After 40 Years, Genetic Genealogy Named the Last Bear Brook Victim — In a Family Tree of 25,000 People

Subtitle: In September 2025, New Hampshire officials announced that “the middle child” from the Bear Brook barrels was Rea Rasmussen. The science story is not the crime scene — it is how investigative genetic genealogy, a ~25,000-person tree, a 2005 obituary, and a birth record found in 30 minutes restored a name that ordinary databases could not.

It took a family tree of about 25,000 people to give a murdered toddler her name back.

On September 7, 2025, New Hampshire officials announced that Jane Allenstown Doe 2000 — “the middle child” among four victims found near Bear Brook State Park — was Rea Rasmussen, born 1976 in Orange County, California. She was about two to four when she was killed, likely 1978–1981. All four Bear Brook victims finally had names.

This is a forensic-science story for a science-curious audience. The shareable fact is how the identification worked — not a tour of the crime scene.

Why ordinary DNA databases were not enough

CODIS-style criminal databases rely on short tandem repeats (STRs) — powerful when a suspect or close relative is already catalogued, and stalled when no one is.

Investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) takes a different path. Labs generate denser SNP-style data from remains, upload to genealogy databases that allow law-enforcement or nonprofit use under their rules (GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA, and similar), and build trees from distant cousins until living relatives and records converge on a person.

Bear Brook was a national case study for the method years before Rea’s name returned. Genealogy helped identify the suspected killer, Terry Peder Rasmussen (died in prison, 2010), and, in 2019, three victims: Marlyse Honeychurch and daughters Marie Vaughn and Sarah McWaters. DNA had already shown Rea was Rasmussen’s biological daughter — not related to the other three — but her mother’s identity, and her own legal name, remained blank.

How Rea’s name was found

In 2024, New Hampshire State Police partnered with the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. Earlier DNA work (Astrea Forensics; years by Firebird Forensics) had already pointed genealogy as the viable path.

Detective Sergeant Chris Elphick told NHPR the team “got lucky” in June 2025. Inside the ~25,000-person tree, a key match appeared — a couple born in the 1870s. A 2005 obituary for a great-great-great-granddaughter named a surviving daughter: Pepper Reed.

“To figure out the identity of our Jane Doe, we first had to find her mother,” DNA Doe Project’s Matthew Waterfield said in a release. “It took us almost 18 months to identify Pepper Reed, but once we knew her name, it led us right to her daughter.”

Once Reed’s name was in hand, a birth record for Rea Rasmussen (parents: Terry Rasmussen and Pepper Reed) turned up within about 30 minutes. A birth certificate, a living relative’s DNA test (Bode Technology; NCMEC Child Justice Project support), and confirmation on September 5, 2025 closed the loop.

Rea’s mother, Pepper Reed (born 1952, Texas), has not been seen since the late 1970s. Her disappearance remains active; authorities believe she may also have been a Rasmussen victim. Families have asked for privacy.

What this method is — and is not

It is not magic, and not a substitute for police work or courtroom standards. Matches depend on who uploads DNA, how complete records are, and whether adoption or endogamy builds brick walls. Ethics and law are still catching up — Sweden only recently wrote an explicit statutory basis for FIGG. Consent settings matter. False leads waste years.

It is a documented route to restore names when STR databases go quiet. All four barrel victims are named. Pepper Reed is still missing. Denise Beaudin, last seen with Rasmussen in Manchester in 1981, is still unaccounted for. Investigators still want tips on Rasmussen’s movements from 1974 to 1985.

Share this if the science stuck

A ~25,000-person tree. An 1870s couple. A 2005 obituary. A birth certificate in half an hour. A name confirmed in September 2025 for a child hidden from the record for decades.

That is what investigative genetic genealogy looks like when it works: not a Hollywood DNA “hit,” but patient graph-building across living cousins and dead paper until a blank becomes a person.

If that arc surprised you, pass it on — and if you have information on Pepper Reed or Rasmussen’s 1970s–80s movements, New Hampshire’s Cold Case Unit still wants the tip: 800-525-5555 or coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov.

Sources

Jason Moon / NHPR. (2025, September 7–8). Investigators identify last remaining Bear Brook murder victim — but a new mystery emerges. https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2025-09-07/bear-brook-murders-new-hampshire-cold-case-middle-child-mystery-terry-rasmussen-victim-identified
Emma Henderson Vaughan / NCMEC. (2025, September 7). The Little Girl in the Barrel: A Bear Brook Mystery Solved. https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2025/the-little-girl-in-the-barrel-a-bear-brook-mystery-solved
The Independent. (2025). Final victim of 40-year-old Bear Brook cold case identified as Rea Rasmussen. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/bear-brook-murders-solved-final-victim-identified-b2822538.html
DNA Doe Project case materials / New Hampshire DOJ announcements referenced in the above reporting.