In 2017, investigators and genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter used a new forensic technique known as genetic genealogy to connect Terry Rasmussen, also known as the Chameleon Killer, to the Bear Brook murders. They also discovered he was the father of the middle child. At this time, Rasmussen was seven years dead, and the identities of the four girls still remained a mystery.

That is until 2019, when amateur investigator Becky Heath (pictured above) identified three of the four victims — Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, and her daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters. Heath was looking for clues on ancestry websites to help identify the victims when she discovered the Honeychurch family searching for their daughter, which matched the timeline of the murders. Rae-Venter used genetic genealogy to confirm their identities. The identity of the the fourth victim, Rasmussen’s child, still remains unknown.