During this hunt, one of the brothers noticed an oil barrel while walking down a trail. The Bear Brook murders (also referred to as the Allenstown Four) are female American murder victims, two discovered in 1985 and two in 2000, at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire, United States. Came to a dead end, Salamon said. Big, like 4 or 5 feet around and probably 2 or 3 feet high, she said. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. She had an overbite, which was probably noticeable. He later abandoned that child, whom he had pretended to father and called Lisa, in a trailer park. [6] Aided by genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter in 2015, Beaudin's daughter discovered her mother's identity and that the man she once thought had been her father was her kidnapper. [12] On January 26, 2017, authorities publicly announced that Evans was a suspect in the disappearance of Denise Beaudin and the Bear Brook murders. Jenson said after those two weeks, the Deckers could arrange for their daughter to adopt Lisa, police said. Marlyse was excited to be a mom. For Bear Brook listeners, a full episode preview of Jason Moon's latest reporting project, Death Resulting. In 2003, when the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department opened a new case aimed at finding Lisas biological family, she was approximately 22 years old. [4], While using the pseudonym Bob Evans, Rasmussen dated Denise Beaudin, who disappeared from Manchester, New Hampshire, after Thanksgiving of 1981 with her six-month-old daughter. On Nov. 10, 1985, a hunter trekking through Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire came across a large, industrial steel drum. The bones of a foot . [6] These techniques have since been used in other high-profile cases, including the Golden State Killer case, leading to the arrest of suspect Joseph James DeAngelo in April 2018. [13], Police released a video of a police interview of Evans in June 2017 in hopes of finding his true identity. [6], Rasmussen lived in a number of states including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Oregon, Hawaii and California. Want to make sure that NHPR continues creating projects like Bear Brook? [12][16] The cause of death for these children was also blunt force trauma. Jesse Morgan, who grew up in a small trailer park surrounded by Bear Brook, was 11 when he and his friends stumbled upon the first barrel. [2] He often worked as an electrician for oil and gas companies. He faces 30 years to life for each murder conviction and up to five years for the weapons charges. Honeychurch had an argument with her mother and left the residence, never contacting her relatives again. Now, the only question that remains is, who was the middle child, Terry Rasmussens daughter and fourth victim? Salamon said he and his family call the girl Angel.. [34] Two months later, Robert Evans was confirmed as Terry Peder Rasmussen, through Y-DNA testing from a DNA sample contributed by one of his sons from what is believed to be his first marriage. She had brought her two daughters and a man she identified as Rasmussen to hermothers house in La Puente, California. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. [17] At that time, a tipster speculated that she could have been the "Elizabeth Evans" that had been listed as Rasmussen's wife during his time in Manchester. Clockwise from left: Denise Beaudin, Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, Sarah L. McWaters, Marie E. Vaughn, "the Middle Child," Eunsoon Jun. She went with Terry. It had previously been thought impossible to recover autosomal DNA from hair strands that were no longer attached to the root, but a forensic lab in California had been working on a new method to reassemble the broken autosomal DNA found in rootless hair. The focus from this day forward should be to find the family of that little girl, he said. MANCHESTER, N.H. The search for the name of the remaining unidentified murder victim found in a barrel in Allenstown is leading authorities to Mississippi. Well it is Wednesday! This isn't the big news we're hoping to break - stay subscribed for another full episode of Bear Brook that we hope to bring you soon. This is the first in an unknown number of short updates to the story of the Bear Brook murders that we'll be producing to let listeners know about any breaking news in the case. Investigative reporter Billy Jensen, who wrote about Rasmussen in his upcoming book Chase Darkness With Me," told Oxygen Digital Correspondent Stephanie Gomulka at CrimeCon 2019he thinks Rasmussen is responsible for killing other people, too. Buried in the cat litter, police found a human foot completely mummified wearing a flip flop. Authorities fear both Beaudin and the unidentified mother of the middle child are other possible victims of Rasmussen. He had been convicted and sentenced as Evans for the 2002 murder and dismemberment of his wife at the time, Eunsoon Jun, a chemist in California. [10], Rasmussen resurfaced in December 1999 under the pseudonym Larry Vanner when California-based chemist Eunsoon Jun introduced him to her family. She left the home after a trivial argument with her mother and was never seen alive again. [8] DNA evidence eventually found that he was not Lisa's father and the case spent years without any significant developments. If you have any information about these missing cases or others, please call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or visit its website at www.missingkids.org. It would take 17 years until the killer could be named and another two until his victims would be identified. But, I think until we know her identity, we're not going to solve the case.. October 31, 2018 This is part two of episode 5. This linked him to New Hampshire in the same timeframe as the Bear Brook murders, when he was known as Robert Evans. By 2001, Rasmussen was working odd jobs in California under yet another alias, Lawrence Vanner. The abandonment of five-year-old Lisa in Scotts Valley, California. Vanner fended off her loved ones questions with an array of excuses. After months of trial and error, Rae-Venter was able to use this method to identify the victims. By Eric Shorey & Gina Tron His own taped confession. Ultimately, the body was identified as Jun, who police determined had died of blunt force trauma to the head. [12], New Hampshire investigators announced that the identities of Honeychurch, Vaughn and McWaters were confirmed through DNA testing in June 2019. May their souls find peace in Gods loving care.. From the creators of the hit podcast Bear Brook comes A True Crime Story. Their hard work, along with that of a dogged researcher, ultimately unraveled a long trail of missing and murdered women and children all leading back, police say, to a serial killer. About a year later, Heath, who lives in Connecticut, was listening to a New Hampshire Public Radio podcast about the Bear Brook murders when information about the victims reminded her again of the . She said her mother and Rasmussen got married in 1968 in Hawaii. [10] The reconstructions were created in black and white, as their skin tones and eye colors could not be determined.[24]. The mother of the middle child, the unidentified girl in the second barrel found at Bear Brook in 2000, who was determined to be Rasmussens biological daughter, has also never been found nor identified. And he brings a fresh examination of the evidence to a state that has never exonerated anyone for murder. [8][10] He was arrested that November and pleaded no contest in 2003[12] to charges relating to her murder and dismemberment. When I got up in the morning, I pulled my shades back, there was clouds and a beautiful blue sky, and there was seagulls circling in the sky, they were beautiful. [42] In February 2020, a new rendering of the fourth victim was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and New Hampshire State Police. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! But there was no doubt the killings had been the handiwork of the same person. 1971) and Sarah Lynn McWaters (b. [2][3][4], In 2017, investigators named Terry Peder Rasmussen as the most likely suspect. This is somebody who forms relationships and clearly is having social attachments. [4][14] The two were buried in an Allenstown cemetery with a tombstone that read: "Here lies the mortal remains known only to God of a woman aged 23-33 and a girl child aged 8-10. Four bodies-one woman, and three little girls-found in two barrels years apart. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Marie E. Vaughn was first, born in 1971, then Sarah L. McWaters was born in 1977, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice. Online, she found a post from someone who mentioned the name Sarah McWaters. Armand Beaudins daughter Denise Beaudin is Lisas mother. [11] Rasmussen was arrested under another alias, Gerry Mockerman, in 1988 for driving a stolen vehicle. [1] [2] The podcast is hosted by Jason Moon and was released through New Hampshire Public Radio. There's always that hope, but nothing's definite.. Most serial killers would never do that; it's the last thing they would do. An early morning drug deal in a hotel bathroom ends in tragedy. While living in Manchester, New Hampshire, Rasmussen lived under the alias "Robert 'Bob' Evans" and worked at the Waumbec Mill. They werent identified until 2019; at that time, authorities believed Marie was 8 to 10 years old at the time of her death. 07-11-2018. More than 30 years later, is it possible to get to the truth - and who gets to tell it? His wife left him between 1973 and 1974 and his family last saw him around Christmas 1974. The only evidence against him? NEW YORK (AP) Amazon is pausing construction of its second headquarters in Virginia following the biggest round of layoffs in . When people ask me who was the worst serial killer out there I point to him and the reason is this: he not only would kill a woman but he would take their children, molest their children, and not only that but use their children as a lure to get his next victim and I cant think of anything more horrible than that.. After an argument with her family, she left with Rasmussen and her two daughters, six-year-old Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and one-year-old Sarah Lynn McWaters. Other forensic information showed that the woman and children lived together in the Northeastern United States between two weeks and three months before their deaths. It's just kind of sitting out in the woods., The brother that found the barrel went over to it and tried to lift the top of the barrel and when he did that, we were hit with a smell that was absolutely putrid. Billy Jensen on the Bear Brook 4 Update and Remembering the Victims of Ted Bundy | CrimeCon, Debra and Terra Newell and Laura Richards Discuss Dirty John & Coercive Control, Nancy Grace Speaks About Fighting For Victims at CrimeCon 2019, Nancy Grace on Her New Oxygen Series Injustice, the Chris Watts Case, and More | CrimeCon, Photo: I closed the blinds back up. It well could be somebody else. Rasmussen fell off the radar after that but resurfaced in California under a different name in 2002 when police found adismembered body in his basement. The children both went through periods where they were in the custody of their fathers, but Marlyse would later regain guardianship. [9][17], The adult, later identified as Honeychurch, was determined to be Caucasian with possible Native American ancestry. It just made me angry and curious.. They were buried together at a local Allenstown cemetery with a donated gravestone that read: Here lies the mortal remains known only to God of a woman aged 23-33 and a girl child aged 8-10. When Lisa was taken into protective custody in 1986, police asked her if she had any siblings. [20], In January 2017, it was announced that Denise Beaudin, who had been missing since 1981, was connected to the murders. Decades later, investigators discovered that Denise Beaudin was the mother of the child known as Lisa, a little girl Rasmussen claimed in the 1980s was his daughter, which DNA tests later confirmed wasnt true. Since 2017, he has been named as a suspect in several other crimes. Although the Allenstown barrels were discovered during his lifetime, Rasmussen was not named as the culprit until 2017, when DNA profiling connected him to the crime. We have a few unidentified remains that we are trying to identify in different parts of the country that we think have all of his earmarks, Jensen told Gomulka. Two investigators work parallel leads, and authorities call a press conference. The last time Honeychurch was seen by her family wasonThanksgiving 1978, according to a timeline released by the attorney general's office. All the same guy., Watch the full story on "20/20" FRIDAY at 9 p.m. After countless hours of research, genetic genealogist Rae-Venter found Armand Beaudin, Lisas maternal grandfather. It was the first time, researchers claimed, that genetic genealogy had been successfully employed in a murder case. Inside The Horrifying Mystery Of The Bear Brook Murders. Bear Brook is an American true crime podcast covering the Bear Brook murders. Rasmussen was born on December 23, 1943,[1] in Denver, Colorado. Never contacted nobody. Sarah L. McWaters was 11 months old when she was last seen with her mother and sister around Thanksgiving of 1978. [8], Honeychurch and Vaughn's funeral was held in November 2019 in Allenstown, during which they were given a new headstone bearing their names. His true identity, Terry Rasmussen, was not revealed by authorities until 2017. [11], San Bernardino detective Peter Headley got Lisa's case in 2013 and genealogy website databases had grown since the case had started. The bodies could not be identified at the time, leading the case to go cold. And he wasnt being cooperative with that at all.. This is the twisted story of the Bear Brook Murders. I wished he'd lived longer, so he would have suffered longer in prison, myself.. A chameleon is revealed. A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Austin Harvey has also had work published with Discover Magazine, Giddy, and Lucid covering topics on mental health, sexual health, history, and sociology. A chameleon is revealed. The four victims were estimated to have died between 1977 and 1981. Ongoing genealogy efforts have revealed that Jane Doe's mother's relatives may have come from Pearl River County, Mississippi. ET on ABC. A dedicated detective refused to stop digging after she solved the brutal murder of a chemist in California. He was linked to the 1981 disappearance of a woman in New Hampshire that he was thought to be dating and was serving time for the murder of his wife in California when he died of natural causes in . Rose ultimately went to the Contra Costa County Sheriff, where Roxane Gruenheid was a homicide detective. We do regrettably fear that his daughter's mother is probably another victim somewhere, Carol Schweitzer, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said. Through the years my mother always said, You know, something's not right. [8] A second barrel was found about 100 yards from the first one in 2000 containing the body of McWaters and an unidentified child aged between two and four years old. She said that she did, but they died from eating grass mushrooms when they were out camping, Deputy Headley said. Public DomainTerry Peder Rasmussens 2002 mugshot after his arrest for the murder of his girlfriend Eunsoon Jun. Marlyse Honeychurch was last seen around Thanksgiving 1978 with her two daughters, Marie and Sarah. She loved her kids dearly, Chagaris said. [18] However, DNA from Lamotte's relatives later proved that she was one of the victims in the Redhead murders, a series of unsolved homicides across the United States which are unrelated to Rasmussen. [12][6], Rasmussen died, aged 67, while imprisoned at High Desert State Prison[5] on December 28, 2010. New methods of inquiry are used to crack other cold cases. First thing we need to do is find out who she is, because without knowing who she is, it's pretty hard to track back and find out where she stayed and who her relatives were and who she associated with, he said. Rebekah Heath, a research librarian who said shed become obsessed with the case, helped identify the woman and the two children through her own sleuthing. Thanks for your support. New Hampshire authorities have referred to her as the middle child because of how her suspected age compares to the other two children found in the barrels, but DNA tests confirmed she is not related to Sarah and Marie, nor their mother. Police believe Honeychurch fled to New Hampshire with Rasmussen, who at that point had begun using the name "Bob Evans." When alternate versions are told by lawyers and podcasters as part of a mounting effort to free Jason Carroll from prison and clear his name. Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin explained the discovery at a press conference on June 6. Timelines come together. Josh is charged under the federal death resulting law a new and growing strategy for prosecutors and faces a sentence of two decades or longer. [6] They last saw Rasmussen around December 1975 or 1976, when he showed up with an unidentified woman. The veteran detective on the case develops a theory involving her husband and a teenager. [11][17], The girl found with the adult female, later identified as Vaughn, was between 5 and 11 years old. Who could believe him for one second?, Rose said she told him: I want Eunsoon, not you, I want Eunsoon to tell me that she's done with our relationship or I'm going to get the sheriff involved.. I stood there for just a few seconds There was no odor. A family tree begins to take shape. Evans was listed as married to a woman named Elizabeth, according to documents from 1980. Bear Brook | S2 - TRAILER Trailer: Bear Brook S2: A True Crime Story 00:00 03:23 It can conquer hate. Police believe Terry Rasmussen, a man one expert deemed the worst serial killer, murdered the four women and children found stuffed into barrels in a New Hampshire state park decades ago. Homicide", "Four Unidentified Allenstown Homicide Victims", "Allenstown, NH murder victims identified after nearly 40 years", "New rendering released for unidentified girl found in barrel in Allenstown", Original digital reconstruction of middle child, "3 bodies hidden in barrels remained unidentified for decades. [29], In June 2017, police released a video of a police interview of Evans in hopes of finding his true identity. This isn't the big news we're hoping to break - stay subscribed for another full episode of Bear Brook that we hope to bring you soon. Bear Brook murder victims remembered. [15], The fourth victim's identity is not yet known, but investigators stated that through advanced DNA testing they could confirm the child was Rasmussen's. Police officials announced on May 6 that three bodies two discovered in 1985 and a third discovered in 2000 were identified asMarlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, 24, and her two daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn, 6, and Sarah Lynn McWaters, 1. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Advanced forensic testing showed the 2-to-4-year-old girl (since identified as Rasmussen's daughter) probably spent most of her childhood in either the upper Northeast or upper Midwest, perhaps Wisconsin. [41] Sarah was laid to rest in Connecticut, closer to her father's family. The Family in Barrels. Click here to donate $20. Police believe her answer indicates they may have been killed by Rasmussen, too. A year later, Juns body was found dismembered and buried in her basement. From the creators of the hit podcast Bear Brook comes A True Crime Story. We had a sister that was gone. February 27, 2023 We begin with the story police told about Sharon Johnson's murder. Huber says the investigation is stalled because she is still unidentified. So our suspect started in 1984 as Curtis Kimball. Then we had Gordon Jenson. Then he was using Larry Vanner. And now, it turns out, in the early 1980s back in New Hampshire, he was using Bob Evans, San Bernardino County, California, Sheriffs Deputy Peter Headley explained. This new discovery didnt offer any immediate clues as to who the killer had been, though. [2] The three girls were thought to also have some Native American heritage; they had light or European-American complexions. That's why I do these to get her identified and so that there's closure for the families involved here. [10] Jun disappeared in June 2002 and her body was found buried in cat litter in their home after having died from blunt force trauma to the head. The poster claimed to be McWaters half-sister. It wasnt Rasmussens first time in prison, however hed just been using a different name. Together we have been able to uncover the identity of the Allenstown killer, a murderer who tried to erase his victims and hide in the process, tried to hide who he was and what he did, but ultimately he wasnt successful, Strelzin said, according to The Washington Post. I was contacted one day by my nephew, and he was working with the sheriff's department out in California, Armand Beaudin told 20/20. They requested for me to do a DNA [test], and they discovered that I was the actual grandfather.. October 24, 2018 An ominous New Year's party introduction. [29], Evans died in prison in December 2010. In November 2002, he was arrested for Juns murder and in 2003, he was sentenced to prison for 15 years to life after he pled guilty to the crime. It was just odd that the barrel was out there It was [a] slightly rusted, dark blue barrel. Terry Rasmussen poses as "Larry Vanner" in an arrest photo from 2002. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Replies were filled with other people who also believed they were related to Sarah one member of a family of three who had gone missing sometime in the late 1970s. In the early days of the investigation, authorities publicized the case in the United States and some parts of Canada. May their souls find peace in Gods loving care.. Rasmussen was convicted and sentenced for the murder in 2002 of his then-wife, Eunsoon Jun; he died in prison in 2010. When authorities traced all Rasmussens aliases back to his true name, they found that in the early 1970s, he had been married and fathered four children from that marriage. To make a donation in support of Bear Brook, click here. My father's been outta my life since I was, like, 6 or 7, she said. Police and FBI agents conducted a search in Manchester after receiving an anonymous tip regarding Daneault in November 2017, after Rasmussen was announced as the Bear Brook killer. Maricopa County Sheriffs Department, Arizona.A mugshot of Terry Rasmussen from 1973. Where is she? Hodges remembered. November 7, 2018 The case that was solved in reverse leaves many questions unanswered. Rae-Venter said that in viewing the timeline for Rasmussen, it appears most likely that his daughter was born in Texas, possibly on the Gulf Coast if Rasmussen was working on an oil rig at the time. Curiously, against the advice of his attorneys, Vanner pleaded guilty to the murder during his trial. Thanks for your support. We have his eyes. But it was a real-life murder mystery that had the 33-year-old amateur sleuth hooked a case as gruesome as it was shocking. One of his sons from this marriage provided the DNA sample that confirmed Rasmussen as Evans in June 2017. In 2017, using genetic genealogy techniques, investigators were finally able to name their man: Terry Rasmussen, an inmate who had died seven years earlier, in 2010, while serving a sentence for the murder of his then-girlfriend, Eunsoon Jun. He settled in New Hampshire sometime in the late 1970s. [6] The divorce was finalized in 1978. But 15years later, a similar barrel was discovered in the same area, this time containing the remainsof two girls. Sarah is believed to have been 2 to 3 years old at the time she was killed, according to authorities. Additionally, Huber said the womans remains bore the hallmarks of Rasmussens other victims. An estranged cousin goes missing. I remember seeing an ax leaned up there.. [9][14] Daneault had been living on the same street as Rasmussen. Years later, when Gruenheid took on the Eunsoon Jun missing-person case in 2002, she became determined to find out more about Rasmussens supposed daughter Lisa, who had been mentioned in his criminal history, including prior booking records. To make a donation in support of Bear Brook, click here. For more on the case, visit bearbrookpodcast.com. When somebody's story keeps changing, it means that they [have] either made something up, can't remember what they told you the first time or that they're lying to you, she added. [15], Rasmussen lived a mile and a half away from 14-year-old Laureen Rahn when she disappeared from Manchester, New Hampshire, in April 1980. Police built the case against him around his own taped confession. Jun was in her mid-40s when she introduced her family to her new boyfriend, Larry Vanner, whom authorities later identified as Rasmussen, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice. He then took on the alias Gordon Jenson and abandoned the child at an RV park in Scotts Valley, California, in 1986. [18], The middle child, currently unidentified,[9][19] also had a gap between her front teeth and died at an age between 2 and 4.