Suffolk police and the FBI have announced the identity of a Gilgo Beach victim after utilizing genetic genealogy.

Police say Valerie Mack, who also used the name Melissa Taylor, went missing in 2000 at the age of 24. She was previously known as "Jane Doe No. 6" in the Gilgo Beach homicide investigation.

Police say Mack was working as an escort in Philadelphia at the time of her disappearance and family members last saw her in the spring or summer of 2000 in the area of Port Republic, New Jersey.

Mack's partial remains were found in a wooded area off Halsey-Manor Road in Manorville the same year she went missing. More than a decade later, her dismembered remains were found along Ocean Parkway.

This is believed to be the first time a law enforcement agency in New York state has used genetic genealogy to identify an individual as part of a police investigation.

"For two decades, Valerie Mack's family and friends were left searching for answers and while this is not the outcome they wanted, we hope this brings some sense of peace and closure," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said.

The process of genetic genealogy involves taking the victim's DNA, running it through law enforcement and publicly available genealogy sites, and coming up with possible relatives.

"Out of that, it was a match which eventually led us to the aunt of Valerie Mack," says Hart. "That aunt was one of seven sisters, one of whom was Valerie's mother. We were eventually able to find Valerie's sister, we located her, interviewed her, and she led us to Valerie Mack's adoptive family. After an interview with the adopted family, we were then led and pointed to Valerie Mack's son, and through the son, we were able to positively identify that Jane Doe No. 6 is in fact, Valerie Mack."

Suffolk police say Mack's biological parents died when she was young, so she was raised by an adopted family and had been living with a boyfriend before her disappearance. She also had a son, who is now in his 20s.

Hart said it isn't clear why Mack was never reported missing in Philadelphia.

What isn't known at this point is how Mack ended up in Manorville, 180 miles from Port Republic.

"We're trying to retrace her steps from 2000, we're in the midst of doing that, we don't have any definite connection to Long Island," says Hart.

News 12 reached out to a relative of Mack's, but she said the family "does not wish to speak about Valerie."

There have been no arrests in any of the nearly dozen homicides connected to the investigation. There are still four unidentified victims, including two were found in Suffolk.

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