Peaches: Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes

In this episode: For nearly three decades, they were only known as “Peaches” Jane Doe and “Baby Doe”—a mother and her toddler lost to time. In April 2025, cutting-edge forensic genealogy finally revealed their identities: Tanya Jackson, a young Army veteran, and her two-year-old daughter, Tatiana Dykes. Their lives were stolen, their deaths shrouded in mystery, and their case raises chilling questions that linger to this day. Anyone with information about this case should contact the Nassau County Police Departmnet at 516-573-6600, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online at: https://www.nassaucountycrimestoppers.com/sitemenu.aspx?P=index&ID=291. 

This is the story of Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect
Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Hunting for Answers, a
true crime podcast. I'm your host Hunter, and today we're
highlighting a case that began twenty eight years ago with
a gruesome discovery in a New York park, a dismembered
torso identifiable only by a peach tattoo. Fourteen years later,

(00:26):
the remains of a toddler, this two years old were
found twenty miles away during the investigation into an alleged
serial killer. For decades, they were known only as Peaches,
Jane Doe, and Baby Dough to mysteries without names, But
in April twenty twenty five, cutting edge DNA technology and

(00:51):
forensic genealogy finally gave them identities, revealing not just who
they were, but a heartbreaking story about a young Army
veteran and her little girl. This is the story of
Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes. Tanya Denise Jackson was born

(01:15):
on October twenty second, nineteen seventy, in Mobile, Alabama. By
nineteen ninety seven, at twenty six years old, she had
already served honorably in the US Army from nineteen ninety
three to nineteen ninety five. After her service, she moved
to Brooklyn, New York, Sunset Park, trying to build a

(01:37):
new life as a single mother. At the time, she
may have been working at a doctor's office, maybe as
a medical assistant. Nonetheless, she was doing what she could
to support her daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes, who had been
born March seventeenth, nineteen ninety five, in Texas. By this time,

(02:01):
young Tatiana was just two years old. According to Nassau
County Police, it was reported to them that either a
friend or neighbor sometimes helped watch her while Tanya worked,
but for the most part, the mother and daughter were
isolated from extended family. Tanya was estranged from relatives back
in Alabama, and tragically, neither she nor her daughter were

(02:26):
ever reported missing. One detail about Tanya would prove crucial.
On the left side of her chest, she had a
heart shaped peach tattoo. It was this tattoo that gave
her the nickname Peaches and defined her case for decades.
Investigators even published the tattoo in a national magazine, hoping

(02:48):
someone would recognize it, and someone did. According to reports,
they received a call from a tattoo artist in Connecticut
who claimed he remembered giving the tattoo to a young
black woman. The artist recalled that his customer had been
about eighteen or nineteen years old and was accompanied by

(03:09):
two women, an aunt and a cousin. During the tattoo session,
she had told him she was either from the Bronx
or Long Island, and that she was in Connecticut because
she was having trouble with her boyfriend at the time.
The artists also believed she may have had other tattoos
on her arms or lower legs that the killer didn't

(03:32):
want found, but even with this lead, investigators couldn't make
the connection to Tanya Jackson. The information seemed promising, but
without a missing person report or additional evidence, the case
remained unsolved. On June twenty eighth, nineteen ninety seven, a

(03:55):
grain rubber mat container was discovered in Hempstead Lake State
Park in lake View, New York. Inside was the dismembered
torso of a young woman. Her head and limbs were missing.
Only the torso remained, along with a pillowcase, a towel,
and pieces of her jewelry. Investigators named her Peaches. For years,

(04:21):
her case stayed cold, and although DNA was collected, there
was no match in the database. Fourteen years later, in
twenty eleven, police searching for a missing woman near Gilgo
Beach made gruesome discoveries multiple sets of human remains. Among

(04:41):
them was a child. Skeletal remains of a toddler, estimated
to be about two years old, were found near Ocean Parkway.
This little girl became known only as Baby Dough. In
December twenty sixteen, a breakthrough happened. DNA confirmed what had

(05:02):
once seemed impossible. Peaches and Baby Doe were mother and daughter.
The discovery changed everything. This wasn't just two separate victims.
This was a family, a mother and her child. Investigators
turned to the FBI, who brought in forensic genealogy. With

(05:24):
the help of Oathram, a private lab, scientists built genetic
profiles and began the tedious process of searching genealogical databases,
building family trees, and contacting relatives. By early twenty twenty four,
DNA matches from living family members had confirmed their identities.

(05:49):
On April twenty third, twenty twenty five, twenty eight years
after the discovery of Peaches, Nassau County police stood before cameras,
Detective Stephen Fitzpatrick announced Peaches was Tanya Denise Jackson. Baby
Doe was her daughter, Tatiana Marie Diykes. A twenty five

(06:13):
thousand dollars reward was offered for any information leading to
an arrest, and both related to rest in Alabama with
full military honors for Tanya recognizing her service. The identification
raised an immediate question. Were these murders connected to the

(06:34):
Gilgo Beach serial killings. Tanya and Tatiana's remains were found
in locations associated with that investigation. The timeline seemed to overlap,
but Detective Fitzpatrick was clear there is no current evidence
connecting their murders to suspect Rex Huerman or the Gilgo case.

(06:58):
Speculation he had worn could hurt this investigation. So who
killed Tanya in Tatiana? Did someone from Tanya's life in
Brooklyn pose a threat? Was she targeted by a stranger
or could this still somehow be connected to a larger

(07:18):
cereal pattern on Long Island. Investigators are now looking closely
at Tanya's last months in Brooklyn, her friends, her work,
her relationships, in re examining every detail today, if they
were still alive. Tanya Jackson would be fifty four years old,

(07:39):
her daughter Tatiana would be thirty. My thoughts and prayers
are with their family and friends who didn't find out
Tanya in Tatiana's fate until over three decades later. Anyone
with information about their case to contact the Nassau County
Police Department find their number in the description box below.

(08:03):
As we close out this episode, don't forget to click
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(08:26):
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thoughts on this case and the comments below. Thank you
so much for joining us on another episode. Until next time.
Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect
Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast Network,

(08:49):
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