Four Bodies. Two Barrels.
No Names for Forty Years.
They found a barrel in the woods. Inside? A woman and a little girl — with no names, no missing persons report, no one looking for them.
A hunter stumbled across it in November 1985. A 55-gallon metal drum, rusted, hidden deep in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire. The bodies had been there for years.
Authorities couldn't identify them. No matches. No leads. The case went cold.
The first barrel, Bear Brook State Park — discovered November 1985
NH State Police Photo Lab — the second barrel, discovered May 2000
Then in May 2000 — same park, nearby — a second barrel. Two more young girls. Four victims total. All stuffed inside drums like they never existed.
Bear Brook State Park — Barrel 1 found November 1985, Barrel 2 found May 2000, both near the snowmobile trail off Bear Brook Gardens
Finally Given Their Names
It took decades of forensic genealogy — the same science that cracked the Golden State Killer — to finally name them.
Left to right: Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch (mother), Marie Elizabeth Vaughn (oldest child), Sarah Lynn McWaters (youngest child). Last seen in California, 1978.
Marlyse Honeychurch and her daughters Marie and Sarah. Last seen in California in 1978. The fourth victim — a little girl found in that second barrel — wasn't identified until September 2025. Nearly forty years after her body was discovered.
"How many more are still out there with no name, in a barrel, waiting?"
Terry Rasmussen
The man who killed them: Terry Rasmussen — a drifter who used fake names across multiple states and is suspected in murders well beyond these four. He died behind bars in 2010. He was never charged for Bear Brook.
Terry Rasmussen — Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Phoenix, AZ — April 1973 (AP Photo)
Terry Rasmussen — later booking photo. He died in prison in 2010, never charged for the Bear Brook murders.
Bear Brook State Park
Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire spans over 10,000 acres of dense forest and wetlands. The barrels were hidden near a snowmobile trail — remote enough to go undiscovered for years, accessible enough for someone who knew the land.
The park is still open to visitors today.
Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown, NH