Key facts
- Name: Pepper Reed
- Born: 1952, Texas
- Last seen: Late 1970s — no public record of her exists after that decade
- Location: New Hampshire (Cold Case Unit jurisdiction); her daughter’s remains were found in Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown
- Family: Mother of Rea Rasmussen (b. 1976, Orange County, CA); birth certificate names Terry Peder Rasmussen and Pepper Reed as parents
- Status: Still missing — the New Hampshire Department of Justice said on September 7, 2025 that it “continue[s] to seek answers about the disappearance of Pepper Reed”
- Investigating agency: New Hampshire Cold Case Unit (603-271-2663)
The statement
On September 7, 2025, Attorney General John M. Formella and State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced news 40 years in the making: the last unidentified Bear Brook victim finally had a name.
She was Rea Rasmussen — born in 1976 in Orange County, California, murdered at two to four, likely between 1978 and 1981, and sealed in a 55-gallon drum in Bear Brook State Park. For four decades she had been only “the middle child.” DNA gave her back her name — and surfaced her mother’s.
“Pepper Reed, who was born in 1952, is originally from Texas, and has not been seen since the late 1970s,” the DOJ said — then the sentence that made her a missing person in the public record: “We continue to seek answers about the disappearance of Pepper Reed.”
“This case has weighed on New Hampshire and the nation for decades,” Formella said. “With Rea Rasmussen’s identification, all four victims now have their names back.”
The investigation
Pepper Reed’s case is being investigated backwards — from the daughter to the mother. The DNA Doe Project, engaged by the Cold Case Unit in early 2024, had a team led by researcher Matthew Waterfield and genetic genealogist Giana Fihary build a family tree of roughly 25,000 people from distant DNA matches — back to a couple born in the 1870s, then forward to a 2005 obituary of a woman survived by a daughter named Pepper Reed.
Within half an hour, the team found Rea Rasmussen’s 1976 Orange County birth certificate — father Terry Rasmussen, mother Pepper Reed. A relative’s DNA confirmed the match on September 5, 2025; the announcement came two days later.
Everything the state has said about Pepper Reed is framed by the man on that birth certificate: Terry Peder Rasmussen — the “Chameleon Killer” of aliases Bob Evans, Curtis Kimball, and Gordon Jenson — convicted of a single murder (the 2001 killing of his girlfriend Eunsoon Jun in California) and dead in prison since 2010, seven years before DNA linked him to the Bear Brook barrels. He never accounted for Pepper Reed.
The pattern is established: Rasmussen targeted women close to him — Marlyse Honeychurch and her daughters, last seen in California in 1978 and identified in 2019; Denise Beaudin, 23, who vanished from New Hampshire in 1981 while living with “Bob Evans.” Pepper Reed fits the same terrible geometry.
“Our work is not done,” said State Police Detective Sergeant Christopher Elphick. “If you have any information, no matter how small it may seem, we urge you to come forward. After more than four decades, your piece of the puzzle could be the one that finally brings justice.”
Theories: what might have happened
The public record on Pepper Reed’s life is genuinely thin — no published last-seen account, no poster, no documented date of disappearance. Most of what is known came from her daughter’s DNA.
She was murdered by Terry Rasmussen. Supports: a Cold Case Unit “seeking answers” about a woman tied by birth certificate to a convicted killer; his pattern of killing the women and children around him; her total absence from every record after the late 1970s. Undercuts: her body has never been found, and no evidence beyond the genealogical link has been made public. (Rasmussen died in prison in 2010.)
She left voluntarily and lived under the radar. Undercuts: a team tracing 25,000 relatives found no record of her after the 1970s. A woman living quietly for five decades still leaves traces. There are none.
This section is short because the public record is short. A responsible publication does not fill silence with invention — and in Pepper Reed’s case, the silence is the story: a woman nearly erased, recovered only because her daughter’s bones demanded a name.
Have information?
Contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at (603) 271-2663. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- 1952 — Pepper Reed is born in Texas.
- 1976 — Daughter Rea Rasmussen is born in Orange County, California, to Pepper Reed and Terry Peder Rasmussen.
- Late 1970s — Pepper Reed is last seen; no records of her exist after this decade.
- November 1985 — A hunter finds a barrel in Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown, holding an adult woman and a young girl.
- 2000 — A second barrel found nearby holds two more girls — one the unidentified “middle child.”
- 2017 — DNA links one of the children to Terry Rasmussen, then known as “Bob Evans.”
- 2019 — Rae-Venter and Heath identify three victims as Marlyse Honeychurch, Marie Vaughn, and Sarah McWaters.
- Early 2024 — The Cold Case Unit engages the DNA Doe Project; a ~25,000-person family tree is built.
- September 7, 2025 — Rea’s identification is announced; the DOJ states: “We continue to seek answers about the disappearance of Pepper Reed.”
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Pepper Reed still missing?
Yes — the NH DOJ confirms her case is open and it continues to seek answers (Oct 2026).
Was Pepper Reed ever found?
No. No public report of her recovery has ever been issued, and no records of her exist after the late 1970s.
How old would Pepper Reed be today?
Born 1952 — 73 or 74 in 2026.
Who was Rea Rasmussen?
Pepper Reed’s daughter, born 1976 in Orange County, California. Murdered at two to four, likely 1978–1981; her remains were found in a barrel in Bear Brook State Park. Identified September 7, 2025 — the final unidentified “middle child” of the Bear Brook murders.
Who was Terry Rasmussen?
A serial killer known as the “Chameleon Killer” for his aliases (Bob Evans, Curtis Kimball, Gordon Jenson). Convicted of the 2001 murder of Eunsoon Jun in California, linked by DNA in 2017 to the Bear Brook murders — and dead in prison since 2010, so never prosecuted for the barrel killings.
What did the NH DOJ say in 2025?
Announcing Rea’s identification on September 7, 2025: “We continue to seek answers about the disappearance of Pepper Reed.”
Who is investigating?
The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit, (603) 271-2663.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: New Hampshire Department of Justice, “Identification of Final Unidentified Victim in the Allenstown, NH Homicide Case (Bear Brook Murders)” (Sept 7, 2025) — AG John M. Formella, Col. Mark B. Hall, Det. Sgt. Christopher Elphick; New Hampshire Cold Case Unit (603-271-2663).
- News: Boston Herald, “Decades-old mystery solved: girl identified in serial killer case” (Sept 2025); T.P. Caldwell, The News Café, “Victim Identified” (Sept 2025).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Terry Peder Rasmussen” (aliases, states, 2010 death, Bear Brook linkage); DNA Doe Project reporting (Waterfield/Fihary team, ~25,000-person tree, 2005 obituary lead).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.