Identified! NH - Allenstown, Adult Female, 23-33, & 3 Children, Marlyse Honeychurch, Marie Vaughn, Sarah McWaters, Rea Rasmussen

[Triss]

How surprised I was that Terry was actually documented on Rea's birth certificate.
Rest in peace, sweet angel. You deserved better.

 

[dotr]

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[jennytrevor]

I was thinking about this too. We know from the fact that he abandoned Dawn/Lisa later on that he does not have any problems leaving his daughter with babysitters. I think it's possible she was with a babysitter just for that day. Or even long term/multiple years, if he killed Pepper earlier, closer to 76/77/early 78. He could even have been sending money back to this caretaker from his work in TX. Just a thought. Though Pepper could have been alive too. It's hard to say right now.

Not to respond to myself but—another possibility is Terry took Rea with him to TX in ‘78 and she was watched by a babysitter there. I personally think it’s more likely she was in CA with someone during this time, and that’s why he ended up back in CA where he met Marlyse—to pick up his daughter! I’m guessing whoever had her gave him an ultimatum that he needed to get his kid.

 

[faithx]

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[GravityHurts]

I must be the worlds worst amateur genealogist. I was able find Pepper's family history based on info in her mother's obituary, and there's not one Livings or Mitchell, or any of the other common surnames associated with their families, like Spiers, on the family trees I found.

Also, when they found out Rea was TPR's daughter, didn't they check California birth records for his name to see what shook out back then? Or am I misremembering? I could have sworn they did.

For point #1, they mentioned their hunt for Rea's mother was hampered by a number of "non-paternity events", instances where a legal parent turned out not to be a biological one. Its very possible she's related to those families, but the paper trail doesnt show the relationship. The Purvis family is from Mississippi, so thats probably where the overlap is

As for #2, the only parental information on California births from 1905-1995 is the mother's last name. For more detail, you would need to request the specific record, and before they had the mother's name they had hundreds of certificates to try. They didn't even know for sure if Rea was born in California, or if she had the last name Rasmussen before Pepper's name was discovered. I'd imagine they figured that doing IGG was more practical than ordering probably thousands of records to comb through

 

[sjd17]

For point #1, they mentioned their hunt for Rea's mother was hampered by a number of "non-paternity events", instances where a legal parent turned out not to be a biological one. Its very possible she's related to those families, but the paper trail doesnt show the relationship. The Purvis family is from Mississippi, so thats probably where the overlap is

As for #2, the only parental information on California births from 1905-1995 is the mother's last name. For more detail, you would need to request the specific record, and before they had the mother's name they had hundreds of certificates to try. They didn't even know for sure if Rea was born in California, or if she had the last name Rasmussen before Pepper's name was discovered. I'd imagine they figured that doing IGG was more practical than ordering probably thousands of records to comb through

One article I read said there were LOTS of babies born to the last name Rasmussen in California in the 70s, which made it incredibly difficult to use as a lead. It wasn't until they had "Reed" as the mother's name that they were able to find it quickly. Not to mention T Rasmussen often did not use that name.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

What is the possibility that this Jane Doe is Pepper Read?

1469UFCA

 

[Piknik]

There's still the report that there was a toddler with Lisa when Terry had them babysat at one point.

 

[GravityHurts]

There's still the report that there was a toddler with Lisa when Terry had them babysat at one point.

Plus the multiple kids in addition to Lisa when he was arrested in Orange County. He was seen dating their mother, but they haven't found anyone who remembered her name. They're probably all victims too

 

[taramarie]

I simply don’t understand his motives. There were reports that he sexually abused Lisa before she was finally rescued from him. I thought perhaps he was targeting women with young children (like Marlyse and Denise), abusing the children, then murdering them all when the mother eventually found out. However, as far as we know, Pepper didn’t have children when she met Terry. So much incomprehensible evil, and for what?!

 

[Triss]

What is the possibility that this Jane Doe is Pepper Read?

1469UFCA

I do see the resemblance, but it says DNA is available and entered into CODIS, so I would imagine there would be a parent/child match between Rea and any Jane Doe out there.

 

[earth2mass]

Any word on whether Rae will be receiving a marker with her name on it now, compared to before? I'm a Journalism student and would love to have her story heard by others.

 

[earth2mass]

I simply don’t understand his motives. There were reports that he sexually abused Lisa before she was finally rescued from him. I thought perhaps he was targeting women with young children (like Marlyse and Denise), abusing the children, then murdering them all when the mother eventually found out. However, as far as we know, Pepper didn’t have children when she met Terry. So much incomprehensible evil, and for what?!

I think uncovering more about his life prior to the killings and specifically hearing about his time in the military from those who served with him may not exactly explain his motive, but may begin to piecing together a better understanding of him and his psyche. There are definitely stories we haven't heard yet that will give us a better idea.

 

[jennytrevor]

Plus the multiple kids in addition to Lisa when he was arrested in Orange County. He was seen dating their mother, but they haven't found anyone who remembered her name. They're probably all victims too

Do we have a source for this? I have apparently forgotten about this fact.

 

[GravityHurts]

I think uncovering more about his life prior to the killings and specifically hearing about his time in the military from those who served with him may not exactly explain his motive, but may begin to start piecing together a better understanding of him and his psyche.

I agree. If I were to guess, I would say he was motivated by control more than anything. I dont think killing was his primary motivation, though he was obviously willing to do it. I think he sought out vulnerable people he could control and isolate, and then killed them if they got wise, tried to leave, or he simply got tired of them. Its possible he realized that having a child with him made him appear more trustworthy after he had Rea

MOO

 

[jennytrevor]

I simply don’t understand his motives. There were reports that he sexually abused Lisa before she was finally rescued from him. I thought perhaps he was targeting women with young children (like Marlyse and Denise), abusing the children, then murdering them all when the mother eventually found out. However, as far as we know, Pepper didn’t have children when she met Terry. So much incomprehensible evil, and for what?!

I see him as a repetitive family annihilator. It’s like he was obsessed with building new families and then murdering them. Maybe a way of taking out his anger on the situation with his first family. Never seen anyone like it before.

 

[earth2mass]

I see him as a repetitive family annihilator. It’s like he was obsessed with building new families and then murdering them. Maybe a way of taking out his anger on the situation with his first family. Never seen anyone like it before.

For some reason, ive always seen it as a possible issue with his home life as a child, and maybe trying to get himself a "perfect" family, and when this idealized version of family he wanted didn't work he killed them.

 

[earth2mass]

I agree. If I were to guess, I would say he was motivated by control more than anything. I dont think killing was his primary motivation, though he was obviously willing to do it. I think he sought out vulnerable people he could control and isolate, and then killed them if they got wise, tried to leave, or he simply got tired of them. Its possible he realized that having a child with him made him appear more trustworthy after he had Rea

MOO

I agree. Also not fully sold that he always intended to kill his victims when he first met them. May have been a long build up to his anger.

 

[Alleykins]

For point #1, they mentioned their hunt for Rea's mother was hampered by a number of "non-paternity events", instances where a legal parent turned out not to be a biological one. Its very possible she's related to those families, but the paper trail doesnt show the relationship. The Purvis family is from Mississippi, so thats probably where the overlap is

As for #2, the only parental information on California births from 1905-1995 is the mother's last name. For more detail, you would need to request the specific record, and before they had the mother's name they had hundreds of certificates to try. They didn't even know for sure if Rea was born in California, or if she had the last name Rasmussen before Pepper's name was discovered. I'd imagine they figured that doing IGG was more practical than ordering probably thousands of records to comb through

Yes, I learned this information from the press conference, I posted this before we knew. Thanks.

 

[GravityHurts]

Do we have a source for this? I have apparently forgotten about this fact.

Detective Peter Hedley has discussed it multiple times, including on the thread for TPR himself on this website. There was a podcast interview where he discussed it in some detail. The show is "Unsolved with Steve Gregory" Episode 503-Killer Con Man.

Apparently he discussed it also when he was interviewed for the Oxygen special on TPR, but most of it was cut out