'I saw the bones': State trooper recalls discovering barrel in Allenstown containing remains of 2 children
One of the children is suspected killer Terry Rasmussen’s biological daughter but remains unidentified
Updated: 8:15 PM EDT Jun 29, 2022
I started with state police in 1989 had been in the military previous to that and *** national police officer obviously in my training year, you, you jump around the state um, back then. So, um I jumped around the state and work different cases around it when you go into the major crime unit and state police, you're given *** cold case to work on at that time um or *** couple of cold cases. Um and this was one of the cases that I happened to read about and I looked into it *** little bit more and it just piqued my interest when you opened the case file. It's like, you know, one of those books that grab *** hold of you really quickly yeah, running through the, the information that was in the case file itself. Um the different aspects to this and then just coming to the very quick realization like this is, this is not new Hampshire, like this is not what we normally see up here and then just the multitude of question marks as you went through, like, you know, what does this mean, What does that mean? And then go trying to work through the crime scene itself and then trying to work through the people that already being interviewed. Um, so it just was like, you know, like *** novel that just grabs you just grabbed me and I ran with it, not just homicides, but homicides in Alan's town were rare um where you would have, you know, two victims or three victims or for, you know, the multiple victim homicides were extremely rare having at that time to victims and just *** manner in which they were um killed the blimp, blunt trauma side of it. Um It just, yeah, it was, it was very abnormal for New Hampshire. I was reading through the case file and I couldn't, I'm *** very visual type person and you come out and you try to see what's printed on paper and you're trying to match the things up from out here and it gives you *** better grasp on on the entire case when you're going through it. I wanted to really match what the case file was telling me in the exact area. Mhm. The most frustrating part of this entire case was, it seemed like every road that we walked down or every path we would walk down in this case, you know, talking to someone or thinking, well this is *** possibility. It just always came to *** dead end. Mhm. There is *** mystery that has gone unsolved in Alan's town since the mid eighties. That was *** different time. You know, we didn't have cell phones back then. You didn't have the internet back then. People weren't as connected. And so it's possible that four people went missing and maybe, you know, local police department was notified about it, but it didn't go any further than I said. I'd come out, walk the area, try to get *** better grasp, write some notes about it and then I was going to go home for the rest of the day. It's *** beautiful state park here. But there's things out here that um, you know, it is *** state park, it's open to the public, any possibilities. Um it's *** safe place to go. It's *** great place for recreation. You know, it's kind of one of the gems in new Hampshire, but you know, there's flaws in every gem I actually was in the canine unit for many years. So we do *** lot of canine training out here in bear brook. You start doing uh laying tracks for dogs and you're out in the middle of the woods and and having the dogs trained to come out and find you, You actually start to understand how dense these woods are and how big bear book is itself, but this is further out than we would normally go for canine training. I remember it was, it was *** sunny day, um it was warm when I first came out that day, I was trying to figure out exactly where this wasn't bear bear brook. I had to, you know, try to figure out exactly where it was before I even pulled into the area. This is where the store used to be, This was the foundation of the camp store that was here before it closed. Um and one thing they used to have tractor trailers that used to back in here at night, so that the drivers of the tractor trailer would sleep here and then they'd leave in the morning. So that was another factor. When we first started investigating the case, wondering if that was an aspect to it or not. We couldn't really close any possibilities. Um So you really had to think about, you know, this is *** state park and people go through it all the time. I had done most of the walk through that, I wanted to and looked at some different things and got *** grasp of the area um and and wrote some notes about it. And then I was starting to walk out back towards my car and then I started to walk off the path *** little bit into the wooded area over in this area. And that's when I came across, you know, finding *** barrel out in the middle of the woods really isn't, you know, it could be just something, especially with the store that had been here um really wasn't surprising, but when I walked up and I saw the plastic that was inside the barrel, then it made me think, you know, and you're trying to talk yourself out of it because you don't think it's gonna be what you think it is, because what are the odds, right? You're, you are engulfed in this case about *** barrel and you find another barrel. I mean, it's, it wasn't even in the realm of possibility in my mind at the time. *** lot of hunting out here could have easily been an animal at the time or animal remains, but you know, we all know it didn't turn out that way. On May nine, New Hampshire State Police Detective John Cody found *** second barrel on the same property in islands town. That barrel contained the remains of two more of Rasmussen's victims this time. Two female Children based on their apparent ages and their age with respect to the first child victim, we've referred to these two victims as the middle child and the youngest child. Thank you. But when you find the second barrel, how soon after did you start thinking we might have *** serial killer? You know, I think that was in the realm of possibilities. I'm sure it was originally discussed again, this is new Hampshire, you wouldn't even think, I mean, it's abnormal to find two bodies, you know, wrapped up in *** barrel that, you know, had had broken open and was found by *** hunter. But yeah, it's not even gonna be in the realm. Do you think, okay, there could be another barrel out there when I peel back the plastic and I saw the white. Um, you know, I think I still was second guessing myself. I had to go back out to my car, get my flashlight, come back in and shine it and then when I saw the bones, everybody came out, we actually had to contact the medical examiner and they confirmed that they did appear to be human remains. I think the thing that was really resonating was with us that day is the size of the bones. So you knew that these were younger victims, most likely Children. Mhm. New Hampshire is *** wooded area. There's *** lot of secrets buried out in woods, everywhere in New Hampshire. All options were open. You know, was the barrel there since the beginning is just another, you know, two other victims. Are they anyway, related the second barrel was actually found over in this area and you know, obviously, quite *** distance from the other barrel Because there's so much of *** distance between the two. The chances of this barrel even being found at that first investigation were probably slim to none. There was not *** lot of publicity around the second barrel when it was found. Um you know, obviously the local police department knew about it. We worked very closely with Alice Town Police Department at the time. It was kept pretty quiet because we were trying to figure out, you know, what we had here. The one path that we hadn't walked down because it wasn't there at the time was technology, it wasn't technology that led you to that barrel. It was some old fashioned investigative work, you know, old fashioned investigative work, but *** lot of luck too. It's, you know, it's following up on the case and going out and doing what we, you know, every investigator in the major crime unit and every detective in New Hampshire would do Knowing that there is one unidentified child. Do you have closure in this case? I don't think you do. I know for me, it's still that big question mark out there. It's still that one piece of the puzzle that needs to be put together. You know, it may not happen in my lifetime, it's out of our control.
'I saw the bones': State trooper recalls discovering barrel in Allenstown containing remains of 2 children
One of the children is suspected killer Terry Rasmussen’s biological daughter but remains unidentified
Updated: 8:15 PM EDT Jun 29, 2022
The Terry Rasmussen mystery has captured headlines worldwide, but he likely would never have been tied to most of his crimes without a New Hampshire trooper’s significant discovery 22 years ago.In 2000, New Hampshire State Trooper John Cody came upon a barrel in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown.“I peel back the plastic and I saw the white, you know, I think, I still was second-guessing myself. I had to go back out to my car, get my flashlight, come back in and shine it, and then when I saw the bones,” Cody said.>> See the full documentaryIt was clear the bones belonged to children.“I think the thing that was really resonating with us that day is the size of the bones,” Cody said.Testing later confirmed the remains belonged to two female children between 1 and 4 years old.The discovery came 15 years after another barrel containing the remains of a woman and an older child was found.“All options were open. You know, was the barrel there since the beginning? Was this another, you know, two other victims? Are they any way related?” Cody said. “Because there's so much of a distance between the two, the chances of this barrel even being found at that first investigation were probably slim to none.”Investigators had a case involving four victims who were killed in a similar manner and discovered in a similar fashion. But none of their identities were known, and there were no missing person cases to match.“We couldn't really close any possibilities. So, you really had to think about, you know, this a state park, and people go through it all the time,” Cody said.>> Timeline: Terry Rasmussen caseDNA testing in what initially seemed to be an unrelated case proved Rasmussen was the biological father of the older girl found in the second barrel, leading investigators to plausibly conclude he was responsible for the blunt force trauma deaths the woman and three children experienced some time before 1985.Three of the victims were identified in 2019. The identities of Rasmussen’s daughter — referred to as the “middle child” — and her mother remain a mystery. “I don’t think you do (have closure). For me, it's still that big question mark out there, it's still that one piece of the puzzle that still needs to be put together,” Cody said.If you have information that could help investigators in this or any other cold case, you can call New Hampshire State Police at 603-271-2663 or email coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov.You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-THE-LOST.
ALLENSTOWN, N.H. — The Terry Rasmussen mystery has captured headlines worldwide, but he likely would never have been tied to most of his crimes without a New Hampshire trooper’s significant discovery 22 years ago.
In 2000, New Hampshire State Trooper John Cody came upon a barrel in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown.
“I peel back the plastic and I saw the white, you know, I think, I still was second-guessing myself. I had to go back out to my car, get my flashlight, come back in and shine it, and then when I saw the bones,” Cody said.
>> See the full documentary
It was clear the bones belonged to children.
“I think the thing that was really resonating with us that day is the size of the bones,” Cody said.
Testing later confirmed the remains belonged to two female children between 1 and 4 years old.
The discovery came 15 years after another barrel containing the remains of a woman and an older child was found.
“All options were open. You know, was the barrel there since the beginning? Was this another, you know, two other victims? Are they any way related?” Cody said. “Because there's so much of a distance between the two, the chances of this barrel even being found at that first investigation were probably slim to none.”
Investigators had a case involving four victims who were killed in a similar manner and discovered in a similar fashion. But none of their identities were known, and there were no missing person cases to match.
“We couldn't really close any possibilities. So, you really had to think about, you know, this a state park, and people go through it all the time,” Cody said.
>> Timeline: Terry Rasmussen case
DNA testing in what initially seemed to be an unrelated case proved Rasmussen was the biological father of the older girl found in the second barrel, leading investigators to plausibly conclude he was responsible for the blunt force trauma deaths the woman and three children experienced some time before 1985.
Three of the victims were identified in 2019. The identities of Rasmussen’s daughter — referred to as the “middle child” — and her mother remain a mystery.
“I don’t think you do (have closure). For me, it's still that big question mark out there, it's still that one piece of the puzzle that still needs to be put together,” Cody said.
If you have information that could help investigators in this or any other cold case, you can call New Hampshire State Police at 603-271-2663 or email coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov.You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-THE-LOST.