Suffolk DA Takes Gilgo Beach Cold Case to NYC Chinatown

Suffolk County prosecutors have expanded a cold-case investigation tied to the Gilgo Beach murders, traveling to Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood to collect DNA from community members who might help identify a victim whose death remains unsolved.

Investigators gathered 23 DNA samples during the Chinatown outreach, part of an ongoing effort to put a name to a victim whose remains were found on Gilgo Beach on April 4, 2011, during the broader serial killer investigation. Authorities said the victim was a young man — estimated to have been between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death, around 2006 — who was wearing women's clothing and may have been working as a sex worker. His death was never linked to Rex Heuermann, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to eight murders and was sentenced to life in prison.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney set up a booth during the NYPD's National Night Out event in the neighborhood and also sent Chinese-language flyers to community news outlets, including reconstruction photos depicting the victim, authorities said.

Despite prior testing, investigators have been unable to identify the man through DNA alone, though they determined his ethnicity, officials said. The Chinatown outreach reflects a strategy of reaching communities that might recognize the victim or share a familial connection.

Heuermann's sentencing this year closed a chapter in one of Long Island's most extensive criminal investigations, but authorities have continued pressing ahead on victims whose identities and cases remain open. The Gilgo Beach task force, which includes Suffolk County detectives and state and federal law enforcement, has been credited with identifying several victims in recent years through advances in genetic genealogy.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.