'Jane Doe No. 7' in Long Island Serial Killings Case ID'd as Woman Who Vanished in 1996

Authorities have identified another victim linked to the Long Island serial murders investigation.

On Friday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced that the remains of a woman previously known as Jane Doe No. 7 are those of Karen Vergata, who was 34 when she went missing in 1996.

Some of Vergata’s remains were found on Long Island's Fire Island on April 20, 1996. Additional body parts were discovered on Long Island's Tobay Beach in April 11, 2011.

Tierney said investigators used genetic genealogy to identify her.

Investigators uncovered at least 11 sets of remains along a stretch of Ocean Parkway in Long Island, N.Y., including the remains of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes and Megan Waterman, known as the Gilgo Four.

All four women had worked as online escorts and had been missing between 2007 and 2010.

Tierney said Vergata worked as a sex worker at the time of her death and disappeared from Manhattan on Feb. 14, 1996.  

“We are going to continue to work this particular case as we did the Gilgo Four investigation," said Tierney. "This is a confidential investigation.”

Tierney did not comment if her death is linked to the slayings of Barthelemy, Costello, Brainard-Barnes and Waterman.

Last month, authorities arrested 59-year-old architect and father of two Rex Heuermann for the murders of Barthelemy, Costello and Waterman.

He is a prime suspect in the killing of Brainard-Barnes.

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Heuermann was allegedly linked to the killings by burner phones used to rendezvous with the victims, as well as by a piece of his hair allegedly found at the bottom of a burlap bag used to wrap Waterman’s body.

He was also traced to a Chevrolet Avalanche that was registered to him that was seen at the time of Costello's disappearance.

Authorities said investigators also found evidence that Heuermann was obsessed with the case and searched for articles about a task force that was formed to investigate the murders in 2022.

“In a 14-month period, he had over 200 searches pertaining to the Gilgo investigation,” Tierney previously told PEOPLE. “Not only was he looking at investigative insight, he was trying to figure out, 'How is the task force using cell phones to try to figure out what’s happened? What are the developments with regard to the task force?' ”

Vergata was identified in Sept. 2022 but investigators held off releasing her identity to the public because they were involved in the grand jury process in the case against Heuermann.

Genealogy was also used in 2020 to identify Valerie Mack, another victim tied to the bodies found on Gilgo Beach.