Unsolved: Bodies of Woman and 3 Children located in barrels in NH (Cold Case)

On November 10, 1985 a hunter discovered the remains of an adult white female and a female child inside a 55 gallon metal drum in woods located in the Bear Brook Garden Trailer Park near 22 Edgewood Drive in Allenstown, NH.

On May 9, 2000 two more victims were found in the same vicinity. These victims were also in a metal drum. The third victim was a white female child and the fourth victim was also a white female child. Two children are maternally related to the adult female , but she is NOT their mother. The 4th victim (child) is unrelated to all.

For now, little information has been drawn from the remains. Forensic analysts have determined that the woman was between 23 and 32 years old. She had curly, light-brown hair and, like the children, was either white or Native American. She was about 5-foot-5.

The child found with her was a girl between 5 and 10 years old. The girl stood about 4-foot-3 and had light-brown hair and ears pierced twice.

The second pair of bodies were those of two children who appear to be younger. Investigators believe they are female, but the children were too young to know for sure.

"You can't get sex from skeletal morphology when they're that young," said Kim Fallon, a forensic investigator at the state medical examiner's office. "They have traits that suggest they're female, but that's not definite."

It is believed that the victims were killed sometime between 1977-1985. The deaths have all been ruled homicides, but the specific cause of death has not been released publicly.

One of those children was between 4 and 8 years old and stood about 3-foot-8. She had light-brown hair and a noticeable overbite. The other child was between 1 and 3 years old. She stood about 2-foot-5 and had long, blond hair.

The initial DNA tests showed that the woman could be the mother of the child found with her and of the youngest child. Investigators said she is not the mother of the child who was between 4 and 8 years old.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has produced images from the bone structure of the woman and the two children who might be hers. There are different theories about how four people could have disappeared as long as 30 years ago without ever being identified. The woman could have been a teenager who left home and had children without her family knowing, Fallon said.
Other possibilities exist that she and the children could be from the West Coast and brought here by a long-haul trucker, or possibly came here from Canada.

Cynthia Caron, President and Founder of LostNMissing Inc and NH Victim Advocate for NamUs, "There are so many possibilities that we ask that no stone go unturned." said Caron. "This is why it is important that all missing loved ones be entered into NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, so that unsolved and unidentified earthly bodies can have their names." Caron reports. The website for NamUs is www.namus.gov .

Investigators ask that anyone with information contact Detective John Sonia or Lt. James White of the State Police Major Crime Unit at (603) 271-2663.