The fourth and final victim of the Chameleon serial killer, Terry Rasmussen, has been identified 25 years after her remains were found in a barrel at a New Hampshire state park.
Nicknamed the Chameleon Killer because of his many aliases, which included Bob Evans, Terry Rasmussen was linked to a number of crimes stretching between 1978 and 2002. He was suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend, Denise Beaudin, in 1981, before kidnapping, molesting, and later abandoning her daughter. Terry was subsequently imprisoned on child abandonment charges and later convicted of the 2002 murder of another girlfriend, Eunsoon Jun.
Though never tried nor convicted, as he died in prison in 2010, the Chameleon Killer was long suspected in the savage Bear Brook murders. From 1985 to 2002, the bodies of three girls and one woman were discovered in barrels in Bear Brook State Park in Allentown. They weren’t identified until 2019, when DNA profiling revealed their identities as Marlyse Honeychurch, a girlfriend of Terry Rasmussen, and her two daughters, 11-year-old Marie Vaughn and one-year-old Sarah McWaters.
The identity of the “middle child” was not revealed until now, when extensive DNA testing and documentation named her for the first time.
Who was Terry Rasmussen’s final victim?
Credit: National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
Though Chameleon Killer Terry Rasmussen will never be tried for the Bear Brook murders, police have continued to work tirelessly on the case since 1985. Following extensive testing, the identity of the fourth victim was revealed to be Rea Rasmussen, Terry’s own biological daughter who was two to four years old at the time of her death. Facial reconstruction technology also rendered an idea of what Rea Rasmussen might have looked like when she was killed.
“This case has weighed on New Hampshire and the nation for decades,” Attorney General John Formella said in a press release. “With Rea Rasmussen’s identification, all four victims now have their names back. This development is the result of extraordinary perseverance by law enforcement, forensic experts, and our Cold Case Unit.”
Rea was born in 1976 to Terry’s ex-girlfriend, Pepper Reed, but the discovery has now posed a new question: What happened to Pepper Reed after her disappearance in the late 1970s?
Credit: New Hampshire Department of Justice
“Our commitment to uncovering the truth, no matter how long it takes, remains unwavering,” the lawyer added. “We continue to seek answers about the disappearance of Pepper Reed.”
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Featured image credit: National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children/New Hampshire Department of Justice
