'Davis Park Jane Doe' ID, Part Of Mystery Solved Still 'Terrible' For Family

DAVIS PARK, NY — For many locals, when Davis Park comes to mind, the last thing associated with the tight-knit beachfront community is the idea of a woman's partial remains being found along the waterfront 27 years ago.

Just around 15 miles across from Patchogue on the mainland, the quaint community has a couple of restaurants, a general store, and a fire department amid beach houses that are steps away from the Atlantic Ocean.

It’s the opposite of Gilgo Beach, where 11 sets of remains — nine unidentified women, a toddler, and an Asian male — were found along Ocean Parkway between 2010 and 2011. Unlike that stretch of parkway, which is desolate all year round, the community is very much teeming with people.

On any given day in the height of the summer beach season, young families can be seen picnicking; nature lovers can be found walking the beach, and surfers are seen taking on some of the best waves on the island.

"It hasn't really been like a major topic," said Jayne Robinson, president of the Davis Park Civic Association, which advocates for community residents.

The thought, however, has lingered in the background. It became more prevalent with the discoveries at Gilgo Beach.

Robinson’s granddaughter used to love walking along the waterfront, and once, to her horror, found a dead deer. She could not imagine if it was human remains.

“Just imagine having stumbled upon that,” she said.

The legs and feet of the woman, now identified as Karen Vergata, were found about a mile west of Davis Park Beach in April 1996, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said Friday at a news conference.

They were found by two brothers, Robert Ragona of Valley Stream, and Andrew Ragona of Danbury, CT.

Andrew Ragona, 86, told Patch he made the grisly discovery while searching for driftwood; they were in a black plastic garbage bag partly in the water.

He said his brother took a stick and poked it open, and soon as it tore open, a toe with red painted nail polish became visible.

"I said, 'Oh boy,' and [Robert] got a little green," he recalled.

The two knew they had to call the police, but they had to secure the bag.

“We took this piece of wood and put it through the string and brought it onto the shore, and then went back to the house and called the police,” he said.

Ragona doesn’t think that the first police officer who arrived believed him.

After the two walked him down the beach to the bag, he immediately got on the phone.

“Shortly after that, I think the entire police force in Suffolk County was on the beach,” Ragona said.

The skull of Vergata, 34, of Manhattan, was found 15 years later in 2011 at Tobay Beach in Nassau County, Tierney said.

Her remains were found the same day as those of Jessica Taylor at Gilgo Beach.

Gilgo Beach Task Force members matched Vergata’s remains and identified her using genealogical DNA, according to Tierney.

Vergata went missing in February 1996. At the time, she was believed to be working as an escort, according to Tierney. A missing person's report was not filed at the time of her disappearance.

Tierney also reportedly declined to comment on any suspects that have been developed, and labeled the investigation into Vergata's death a confidential investigation.

“I think it's important that we remember and honor not only Miss Vergata, but all the victims on Gilgo Beach,” he said.

She remained “Jane Doe,” a law enforcement term for an unidentified or anonymous person. Over the years, she has been called the “Fire Island Jane Doe” and “Davis Park Jane Doe.”

Her identity was released Friday morning at a news conference hosted by Tierney and the local FBI field office, which helped make the identification.

Robinson said she was glad that Vergata has finally been identified.

“I think it's terrible for whatever family she may have,” she said. “I mean, she was only in her early 30s — ‘Davis Park Jane Doe.’”

Vergata’s remains were found “just a little bit west” of the residential community, so in between the houses and Blue Point Beach, according to Robinson.

“We always said it would be so easy for someone who knew this coast, especially the bayside,” she said. “I mean, there's no lights. There's no traffic. There are no cars on Fire Island. It's not like anybody is patrolling the bay, with some exceptions. There's just a million places you could dump a body.”

The area has very shallow water and is about a 10-minute walk from the ferry.

“It can be spooky at night,” she said. “There’s no cars; there’s no street lights.”

She speculated whether the remains came floating into the shoreline.

“Who knows?” she questioned.

The barrier island community can only be accessed by boat — personal or the Davis Park Ferry, which sails to and from Patchogue.

That leaves open the possibilities that Vergata could have been killed in the community or that someone took her remains across the bay to the community in a personal boat or on the ferry, though the latter is less likely as the killer was leaving themself open to discovery.

While the nearby Fire Island Pines Ferry runs weekly during the winter, Davis Park’s does not run from Thanksgiving to mid-March.

“I don’t think [the killer] took the ferry,” Robinson said.

In the 13 years since the discoveries along Ocean Parkway, the community has kept the thought of the killings in the backs of their minds.

“Everybody wondered when would they ever identify some of these bodies, find out who did this,” she said. “It's been so long.”

As with Robinson, other greater Patchogue community members were happy to hear at least part of the mystery is solved and there can be some closure for Vergata’s family.

South Country Ambulance Chief Greg Miglino said he hopes that Vergata’s identification gives her family “some closure” and credited “the efforts of the district attorney in moving this case forward.”

Suffolk Legis. Dominick Thorne, a Republican from Medford, said he was happy that there can be some type of closure for her family.

“The unknown is sometimes worse than the known,” he said. “It's often better to be able to have some kind of closure for the family, so they're not continually staying up and wondering if their relatives are still with us or not.”