Years after the bodies of a woman and her 2-year-old daughter were found on Long Island — once associated with the Gilgo Beach serial murders — the woman’s suspected killer appeared before a Florida judge on Thursday facing murder charges.
Andrew Dykes, 66, was arrested near Tampa and charged with two counts of murder Wednesday on a warrant out of Nassau County, New York, in connection with the 1997 death of Tanya Jackson and her daughter Tatiana Dykes, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Andrew Dykes was believed to be the father of Tatiana Dykes and his last name is in part how investigators tracked him down, the sources said.
Dykes did not enter a plea but is due back in a Florida court next week as Nassau County seeks his extradition to New York.
The Nassau County district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Nassau County police and prosecutors display photos of Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes, whose remains were found near Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, during a news conference, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Mineola, N.Y.
Philip Marcelo/AP
Jackson was 26 when she was found dismembered in Lakeview in June 1997. The body of her 2-year-old year old daughter, Tatiana, was found 14 years later near Gilgo Beach.
For years, Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran, was known only as “Peaches” because of a distinctive tattoo, and her daughter as “Baby Doe.”
Andrew Dykes is seen in this booking photo.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
In April, authorities in New York announced they had finally identified Jackson and her daughter and offered a $25,000 reward for information in the cold case.
The girl’s remains were found in 2011 close to where the remains of other women were found along the southern shore of Long Island leading to speculation the deaths were the work of the Gilgo Beach serial killer.
Long Island architect and father Rex Heuermann was arrested in 2023 in connection with several of the Gilgo Beach slayings and later charged with killing seven women.
Heuermann, who has pleaded not guilty, was never charged with the killings of Jackson or her daughter.
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