The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office says it has identified the last unknown victim in the high-profile cold case commonly known as the Bear Brook murders.

Rea Rasmussen was just a few years old when she was murdered by her father and then discarded in a barrel near Bear Brook State Park, likely between 1978 and 1981, authorities believe. Previously referred to by investigators as “the middle child,” she was one of four victims found in barrels near the state park.

The discovery has also led investigators to a missing woman — Rea’s mother, Pepper Reed, who has not been seen for decades — believed to have been murdered by the same man.

The case baffled investigators since the discovery of the first barrel 40 years ago and drew national attention as one of the first to be solved us

See Full Page