Case overview
In November 1985, two metal barrels were discovered in Bear Brook State Park in Allentown, New Hampshire, containing the remains of four victims: an adult woman and three girls. It took more than three decades, advanced DNA analysis, and investigative genealogy to identify the killer as Terry Peder Rasmussen, a man who had operated under multiple aliases across state lines. Two of the four victims remain unidentified.
The discovery in Bear Brook State Park
On November 10, 1985, a hunter walking through a wooded area of Bear Brook State Park found a 55-gallon metal drum lying on its side. Inside were the remains of an adult woman and a young girl, both believed to have been dead for several years. Investigators estimated the victims had been killed between 1977 and 1985.
The woman was estimated to be between 23 and 33 years old at the time of death. The child was between 5 and 11 years old. Dental records, missing person reports, and early forensic work produced no matches. Both victims were unidentified, and the case went cold.
In May 2000, a second barrel was found roughly 100 yards from the first. It contained the remains of two more girls, both between the ages of 1 and 4 years old. Investigators determined the second barrel had been in the woods for the same extended period. All four victims had died from blunt force trauma to the head.
The investigation stalls
For years, the case remained open with few leads. Investigators tried to match the remains to missing children and women reported in New Hampshire and neighboring states. DNA testing available at the time was unable to produce actionable leads.
In 2013, the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit used new DNA technology to test the remains. Results confirmed that the adult woman and the oldest girl in the first barrel were biologically related. The two younger girls found in the second barrel were also related to the woman. One of the younger girls, however, was not related to the others.
That finding changed the direction of the investigation. Authorities now believed the unrelated girl had been with a man who had killed all four victims and placed them in the barrels.
A suspect emerges through genealogy
Investigators turned to investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that had recently been used to identify suspects in other cold cases. DNA from the victims was uploaded to public genealogy databases, and in 2017, a match led investigators to a man who had died in a California prison in 2010 under the name Curtis Kimball.
The man had also used the names Larry Vanner, Gordon Jenson, and Bob Evans. His real name was Terry Peder Rasmussen, born in 1943 in Denver, Colorado. Rasmussen had lived in New Hampshire in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the same time frame investigators believed the Bear Brook victims had been killed.
Rasmussen had been convicted in California in 2003 for the murder of Eunsoon Jun, a woman he had lived with in the late 1990s. He was serving a 15-year sentence when he died of natural causes. Investigators matched his DNA to the remains of the unrelated girl found in the second barrel. She was his biological daughter.
Victim identifications and ongoing gaps
In 2019, investigators identified one of the victims as Marlyse Honeychurch, a woman from La Puente, California, who had disappeared in 1978 along with her two daughters, Marie Vaughn and Sarah McWaters. DNA confirmed that Honeychurch was the adult woman in the first barrel, and that Vaughn and McWaters were the two younger girls in the second barrel.
The fourth victim, the oldest girl found in the first barrel, has never been identified. She is believed to have been between 8 and 10 years old at the time of her death. Investigators have not been able to connect her to any missing person reports.
Rasmussen’s daughter, the unrelated girl in the second barrel, also remains unidentified. Investigators believe she was between 2 and 4 years old when she died. Rasmussen is believed to have fathered at least five children, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility that he may have killed others.
Rasmussen’s movements and aliases
Rasmussen moved frequently and used multiple identities throughout his life. Records show he lived in New Hampshire, California, Arizona, and other states. He worked as an electrician and mechanic, often using stolen identities to secure employment and housing.
In the late 1970s, Rasmussen lived in Manchester, New Hampshire, using the alias Bob Evans. He worked at a local manufacturing plant and had a relationship with Denise Beaudin, a New Hampshire woman who disappeared in 1981. Beaudin’s body has never been found. Investigators believe Rasmussen killed her.
After leaving New Hampshire, Rasmussen moved to California, where he used the name Gordon Jenson. He presented himself as a single father with a young daughter, whom authorities now believe was Lisa, a child he had abducted. In 1986, Lisa was abandoned at an RV park in California. Rasmussen was later arrested under the name Curtis Kimball for child abandonment.
Lisa was placed in foster care and eventually adopted. In 2016, DNA testing revealed that she was not related to Rasmussen. Her biological identity was later confirmed through investigative genealogy, and she was reunited with her biological family in 2017.
What remains unresolved
Two of the four Bear Brook victims remain unidentified. Investigators continue to work with genealogists and forensic experts to identify the middle child and Rasmussen’s daughter. Both victims have had their DNA profiles uploaded to national databases, and composite images have been created based on forensic reconstructions.
Authorities believe Rasmussen may have killed other victims. His movements across multiple states, his pattern of using stolen identities, and his known connections to missing women and children have led investigators to review unsolved cases in New Hampshire, California, Arizona, and other states.
Rasmussen was never charged in connection with the Bear Brook murders. He died in prison in 2010, seven years before investigators identified him as the suspect. Investigators have closed the case with Rasmussen listed as the responsible party, but the full scope of his actions remains unknown.
Where to look next
- Podcast: “Bear Brook” (New Hampshire Public Radio)
- Documentary: “The Chameleon Killer” (ABC 20/20)
- Documentary: “Unmasking a Killer” (Oxygen)
- Book: “The Forever Witness: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder” by Edward Humes
