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CAN START TO HEAL. AFTER DECADES OF SILENCE AND MYSTERY, OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT THEY’VE IDENTIFIED THREE MURDER VICTIMS FOUND IN METAL BARRELS IN THE WOODS OF ALLENSTOWN AND LINKED THEM TO THE MAN THEY DESCRIBE AS SERIAL KILLER TERRY PEDER RASMUSSEN. >> TODAY WE’VE RETURNED THE IDENTITIES AND THE DIGNITY T MARLYSE HONEYCHURCH, MARIE VAUGHN, AND SARAH MCWATERS. ANDY: AUTHORITIES HAVE NAMED THREE OF THE FOUR PEOPLE FOUND IN THOSE ALLENSTOWN BARRELS IN 1985 AND 2000 AS A MOTHER AND HER TWO CHILDREN. INVESTIGATORS LAID OUT AN ELABORATE TIMELINE OF THEIR ACTIVITIES TODAY THAT LED TO CALIFORNIA IN 1978, WHEN THEY WERE AT HONEYCHURCH’S MOTHER’S HOUSE AROUND THANKSGIVING. >> AN ARGUMENT ENSUED BETWEEN THE PERSON AND HER MOTHER OVER A TRIVIAL MATTER. SHE LEFT THAT EVENT WITH HER CHILDREN AND TERRY RASMUSSEN AND WAS NEVER SEEN BY HER FAMILY AGAIN. ANDY: IT WAS IN 1980 THAT MANCHESTER POLICE SAY A WOMAN USING THE NAME ELIZABETH EVANS SURFACES AT A RESIDENCE TIED TO RASMUSSEN, WHO WAS USING THE ALIAS BOB EVANS AT THE TIME. HONEYCHURCH’S MIDDLE NAME IS ELIZABETH, AND POLICE WONDER IF SHE WAS WITH RASMUSSEN AT THE TIME AND USING HIS ASSUMED NAME. BUT THAT IS STILL UNKNOWN. RASMUSSEN DIED IN PRISON IN 2010 AND HAS BEEN TIED TO AT LEAST FIVE MURDERS AND IS SUSPECTED IN PERHAPS TWO MORE. >> TOGETHER WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO UNCOVER THE IDENTIFY OF THE ALLENSTOWN KILLER, A MURDERER WHO TRIED TO ERASE HIS VICTIMS AND HIDE IN THE PROCESS, HIDE WHO HE WAS AND WHAT HE DID, BUT ULTIMATELY HE WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL. WE KNOW WHAT HE WAS, WE KNOW WHAT HE DID, AND KNOW WE KNOW WHO HIS VICTIMS WERE. ANDY: THE FOURTH VICTIM FOUND IN THOSE BARRELS, WHO HAS COMMONLY BEEN CALLED THE MIDDLE CHILD, REMAINS UNIDENTIFIED, BUT REST IS IN IS THAT CHILD’S BIOLOGICAL FATHER. POLICE HAVE NOT IDENTIFIED HER MOTHER. ANDY HERSHBERGER, WMUR NEWS 9. TOM: IT WAS THE KILLING OF HIS COMMON-LAW WIFE EUNSOON JUN THAT FINALLY PUT RASMUSSEN BEHIND BARS IN 2003 IN CALIFORNIA. BUT THE CRACKS IN THIS CASE CAME FROM A LIBRARIAN WHO SPENDS HER PERSONAL TIME TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE LEARN THEIR OWN STORIES. WMUR’S KRISTEN CAROSA IS LIVE WITH WHAT THAT RESEARCHER SAID TODAY. KRISTEN: TOM REBECCA HEATH IS A , PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHER AND GOES THROUGH MISSING PERSON WEBSITES LOOKING FOR MATCHES, AND THAT HELPED CRACK PART OF THE TERRY RASMUSSEN MURDER CASE. BACK IN 2017, SHE SAW THAT MARLYSE HONEYCHURCH AND HER DAUGHTER SARAH MCWATERS WERE MISSING. HEATH POSTED A MESSAGE BACK INQUIRING IF THEY COULD BE THE VICTIMS FOUND IN ALLENSTOWN. A YEAR LATER AFTER LISTENING TO A PODCAST ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION, SHE REMEMBERED A POST SHE HAD SEEN ABOUT SARAH MCWATERS FROM 2000. HEATH CONTACTED THE PERSON WHO MADE THE ORIGINAL POST, AND SHE SPOKE TO RELATIVES OF SARAH. THE RELATIVE IDENTIFIED TERRY RASMUSSEN AS THE LAST PERSON TO HAVE CONTACT WITH MARLYSE AND HER DAUGHTER. THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN WERE MADE AWARE, AND THROUGH INTERVIEWS WITH FAMILY, IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT MARLYSE WAS LAST SEEN AT A PARTY WITH RASMUSSEN IN NOVEMBER 1978 >> AS SOON AS SHE SAID THAT NAME, IT WAS LIKE A PIT IN THE STOMACH, AND YOU KNEW, YOU KNEW IT WAS MORE THAN A COINCIDENCE. KRISTEN: INVESTIGATORS ARE STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC LIKE REBECCA KEEPING THEIR EYES OPEN TO INFORMATION THEY COME ACROSS BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT COULD BE UNCOVERED. LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM, KRISTEN

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A woman and two girls whose bodies were found in steel drums dumped in a state park in Allenstown have been identified, investigators said Thursday, but the identity of a third girl is still unknown.The bodies of the woman and three children were found in the woods of Bear Brook State Park in 1985 and 2000. Officials have said that the four were killed by Terry Peder Rasmussen, who was known as “Bob Evans” during his time in New Hampshire, but they were previously unable to identify them.>> Download the FREE WMUR appAssociate Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin said the woman has been identified as Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, and two of the girls were identified as her daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters."Today, we've returned the identities and the dignity to Marlyse Honeychurch, Marie Vaughn and Sarah McWaters," said Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrill.>> View full video of press conferenceOfficials have used DNA to determine that Rasmussen was the father of the unidentified girl, but he was not related to the other two girls. The unidentified girl was also unrelated to the other victims.>> Case timeline: Terry Peder Rasmussen"One of the goals is to locate the mother of that middle child and determine whether she's still alive," Strelzin said.>> Link: Timeline with victim informationInvestigators laid out an elaborate timeline of the identified victims' activities that led to California in 1978, when they were at Honeychurch's mother's house around Thanksgiving. "An argument ensued with her mother over a trivial matter," state police Sgt. Matthew Koehler said. "Marlyse left that event with her children and Terry Rasmussen and was never seen by her family again."It was in 1980 that a woman using the name "Elizabeth Evans" surfaced at a residence tied to Rasmussen, who was using the alias "Bob Evans," according to Manchester police.Honeychurch's middle name is Elizabeth, and investigators said they wonder if she was with Rasmussen at the time and using his assumed name. But they don't know for sure.Rasmussen died in 2010 while in prison for killing his common law wife, Eunsoon Jun, in California. He has been tied to at least five killings and is suspected in at least two more."Together, we have been able to uncover the identity of the Allenstown killer, a murderer who tried to erase his victims and hide in the process, hide who he was and what he did, but ultimately, he was not successful," Strelzin said. "We know what he was, we know what he did and now we know who his victims were."The break in the case came from a librarian who spends her personal time trying to help people learn their own stories. Rebecca Heath is a professional researcher who goes through missing person websites looking for matches.In 2017, she saw that Honeychurch and her daughter were missing. Heath posted a message online inquiring if they could be the victims found in Allenstown.A year later, after listening to the New Hampshire Public Radio podcast on the case, "Bear Brook," Heath said she remembered a post she had seen about Sarah McWaters from 2000. Heath contacted the person who made the original post, and she spoke to relatives of the girl.The relative identified Rasmussen as the last person to have contact with Honeychurch and her daughter.The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was made aware, and through interviews with family, it was confirmed that Honeychurch was last seen at a party with Rasmussen in November 1978."As soon as she said that name, it was like that pit in the stomach, and you knew it was more than a coincidence," Heath said.Investigators said it's important that people like Heath keep their eyes open to information they come across.