Suffolk DA Ray Tierney says search for DNA link to 'Asian Doe' shows progress in Flushing

Expanded efforts to identify "Asian Doe," human skeletal remains found off Ocean Parkway during the Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation, have included collecting more than two dozen DNA samples from people in a largely Chinese American section of Flushing, Queens, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

In a phone interview Monday, Tierney told Newsday his office last Thursday carried out the DNA collection effort — the second in an Asian American community in New York City — and received the samples from people who wanted to help identify the crime victim.

"I was thrilled," Tierney said of the effort, which involved the cooperation of the NYPD and secured 25 buccal samples from people passing by a public library, where the prosecutor’s staff had set up a special booth.

Photographs of the remains of Asian Doe were also displayed and caught the attention of a number of people who later gave DNA samples, Tierney said.

The Flushing effort followed an outing to Manhattan’s Chinatown in early August where investigators collected 24 DNA samples. Unlike the Chinatown event, which was widely announced in Chinese-language media, the Flushing collection relied more on pedestrian traffic and passersby, Tierney said.

The DNA swabs are being used as part of an investigative genetic genealogy to finally determine an identity for the person they believe was an adult male of Asian ancestry who died of blunt force trauma.

The victim's remains were found in 2011, clad in women’s clothing. In essence, genetic genealogy attempts to link unidentified DNA to genetic profiles found in commercial databases used to trace family trees. Promising leads are then followed up.

So far, Tierney noted, the DNA testing has developed promising genetic connections that appear to show some relatedness among those who gave DNA samples and Asian Doe.

"But we still have to fill in the family trees," Tierney added.

Experts have said genealogy can be time consuming and may not lead to a firm investigative lead.

Genealogist such as Colleen Fitzpatrick of Identifinders in California have noted tracing genealogy in Asian population groups is challenging because those groups have their own genealogy system and tend not to contribute to public DNA search sites.

Suffolk investigators turned to genetic genealogy in the Asian Doe case after other investigative methods failed to come up with an identify. In 2024, Tierney’s office released artist reconstructions of Asian Doe’s face, one with short cropped hair and the other with longer hair.

From the forensic investigation so far, Asian Doe was believed to be a male between 17 and 23 years of age and between  5 feet, 3 inches and 5 feet, 9 inches tall. DNA analysis was able to trace the victim's ancestry to southern China, notably the Han ethnic group, which makes up more that 90% of China and 97% of the Chinese population in Taiwan, records show.

Genealogy was successfully used in identifying two Gilgo Beach victims, Valerie Mack and Karen Vergata, and recently was used to identify a woman who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

In June, Rex A. Heuermann was sentenced to life in prison without parole after he pleaded guilty earlier to strangling seven women, including Mack. Heuermann also admitted strangling Vergata but was never charged for her killing.

Additional DNA collection drives will be made in the future in other Asian communities in New York City, investigators said.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.