MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Police in the suburbs of New York City are expected to reveal the identity of a woman and child whose remains were among other bodies discovered scattered along an oceanfront highway not far from Long Island’s Gilgo Beach.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the announcement told The Associated Press the identity of the woman, nicknamed “Peaches” by investigators after a tattoo on her body, and her daughter will be the focus of a Wednesday briefing by Nassau County police on Long Island.
The official was not authorized to release details of the findings ahead of a briefing by Commissioner Patrick Ryder and other officials at police headquarters in Mineola.
Some of the woman’s remains were discovered on June 28, 1997, stuffed inside a plastic tub in a state park in West Hempstead on Long Island. More remains, and the skeletal remains of the female child, were found off Ocean Parkway in April 2011.
Police have previously said they’ve confirmed the two are related through DNA analysis.
It has long been unclear whether there is any connection between “Peaches” and other women found slain elsewhere on Long Island. Since late 2010, police have been investigating the deaths of at least 10 people — mostly female sex workers — whose remains were discovered there.
Rex Heuermann, a Manhattan architect, has been charged in the deaths of seven women. He has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all counts. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, which is prosecuting Heuermann, said in a statement he is not commenting on “any topics even tangentially involved to the investigation” while a pre-trial hearing plays out.
Police in neighboring Nassau County declined to provide details of Wednesday’s announcement other than to say it would provide an update into the “Peaches” homicide investigation.
The two female victims are among three sets of human remains long associated with the Gilgo Beach case that have not been identified, at least publicly, by authorities.
In September, Long Island officials released more detailed renderings of a victim believed to be of Chinese descent whose remains were found off Ocean Parkway in 2011. The victim died in 2006 or earlier, was likely between ages 17 and 23 and about 5 feet 6 inches (170 centimeters) tall.
Officials for years had identified the victim as male, but said they now believe the person may have presented outwardly as female as they were dressed in women’s clothing.
Heuermann has not been charged in the deaths of three unidentified victims.
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