New York officials release new renderings of possible Gilgo Beach victim

BRENTWOOD, N.Y. -- Law enforcement officials on Monday released new, more detailed renderings of one of the victims whose remains were found along a coastal highway in New York’s Long Island more than a decade ago in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said at a news conference with other law enforcement officials that the victim was of Asian descent, with the remains found off Ocean Parkway in 2011.

The victim, who for years had been identified by officials as male but who police believe now may have presented outwardly as female, died in 2006 or earlier, was likely between ages 17 and 23 and about 5 feet 6 inches (170 centimeters) tall, and was likely of Southern Chinese, or Han, descent.

The victim was found dressed in women’s clothing, Tierney said. New renderings were being released Monday in the hopes they may generate new leads. They include versions that are both male- and female-presenting.

“This person certainly had a life and loved ones and friends,” Tierney said. “It’s important that this victim get their name back and the people who cared for this individual get answers.”

Flyers with the renderings and a description of the victim and the clothes they were found wearing are being distributed in Asian communities across New York and will be translated into a range of languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai and Indonesian, he said.

Local officials released a more basic sketch of the victim back in 2011.

Tierney said DNA records from Asian people are less common in U.S. genetic databases, making it difficult to compare and identify the remains through traditional methods.

Tierney said the new facial reconstruction was created by a forensic artist with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

No one has been charged in the victim's death, but Tierney noted that the remains were found some 300 feet (91 meters) from those of Megan Waterman and not far from those of Jessica Taylor.

The two are among the six women that Rex Heuermann, a 61 year-old local architect, has been accused of killing.

Tierney also noted that prosecutors, in recent court filings, have said their investigation into Heuermann turned up evidence he’d searched online for pornography featuring slender Asian men.

But Tierney stopped short of saying that the cause of death or manner in which the victim’s remains were disposed matched the hallmarks in the other killings.

He said investigators believe the victim was likely working as a sex worker and had spent time in New York City before their death.

Heuermann was previously charged with killing four other women: Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello and Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

Heuermann was arraigned in June in connection with the deaths of Taylor and Sandra Costilla, following renewed searches of his Massapequa Park home and a wooded area elsewhere on Long Island.

Taylor disappeared in 2003 and Sandra Costilla was killed in 1993. Costilla’s inclusion in the case indicates prosecutors now believe Heuermann was killing women far longer than previously thought.

Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered along an isolated highway near Gilgo Beach.

Heuermann, who lived across the bay, was arrested last July. His next court appearance is in October in Riverhead, where he has been in custody since his arrest.

He has pleaded not guilty and his attorney, Michael Brown, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.