Investigators Identify 3 Victims In Allenstown, NH Murders
CONCORD, N.H. (CBS) -- It's been years of painstaking work, but investigators finally revealed the photos and identities of three murder victims who were found stuffed inside barrels in an Allenstown, New Hampshire park.
The woman and children are believed to be victims of serial killer Terry Peder Rasmussen, who is believed to have killed at least six women and children decades ago.
In 1985, the bodies of Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, a woman in her mid-20's, and her older daughter, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn were found. Fifteen years later, her younger daughter, Sarah Lynn McWaters, was found with a third and still unidentified child.
"We know what he was, we know what he did, and now we know who his victims were," said New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin.
It's a complicated timeline that begins in California on Thanksgiving in 1978. Honeychurch abruptly left a family party with her new boyfriend Terry Rasmussen and two children by different fathers. They were never seen again.
Rasmussen apparently took them across the country and settled in New Hampshire as Bob Evans. Investigators said there's no evidence Honeychurch and her daughters were seen in New Hampshire working or attending school. "Marlyse was an adult missing from California. There was not a great deal they could do. This was before cellphones, the internet, and social media," said Strelzin.
DNA advances have been key in this case. Rasmussen has been linked as the father of the third child victim but investigators need help identifying her mother so they can finally name her.
The case broke wide open in 2016 when a woman came forward saying she was abandoned by Rasmussen as a child.
Her mother, Deborah Beaudin, left New Hampshire with the serial killer in 1981. She's also never been found and is likely another homicide victim.
Family members released a statement saying they take solace in finding answers but it comes with heavy hearts.
New Hampshire State Police Colonel Christopher Wagner said he hoped the discovery "restores the level of dignity and respect to those that lost their voice over 33 years ago.
But no justice -- Rasmussen died in 2010 serving time for the murder of his common-law wife Eunsoon Jun.