Man Arrested, Charged in 1997 Gilgo Beach Dismemberment Case
Authorities arrested 66 year old Andrew Dykes in Tampa on December 5, 2025, charging him with the 1997 murder of Tanya Denise Jackson, whose remains were found dismembered in a Long Island state park. The arrest follows identification work completed earlier this year that also confirmed the identity of her two year old daughter found at Gilgo Beach, bringing new momentum to a decades long investigation that has unsettled communities on Long Island.
Police arrested and charged Andrew Dykes in Florida on December 5, 2025, in connection with the 1997 killing of a woman long known only by a tattoo. The woman was later identified as Tanya Denise Jackson, a 26 year old Gulf War veteran from Mobile, Alabama who had been living in Brooklyn and was largely estranged from family when she disappeared. Investigators also confirmed the identity of her two year old daughter, Tatiana Marie Jackson, whose remains were found in 2011 during a broader search along the beachfront near Gilgo Beach.
Jackson's body was originally found dismembered in a Long Island state park and could not be identified beyond a peach tattoo. The case reentered public focus in 2011 when skeletal fragments and the child were recovered as part of an investigation that ultimately uncovered a total of 10 sets of human remains along a stretch of beach parkway. Many of the victims were women whose disappearances had not been thoroughly investigated at the time they went missing.
Identification of Jackson and her daughter was completed earlier in 2025 using advanced DNA and genealogy techniques. That breakthrough allowed prosecutors to bring charges this week. Dykes, identified as the father of the child, was arrested in Tampa and is being held in Hillsborough County jail awaiting extradition to New York. The name of his attorney was not immediately available, and a Nassau County District Attorney spokesperson declined to comment on the sealed indictment.
The Gilgo Beach discoveries have long raised the possibility that the area served as a dumping ground for more than one killer. Rex Heuermann has been charged in seven of the Gilgo Beach killings, and there is no apparent link reported between Heuermann and Dykes in this arrest. The separate developments underscore the complex, overlapping investigations and the role that evolving forensic tools now play in solving cold cases.
For families and community members, the arrest brings both relief and renewed scrutiny. It highlights the practical value of new DNA technology and persistent investigative work, and it underscores the importance of reporting and following up on missing person cases. If you have information related to these cases, contact local police or Nassau County prosecutors to ensure tips reach investigators as Dykes is expected to be extradited to New York in the coming days.
