pattern". However, she said, it was important to proceed with an open mind and go "where the evidence takes us."

For the first time, Hart said, the new scientific technology was being used; the SCPD was granted an appeal by the New York State Department of Health to provide the FBI with DNA samples that would be given to genetic genealogy databases, with an eye toward identifying possible relatives of those found murdered and unidentified.

Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said he began working on the case when he served as police commissioner and that he worked with Hart, then head of the Long Island FBI.

The time is now

"We are constantly evaluating the investigation and looking at steps taken. Now is the time," Hart said. New techniques evolve at a "mind boggling pace," she said, and the time had come to leverage social media to put information out. "Hopefully, the public will come forward."

When asked if there had been multiple killers, she said, "It's important as an investigating team to keep our minds open to all avenues, that we don't marry ourselves to one. We have to keep our minds open and go where the facts take us."

John Ray, a Miller Place attorney representing Gilbert, held a press conference recently after listening to the 911 tape that Suffolk Police released to him. Gilbert disappeared in May 2010 and her body was found in a marshy area near Oak Beach in December 2011.

Ray held the conference after receiving the 911 recordings from the night of Gilbert's disappearance, which he said police had withheld for over three years. While Ray could not release specific information about what was on the tape due to a court order, he said he believes what is on it is "extremely important to solving the case."

"They are utterly inconsistent in any way with some of the information that's out in the public," he said during the event.

A Netflix movie, "Lost Girls," about the case "also puts them on the spot," Ray has said in a past interview. "What they really need to do is give it up, do the right thing, clear out the old dead wood that has been investigating this case for years and put in new people, new voices, a new mindset and share information with me and with the public."

The search for Gilbert first led to the bodies of four other prostitutes, all of whom were strangled and stuffed in burlap bags. A total of 11 sets of human remains, including Gilbert's, were found along Ocean Parkway. Police have been searching for a serial killer ever since.

Mari Gilbert was later murdered by another daughter.

The Netflix movie was filmed on the North Fork in 2018 about the murders. According to imdb.com, "Lost Girls" premiered Jan. 28 at the Sundance Film Festival and is now being shown on Netflix.The film is based on the book "Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery" by Robert Kolker, according to producer Anne Carey.

The public remains a critical resource and tips are sought, with friends and relatives of Mack asked to provide whatever information they can about what may have led to her death, Hart said. The public can also go to p3tips.com or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS, as well as Gilgonews.com.

"Suffolk County Police are working tirelessly to solve these cases," Hart said.