Peaches (murder victim)

"Peaches"
Tattoo
Born	1967 - 1981 (aged 16 - 30) (approximate)
Status	Unidentified for 19 years, 5 months and 13 days
Died	c. June 25, 1997
Cause of death	Homicide
Body discovered	June 28, 1997 Lakeview, New York, United States
Other names	Girl with the Peach Tattoo
Height	Unknown
Weight	Unknown

Peaches (also known as "Girl with the Peach Tattoo") is an unidentified female whose torso was discovered on June 28, 1997 in Lakeview, New York, near Hempstead Lake State Park. The cause of the woman's death is listed as homicide, apparently by decapitation. As of 2016 she remains unidentified since her skull, arms, and lower legs have yet to be found.^[1] The woman had a tattoo on her left breast depicting a heart-shaped peach with a bite taken out of it and two drops falling from its core, which resulted in her nickname.^[2]

Case history

On June 28, 1997, a dismembered body was discovered by a hiker in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake State Park, Lakeview, New York.^[3] Both arms, head, and legs below the knee were severed and have yet to be found. The torso was found on the west side of Lake Drive, about two-hundred yards north of Peninsula Boulevard. She was found in a Rubbermaid container along with a red towel and a floral pillowcase. With no leads to the woman's identity, the police published a picture of the approximately two-inch wide tattoo in a national tattoo magazine, in the hopes of finding the artist who did the work. They received a call from Steve Cullen, a tattoo artist in Connecticut who claimed he remembered giving the tattoo to a woman. Cullen said he remembered the customer as a young black woman, about 18 or 19 years old, who was accompanied by two women, an aunt and a cousin. During the session, he also claimed she told him she was from either the Bronx or Long Island and that she was in Connecticut because she was having trouble with her boyfriend at the time. It is possible the woman had other tattoos on her arms or lower legs that the killer did not want found.^[4]

Related cases

Peaches' murder may be related to the Long Island serial killer investigation, though police have not revealed much information to the public on the matter.

"Cherries"

Tattoo worn by "Cherries"

On March 3, 2007 a dismembered torso was found in a suitcase in Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck, Westchester County, New York.^[5] Investigators believe the victim was a heavy-set Hispanic or light-skinned African-American woman, about five feet seven inches tall, and one-hundred eighty to two-hundred pounds. She had a tattoo of two red cherries on a green stem located on her right breast.^[6] "Cherries" (as she is referred to by law enforcement) was also decapitated and dismembered, although her original cause of death was a stab wound to the torso.^[7] Unlike Peaches, investigators found both of Cherries' legs, which washed up on the shore of Cablevision owner James Dolan's beachfront estate in West Gilgo Beach, New York. Inside the suitcase investigators found a pair of gray Champion sweat pants, a tan or cream-colored long-sleeved shirt by Voice and a red camisole bearing Spanish-language labels. The dark blue or black suitcase is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores. Police also found small scraps of paper tucked away in the crevices of the suitcase. When pieced together, it looks like a calendar with the Spanish word "cinco" and the phrase "begin to live." Police claim that since the torso floated onto the beach as storm-fed floods hit the region, it could have originated from almost anywhere.^[8][9]

See also

• Long Island serial killer

References

External links

• Peaches at The Doe Network
• Peaches at NamUs
• Cherries at The Doe Network

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Unidentified murder victims.