Sarah Rae Boehm (February 18, 1980 - c. July 15, 1994) was a teenager who was found murdered in Ohio in 1994.
She was identified in 2003.
Case[]
Background[]
14-year-old Boehm was a cheerleader and band member at her high school. On July 15, 1994, she called her mother around 10:30 p.m. She planned to stay with a friend who lived close by. Her mother reported her missing to the Rochester Police Department after Boehm failed to appear at a counselor meeting the following morning. Police initially thought she ran away, but her family and friends doubted this theory.
Boehm was described as a good student who was quiet and reserved. The RTPD worked on her case between 1994 and 1999. The Beaver County District Attorney's office joined the investigation, pursuing hundreds of leads from various states.
Discovery and identification[]
On November 4, 1994, hunters located Boehm's skeletal remains at the Berlin Reservoir within an Ohio State Park. The location was two hours away from her residence. Her remains were stored at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office as she was unable to be identified. In 2000, a now-retired Beaver County detective noted similarities between the unidentified female and Boehm. In 2001, the FBI obtained DNA from Boehm's mother and submitted the sample for lab testing.
In 2003, the remains were identified as belonging to Boehm. She was buried at Sylvania Hills Memorial Park in Rochester.
Investigation[]
Shortly after Boehm's disappearance, 17-year-old Kathryn Menendez disappeared from Beloit, Ohio, on August 27, 1994. Her naked body was found several days later by a gas company employee on an oil road near the Berlin Reservoir. She had been strangled to death and was sexually assaulted and mutilated. The bodies of both girls were found just half a mile from each other. The FBI believes the cases could be connected.
Suspect[]
Larry DeWayne Hall has been speculated to be responsible for both murders. Numerous alleged victims of Hall remain missing or unidentified.
Characteristics[]
- Blond hair.
- Blue eyes.
- Scraped knee from a bicycle accident.
- Pierced ears.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Sarah Boehm at Find a Grave
- FBI
- WKBN
- The Cinemaholic
- Center for Missing & Exploited Women (archived)
- Larry DeWayne Hall on Wikipedia
- Radford University