Jane Doe No. 7 ID’d as N. Shore native

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Nearly three decades after her disappearance, the FBI has identified Gilgo Beach victim “Fire Island Jane Doe” as former Glen Head resident Karen Vergata, the Suffolk County district attorney announced at a press briefing Friday.

The investigation was conducted by Gilgo Task Force, a multi-agency task force responsible for investigating the Gilgo Beach murders.

“Today we are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo Task Force re-examination of all the evidence in the case, we were able to identify ‘Fire Island Jane Doe’ as Karen Vergata,” DA Raymond Tierney said.

In August 2022, Tierney said DNA that could be used for genealogical comparison was developed from Vergata’s remains. In September, the FBI identified Vergata through a genetic genealogy review. In October, a cheek swab from a relative of Vergata definitively identified the “Fire Island Jane Doe” as Vergata.

Tierney said there are no charges at this time for the murder of Vergata, whose partial remains were found on Fire Island in 1996 and at Tobay Beach in 2011.

as Karen Vergata, a former North Shore resident. Continued on Page 35

Suffolk County District Attorney announced Friday that the “Fire Island Jane Doe” was

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