Long Island DA collects DNA samples in NYC’s Chinatown to unwind mystery of unidentified Gilgo Beach victim
Long Island prosecutors collected 23 DNA samples in Chinatown as part of a new effort to identify a murder victim who may have been butchered by the Gilgo Beach killer.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney and his team are taking a hands-on approach to try to identify “Asian Doe,” a male murder victim found buried in women’s clothing along Gilgo Beach in April 2011 — by handing out flyers in Chinatown and soliciting genetic tests of willing residents.
The team was in Manhattan on Tuesday during festivities for National Night Out, a police community-building event.
“National Night Out offered the perfect opportunity for us to speak directly with community members about how they can help — and they did not disappoint,” Tierney told The Post.
“Every victim of a crime deserves justice, and that belief is at the heart of our work at the Suffolk DA’s Office,” he said. “Unfortunately, attempts to identify the victim whose remains were found on Gilgo Beach 15 years ago have been unsuccessful due to the limited number of Asian volunteers in commercial DNA databases.”
Tierney and his team explained to locals why volunteering to give DNA samples would be helpful in tracking possible genealogical ties to the victim, who authorities believe may have been a transgender sex worker.
The DNA samples will not be retained by police and won’t be entered into any law-enforcement databases, according to Tierney.
The samples, he said, will instead go straight to a private laboratory where they will be used for the sole purpose of identifying “Asian Doe,” as well as any other unidentified human remains from those of Asian descent.
For years, Tierney has been trying to identify Asian Doe using traditional DNA to uncover his identity, but ultimately failed, and only indicated they were of southern Han ancestry, which is one of the largest ethnic groups in all of China, making up more than 90% of the population, according to population records.
Two years ago, Suffolk investigators published two reconstructions of Asian Doe’s face with both long and short hair, but ultimately got no new leads after its release.
But with working advances in DNA technology and a larger genetic pool to test — the DA is continuing to work in an effort to eventually identify the victim.
Authorities believe Asian Doe was buried at the location at least five years before the remains were uncovered in 2011.
Police concluded that Asian Doe was killed by blunt force trauma and the body was found not far from where Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann dumped the remains of his other victims.
Prosecutors also previously revealed that Heuermann’s internet search history included terms like “Asian twinks.”
Heuermann was never charged with Asian Doe’s murder, but pleaded guilty to June to murdering eight women and dumping their bodies in and around Gilgo Beach. All of the known victims were sex workers.
The serial killer is currently serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole in the state’s infamous “Little Siberia” prison isolated in the frigid Adirondack Mountains near the Canadian border.
