A son of the Florida man arrested in the 1997 killing of a woman whose remains were found close to their toddler near Gilgo Beach said his father says he is innocent as he awaits extradition to face a murder charge in Nassau County.

Aundrey Dykes, 43, of Orlando, Florida, told Newsday his father, Andrew, is a loving dad and retired Army veteran and Tennessee state trooper whose family was aware of his relationship with the woman he is now accused of killing and the child they shared.

Andrew Dykes, 66, of Ruskin, Florida, has been held in Hillsborough County since his Dec. 3 arrest in the killing of Tanya Denise Jackson, whose scattered remains were found first in Hempstead State Park in Lakeview in June 1997 and off Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach in April 2011. A Florida judge on Monday

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