Cold No More

Cold Case #1: Valerie Mack

Valerie Mack was born on July 2, 1976 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

In May 2020, police identified Valerie as Manorville Jane Doe, also known as Jane Doe #6, a victim of the still at-large Long Island Serial Killer. 

Valerie’s early life was incredibly difficult and tumultuous. Accounts differ— some sources state that her parents both died, leaving her orphaned and relegated to the foster system. Others say that Valerie and her other biological siblings were removed from their parent’s home by Child Protective Services. Either way, Valerie entered the foster system, unfortunately being adopted first by an elderly couple that passed away, forcing her back into the system. After bouncing around from home to home, she was ultimately adopted by the Macks. 

By the time Valerie entered high school, her life was already one of tragedy and upheaval. Her adopted sister Angela describes Valerie as being a “great, smart, sweet, and troubled young woman.” In her senior year of high school, Valerie became pregnant, giving birth to a baby boy named Benjamin. Sadly, becoming a mother at such a young age was likely incredibly difficult for Valerie, and she soon turned to drugs, going on in the coming years to struggle with addiction. 

At the time of her disappearance in 2000, Valerie was 24 years old and working as a sex worker in the greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region. Her job, for which she sometimes used the alias Melissa Taylor, put her in constant danger and took a physical and emotional toll on the young mother. Ultimately, she was arrested three times for sex work. 

Again, accounts differ on her personal circumstances at this time. Some say she was living with her boyfriend, the father of her child, and her son in Port Republic, New Jersey at the time of her disappearance. However, I personally believe that other accounts, which state that she and the father of her child broke up not long after she gave birth and she only occasionally visited him and her son, who he had custody of, are more likely. 

One thing is certain— just before her disappearance, Valerie had begun turning her life around, starting a new job at a dollar chain store, becoming more involved with Benjamin, and quitting drugs.

Valerie was incredibly petite in stature, standing just five feet in height and weighing 100 pounds. Due to her arrests, Valerie has numerous mugshots, all of which capture an unabashed sadness in her hazel, doe-like eyes. Despite the hardships she faced, Valerie possessed a certain captivating, youthful quality, with bow-shaped lips, a short, sloping nose, rounded face, and brown hair with subtle copper highlights that must have shimmered in sunlight. 

Sadly, Valerie was not reported missing after she disappeared. According to Angela, Valerie’s family tried to report her missing, but police refused because she was an adult and, according to them, likely left on her own accord. After her family last had contact with her in the spring of 2000, they continued to look for her and wondered what happened. According to her adopted sister Angela, “I figured she was gone all these years, but not in the way they described. It’s just really hard to think that somebody could do that to her.” 

Months after she was last seen, part of her remains were found in Manorville, New York, while other parts of her remains were not found until 2011 alongside Ocean Parkway in Long Island. Her adopted family was shocked to learn where Valerie was found, as Long Island is approximately 180 miles from her hometown. According to Angela, “Nobody, nobody could understand how she got to New York because any time she would disappear, she went to Philadelphia. I really don’t think she went to New York willingly at all.”

Valerie was both a sex worker and a person with a drug addiction, two things that are often stigmatized and twisted in order to blame victims for the horrors committed against them. No one, no matter the circumstances, ever deserves violence or death at the hands of another. 

Valerie was a human being who was handed a horrible hand of cards from the beginning of her life. Still— she persisted, seemingly doing all she could to provide for herself and her son. Although we don’t know them, she undoubtedly had hobbies, favorite songs and movies, and cherished memories that made her smile, even in the worst of times.

Valerie lives on in her son, who is now in his 20s. Her story is cold no more.

Sources:

https://www.phillyvoice.com/valerie-mack-gilgo-beach-killer-manorville-philadelphia-prostitute-craigslist-ripper-long-island/

https://www.gilgonews.com/Vics/MJD_Info 

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/short-troubled-life-of-jane-doe-no-6-in-gilgo-beach-case-she-had-a-young-son/ 

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/gilgo-serial-killer-victim-identified-1.45020352 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/valerie-mack-aka-jane-doe-6-identified/id1499159204?i=1000476620336

https://www.foxnews.com/us/long-island-serial-murders-families-of-victims-renew-calls-for-justice-in-decade-old-cold-case?fbclid=IwAR0rUoa7J53vdvqXXWIXywxR3-ANyJsmRIbQyA-_6PFhtQyQGT9a6lZA9sY

Starting today, the Cold No More blog is a space dedicated to telling the stories of victims of cold cases, whose identities have only recently been discovered thanks to developments in technology and DNA testing. Cold No More aims to help victims reclaim their identities by telling the stories of their lives prior to their tragic endings. Although these victims often went nameless for years and sometimes decades, they are finally cold no more.