Allenstown, NH murder victims identified after nearly 40 years

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire investigators have finally pieced together much of the mystery of four murder victims found in barrels dumped in Bear Brook State Park near Allenstown.

After nearly 40 years, three of the four victims have been identified as a woman and her two children from California.

Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch was the mother of Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters, all of whom went missing from California in 1978.

MORE: TIMELINE of Marlyse Honeychurch and Terry Rasmussen

According to New Hampshire investigators, they are three of the victims of serial killer Terry Peder Rasmussen. The third child found in a barrel in New Hampshire has been identified only as Rasmussen's child, however, they are still seeking to find her mother.

In a press briefing held on Thursday afternoon, New Hampshire officials revealed they were able to positively identify three of the four victims found inside barrels near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown.

A family in California helped in making DNA connections to the three victims. Marlyse had been married twice and had one child from each marriage.

Marlyse Honeychurch was born in Connecticut and lived in Fall River with her first husband, a Navy sailor, before following him to California.

Terry Rasmussen died in a California prison in 2010. Authorities believe his victims included more than just the woman and three girls found near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown. The first barrel was found in 1985 and the second was found in 2000.

The sprawling case saw its first major break in late 2016 when police were able to identify their killer as Bob Evans, of Manchester. They were able to connect a missing woman's daughter, Lisa Jenson, to one of Evans' aliases, Gordon Jenson.

It was discovered that Bob Evans had left New Hampshire with a missing woman named Denise Beaudin in the early 1980s and he had abandoned her daughter, Lisa, in a trailer park.

Eventually, Bob Evans would be identified as Terry Rasmussen and connected to his aliases: Gordon Jenson, Curtis Mayo Kimball, and Robert Evans.

Rasmussen was arrested in 2002 when his then-wife was found murdered and buried under cat litter in the basement of their home outside San Francisco, California.

He was sentenced to prison and died in 2010 at High Desert Prison.

Police are still seeking to identify Rasmussen's murdered child and her mother. Officials are also seeking to find Denise Beaudin, who they presume to be dead.

Along the way, police say because of the publicity the case received, they were able to positively identify a body found in Tennessee as Elizabeth Lamotte who went missing from New Hampshire in 1984.

They say it's also possible Terry Rasmussen is connected to the disappearance of Denise Denault, who went missing in the early 1980s from Manchester, New Hampshire.

Boston 25's Bob Ward has been following this case for decades and will have a full report on Boston 25 News at 4.

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