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Bear Brook murders

COLD1985Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown, New Hampshire3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · crimes against children · domestic violence — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On November 10, 1985, a hunter found a metal 55-gallon drum near a burned-down store at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire, containing the remains of an adult woman and a young girl, wrapped in plastic. Autopsies found both had died of blunt-force trauma, and the pair were buried in an Allenstown cemetery under a headstone that did not name them. On May 9, 2000, the remains of two more young girls, also killed by blunt-force trauma, were found in a second metal drum near the first site. Investigators believe all four were killed within roughly the same period, though the second drum went undiscovered for fifteen years because it lay outside the area originally searched as the crime scene.

Forensic examination estimated the woman's age at death at 23 to 33 and found extensive dental work, including several fillings and three extractions. The three girls were estimated at ages 5 to 11, 2 to 4, and 1 to 3 respectively, and shared a distinctive gap between their front teeth. Because skin tone and eye color could not be determined, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children issued black-and-white facial reconstructions incorporating dental detail in June 2013, followed by an updated set unveiled in November 2015 at a New Hampshire Attorney General's office news conference.

Mitochondrial DNA testing in 2014, refined in 2015, established that the woman was the biological mother of the oldest and youngest girls; the second-youngest child was unrelated to the other three. In January 2017, investigators announced that the 1981 disappearance of Denise Beaudin from Manchester, New Hampshire, was connected to the Bear Brook case; authorities believe she was also killed by her then-boyfriend, using the alias 'Robert Evans.' A 2016 finding, credited in part to San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office detective Peter Headley, identified a girl Evans had abandoned in California in 1986 as Beaudin's daughter. Police released a recorded interview with Evans in June 2017, and two months later Y-DNA testing confirmed him as Terry Peder Rasmussen (1943–2010) of Denver, Colorado — the first major U.S. case in which genetic genealogy identified a suspect. DNA also confirmed Rasmussen as the biological father of the second-youngest Bear Brook victim. He had already been convicted in 2002, under the alias Curtis Kimball, of murdering and dismembering his then-wife Eunsoon Jun in California, and died in prison in December 2010; authorities believe he was responsible for the four Bear Brook killings.

On June 6, 2019, New Hampshire investigators publicly identified three of the four victims: Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch (b. 1954) and her daughters Marie Elizabeth Vaughn (b. 1971) and Sarah Lynn McWaters (b. 1977), all last seen around Thanksgiving 1978 after going missing from La Puente, California, while Honeychurch was dating Rasmussen. The break came from a tip traced through a 1999 online post by Sarah's half-brother, eventually shared with detective Headley. Honeychurch and Vaughn received a new headstone bearing their names at a funeral in Allenstown in November 2019; McWaters was buried separately in Connecticut. The fourth victim, previously known only as the 'middle child,' underwent years of further isotopic and genealogical analysis, including an updated facial rendering and DNA results released in February 2020 and research tracing maternal relatives to Mississippi, before New Hampshire police positively identified her in September 2025 as Rea Rasmussen, born in 1976, Terry Rasmussen's own daughter.

No one has been charged or convicted specifically for the Bear Brook killings: Rasmussen, the person authorities identified as most likely responsible, had already died in 2010, more than seven years before his identity as 'Robert Evans' was confirmed.

Key facts

Victims
Marie Elizabeth Vaughn, Denise Beaudin, Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, Sarah Lynn McWaters, Rea Rasmussen
Date
1985
Location
Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown, New Hampshire
Case status
cold

Case timeline

  1. 1978-11

    Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch and her daughters Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters go missing from La Puente, California, around Thanksgiving while Honeychurch was dating Terry Peder Rasmussen.

  2. 1981-11

    Denise Beaudin disappears from Manchester, New Hampshire, after last being seen by family in Goffstown for Thanksgiving.

  3. 1985-11-10

    A hunter finds a metal drum containing the remains of an adult woman and a girl at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire.

  4. 2000-05-09

    The remains of two more young girls are found in a second metal drum near the first discovery site.

  5. 2014

    Mitochondrial DNA testing shows the adult woman and the oldest and youngest girls were maternally related.

  6. 2016

    Genetic genealogy work identifies a girl abandoned by Rasmussen in California in 1986 as Denise Beaudin's daughter.

  7. 2017-01

    Investigators publicly connect Denise Beaudin's 1981 disappearance to the Bear Brook case.

  8. 2017-08

    Y-DNA testing confirms that 'Robert Evans' is Terry Peder Rasmussen, the first major U.S. criminal case in which genetic genealogy was used to identify a suspect.

  9. 2019-06-06

    New Hampshire investigators publicly identify three victims as Marlyse Honeychurch, Marie Vaughn, and Sarah McWaters.

  10. 2019-11

    Honeychurch and Vaughn are given a new headstone bearing their names at a funeral in Allenstown.

  11. 2020-02

    The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and New Hampshire State Police release an updated facial rendering of the fourth, still-unidentified victim.

  12. 2025-09

    New Hampshire police positively identify the fourth victim as Rea Rasmussen, Terry Rasmussen's daughter.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Peter Headley

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Detective with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office (California) who helped identify, in 2016, a girl abandoned by Rasmussen in 1986 as Denise Beaudin's daughter, and who later received the tip that helped identify the Honeychurch family victims in 2018–2019.

    citation on file

  • Marie Elizabeth Vaughn

    VICTIM

    Honeychurch's elder daughter, found alongside her mother in the first drum on November 10, 1985, at an estimated age of 5 to 11. Born 1971; publicly identified in June 2019.

    citation on file

  • Denise Beaudin

    VICTIM

    Manchester, New Hampshire woman who disappeared in November 1981; her boyfriend at the time was Terry Peder Rasmussen, using the alias 'Robert Evans.' Her case was publicly linked to the Bear Brook investigation in January 2017. She is not one of the four remains found at Bear Brook State Park; authorities believe she was also killed by Rasmussen.

    citation on file

  • Terry Peder Rasmussen

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in 2002, under the alias Curtis Kimball, of murdering and dismembering his then-wife Eunsoon Jun in California; died in prison in December 2010. Also used the alias 'Robert Evans,' under which he was confirmed via Y-DNA testing in August 2017. DNA confirmed him as the father of victim Rea Rasmussen. New Hampshire investigators have said they believe he was responsible for all four Bear Brook killings, though he died before any charge could be filed in this case.

    citation on file

  • Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch

    VICTIM

    Adult woman found in the first drum discovered November 10, 1985. Publicly identified in June 2019 as the mother of fellow victims Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters; born 1954, last seen alive around Thanksgiving 1978 in La Puente, California, while dating Terry Peder Rasmussen.

    citation on file

  • Sarah Lynn McWaters

    VICTIM

    Honeychurch's younger daughter, found in the second drum discovered May 9, 2000, at an estimated age of 1 to 3. Born 1977; publicly identified in June 2019; buried in Connecticut.

    citation on file

  • Rea Rasmussen

    VICTIM

    Found in the second drum discovered May 9, 2000, at an estimated age of 2 to 4; not biologically related to Honeychurch, Vaughn, or McWaters. DNA identified her as the daughter of Terry Peder Rasmussen. Born 1976 in Orange County, California; publicly identified by New Hampshire police in September 2025 after being known for decades only as the 'middle child.'

    citation on file

Places

Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown, New Hampshire

43.1500, -71.3700

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Four female homicide victims found in barrels at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire, in 1985 and 2000 were identified decades later as a mother, her two daughters, and the daughter of the man authorities named as the case's most likely suspect.
Where did the murders happen?
Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown, New Hampshire.
Who was convicted?
Terry Peder Rasmussen (Convicted in 2002, under the alias Curtis Kimball, of murdering and dismembering his then-wife Eunsoon Jun in California; died in prison in December 2010. Also used the alias 'Robert Evans,' under which he was confirmed via Y-DNA testing in August 2017. DNA confirmed him as the father of victim Rea Rasmussen. New Hampshire investigators have said they believe he was responsible for all four Bear Brook killings, though he died before any charge could be filed in this case.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: cold. Last verified July 2026.

Sources

  1. Bear Brook murderswikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-06
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — doj.nh.govgov · doj.nh.gov · 2026-07-06
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — namus.govgov · namus.gov · 2026-07-06

Last verified JUL 2026

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