By
Melinda Cohenour
Mother's Day is nearly here. There are reasons for celebration ... And memories that bring sweet nostalgic events to mind.
This month touches upon the maternal connection in three
areas your author has pursued for years: the mystery parents whose lost
identities created our brick walls AND the Mother-Child "Does" linked to
our decades long research into the LISK (Long Island Serial Killer)
also known as the Gilgo Beach Serial Sadist.
THE FIVE BRICK WALLS
Every family researcher encounters the one inevitable Brick Wall
at some stage. Most are met with a brief disappointment but little
investment of real disappointment. A few, however, concern key figures
in the effort to weave together a continuous line that involves folks
whose lives are integral to the core family.
Such importance has been stressed on my personal five brick walls for varying lengths of time.
BRICK WALL 1: My longest researched stumbling block
has involved the broken mortar that pieces together the long line of the
Joslin, Joscelyn, Josselin ... (many spellings) Family line that
comprises half of my core family heritage: the Carroll-Joslin
Connection.
What makes this so frustrating is that by DNA our lineage up
to then back beyond that lost documentary proof is defining proof of
descent. We miss documentation as to WHICH of several Joslin brothers
fathered our P. R. Joslin, earning the title of a documented direct line
ancestor.
BRICK WALL 2: This core family also lacks certified
birth information for our Carroll line ancestor. The dratted Civil War
brought about the nasty habit of each side's combatants of burning
courthouses - thus destroying the documented heritage for thousands upon
thousands of families. Earl Allen Carroll was born in a Missouri county
where the courthouse was targeted.
BRICK WALL 3: My first husband was born out of wedlock
and surrendered at birth to the Miami-Dade orphanage in Florida. I
solved this mystery a few years ago. We now know his father was named
Gill.
BRICK WALL 4: That left the identity of his mother as a
mystery. Very soon the name of this mystery momma should be revealed.
Your author lacks only a bit more research to link the DNA matches to my
daughter, Melissa, and also to her nephew, my grandson Adam sired by
her brother, John. Every so often we have new DNA matches bringing us
closer to certainty as to Mystery Momma's identity.
BRICK WALL 5: This is a success story! We have
definitive proof through DNA of the man who fathered Roxanne Marie
(LeTourneau) Bradshaw. DNA from Roxanne's only two children, Shaun
Jagger and Adam Bradshaw, have brought to light the name of their
maternal grandfather. This story will be covered in a near future column
as well
LISK (LONG ISLAND SERIAL KILLER) a/k/a the GILGO BEACH SERIAL KILLER or SADIST
This column has covered the emerging story of this sick monster's
handiwork for years now. First interest in the case which has become of
worldwide fascination was generated in May of 2010. News reports
mentioned a young beauty by the name of Shannan Gilbert was lost after
being hired through Craig's List to entertain a John in Oak Beach. Oak
Beach is an enclave of upper class homes or beach houses in Long Island,
New York.
The extended search for Shannan was carried on for months, a
fruitless endeavor until December of that year. The Officer tasked with
the continued search for Shannan, having exhausted likely recovery sites
on Oak Beach, lead his cadaver trained K-9 Blue to nearby Gilgo Beach
in December of 2010.
There, Blue made an historic discovery: a set of remains
enclosed in burlap discarded in the wildly entangled brush. Everyone
assumed Shannan's story had neared its conclusion. However, the next
news was explosive. Blue had discovered more remains similarly bound in
burlap near the first body. The news of that discovery was immediately
eclipsed by the news of yet a third and then fourth discovery.
The young women whose tortured and bound bodies had been discovered were soon immortalized as the Gilgo Beach Four.
The world's news sources responded en masse, joining as close
as possible to the army of law enforcement engaged in the search of
this lovely but eerily lonely stretch of land oceanside.
Ultimately, the search resulted in the discovery of ten
disparate sets of discarded extremities of dismembered or skeletonized
victims' remains. None, however, proved to be that of Shannan Gilbert.
Her story continues to intrigue as almost exactly one year after the
December 2010 discovery of the Gilgo Beach Four, first Shannan's
belongings and, finally her almost nude skeletonized remains were
discovered in the briar and brush of the marshy land of Oak Beach, mere
yards from where she was last seen.
Through the intervening years, all but three sets of remains
on Gilgo Beach have been identified. The three victims whose identities
had not been discovered were known as Peaches, Baby Doe, and Asian Male
Doe (whose diminutive body was clothed in female attire).
Peaches' moniker was given her by the homicide detective who
took the call when her dismembered torso was found years earlier in a
large green storage bin within days of her murder. Prominently displayed
on her left breast was a tattoo featuring a peach with a bite taken and
blood drops inked in beneath. The torso had been discovered June 28,
1997 near Hempstead Lake State Park soon enough after her murder a good
photograph was able to be taken.
In the intervening years, DNA tests revealed a surprising
connection. Baby Doe, whose body was intact and whose skeleton revealed
no apparent cause of death, had been left wrapped along with gold
jewelry near the remains of Valerie Mack. Valerie and Jessica Taylor had
been dismembered and their torsos discovered in close proximity in
manorville years before. Baby Doe was proven by DNA to be the infant
daughter of Peaches.
More to the mystery: Baby Doe's remains were found at the
Easternmost boundary of the Gilgo Beach search and recovery area.
Peaches' remains marked the Westernmost boundary. Speculation has risen
among some who follow the case that the two, mother and daughter, may
have been the victims of domestic violence. My personal opinion is that
the serial killer charged with the deaths of six of the victims
discarded on Gilgo Beach and with another murdered victim tied to him
through DNA is the only logical person to be charged with Peaches' and
Baby Doe's deaths. Who else knew the geographic boundaries of his
perverted treasure trove of remains now known as the Gilgo Beach Serial
Murderer's graveyard?
How does this case come to mind as we prepare for Mother's Day?
Just this past week, the Nassau County New York PD held a
news report announcing the bittersweet news that mother and daughter,
Peaches and Baby Doe, have been positively identified. THEY HAVE THEIR
NAMES BACK AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
SOURCE: https://abc7ny.com/post/gilgo-beach-murders-nassau-county-police-reveal-id-victim-peaches-toddler/16230218/
'Wednesday morning, police
announced the mother was a 26-year-old Army veteran from Alabama named
Tanya Denise Jackson. Her 2-year-old daughter was identified as Tatiana
Marie Dykes, born in Texas on March 17 1995.
'Both of their remains were
recently buried at Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Spanish
Fort in Alabama, with military honors.'
* * * * *
May your Mother's Day celebration bring joy, love, good health and sweet memories to each of you. God bless.
Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the
blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the
latter.
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