16-year-old schoolgirl Rayna Rison went missing on March 26, 1993, last seen leaving the veterinary hospital where she was working. After that, the police identified a number of suspects, including her brother-in-law who sexually abused her.
Mysteriously missing
Rayna Rison is a 16-year-old female student living with her family in La Porte City, Indiana, USA. Rayna dreams of becoming a veterinarian, so outside of school, she also works at a local veterinary hospital. Rayna’s job is to feed the animals and clean the barns, and usually ends work around 6:00 p.m. With a cheerful personality and a love of joking, Rayna is loved by many people around her and easily makes friends. She is also a very good student.
Friday, March 26, 1993, Rayna had plans to go on a date with Matt Elser that evening. Rayna and her boyfriend just got back together.
Matt stopped by the veterinary hospital to pick up Rayna but she wasn’t there. After that, he drove to his girlfriend’s house but didn’t see her. Rayna’s family invited Matt inside to wait for her. Sadly, Rayna never appeared.
At 10:30 p.m., after receiving no news and not being able to contact his daughter, Rayna’s father decided to go to the police station to report. However, police said that according to regulations, Rayna must be missing for at least 24 hours before they can open a case.
Rayna’s family could not sit still and began a search for Rayna. Flyers were distributed widely and some of Rayna’s friends drove everywhere looking for her. Despite all these efforts, Rayna’s whereabouts remain a mystery.
After that, the police began to investigate. Several witnesses said they saw a few people talking outside the veterinary hospital around the time Rayna finished her shift.
Witnesses described a sedan parked outside the hospital with two men inside. They said the men were talking to a young girl. The story sounds like the quarrels of a couple.
The abandoned car
One day after disappearing, Rayna’s car was found on the side of the road, about 14km from the veterinary hospital. The car’s hood was open, so police believe someone may have stopped to help Rayna deal with the crashed car. However, the car seemed to have no problems.
Rayna’s purse was found inside. In the glove box, police found a ring. They immediately brought it to school to see if her friends recognized whose ring it belonged to. Matt immediately said the ring belonged to Jason Tibbs, Rayna’s ex-boyfriend. Matt said he knew that Jason wanted Rayna back.
Jason has a criminal record and dropped out of school. Jason was questioned about a week after Rayna went missing. He seems to care about Rayna. Jason admitted the ring was his and said he and Rayna were still friends so it was no surprise that it was in Rayna’s car.
When asked where he was the night Rayna disappeared, Jason said he and some friends had gone fox hunting. They drove to different locations parked in random places and used radios to locate each other.
Jason’s friends confirmed this statement. However, they only heard Jason’s voice over the radio and did not see him.
Rayna’s father also said Rayna and Jason are friends. The clue from the ring doesn’t seem to have much value.
Body in the lake
Not long after discovering victim Rayna Rison’s car abandoned on the side of the road, police found her boyfriend Matt Elser’s jacket, about 9-11km from the car. Rayna was last seen wearing this shirt. Police learned it had been placed there after the initial search.
Matt and Rayna used to date but then stopped. Recently, the two decided to get back together. The date on the evening of Rayna’s disappearance was very special and the couple looked forward to it. Matt was sure that Rayna would show up, unless something bad happened.
In April 1993, about a month after Rayna disappeared, people fishing at the lake made a horrifying discovery. Before that, they smelled an unpleasant odor that was believed to be animal carcasses. No one expected it to turn out to be a human body.
The victim was lying face down in the water and had two logs across his back. Based on the state of decomposition, authorities determined that the body had been here for a month. That is the missing 16-year-old schoolgirl Rayna Rison.
Rayna was wearing a ring with her name on it, with no signs of a struggle. An autopsy revealed the cause of death was asphyxiation.
Sexual assault at age 13
At this time, the police returned to talk to Jason Tibbs, Rayna’s ex-boyfriend. Jason revealed that Rayna had been sexually harassed by her brother-in-law, Ray McCarty, at the age of 13. At that time, Ray pleaded guilty to sexual abuse, was charged, and placed on probation. His probation ended shortly before Rayna went missing.
Speaking to police, Ray claimed to have been at his friend’s farm the night Rayna disappeared. His friend confirmed this. With no suspects left, the case became cold.
More than 1.5 years after Rayna was killed, the case gained attention again when police arrested a suspect. That man’s name was Larry Hall, arrested for plotting to kidnap a woman in another state. In the truck, Larry saved newspaper clippings about Rayna’s case. He also has a pill bottle with R. Rison on it. Larry admitted to kidnapping and killing Rayna.
However, the investigation agency discovered that the medicine bottle was fake after contacting local pharmacies to ask about this prescription. Furthermore, the man was determined to be in Kentucky when Rayna went missing, so he would not be able to take action. Police said Larry seemed like the type of person who would be willing to participate in any investigation and give a confession.
Meanwhile, Matt’s testimony never changed, he went to Rayna’s house and waited for her. Jason’s alibi was only confirmed over the radio. His friends still claim to have never actually seen him that night. Ray’s alibi was also shaky when he said he gave someone a ride the night Rayna was murdered.
Having a search warrant for Ray’s house, the police quickly conducted an inspection and discovered many clues.
Unexpected revelation
Accordingly, they found blood stains in Ray’s car, a stun gun, and two handguns. Ray is arrested and suspected of being involved in Rayna’s death. For the next 15 months, police continued to investigate the murder while Ray was in jail.
At this time, test results showed that the blood stains in Ray’s car were deer blood. This man really liked and often went hunting. Prosecutors ruled there was not enough evidence to convict Ray or continue with the trial. He was released after more than a year in prison.
With no suspects or new leads, the case went cold for many years.
In 2008, 15 years after Rayna was killed, police suddenly received a letter from a prisoner serving a 44-year sentence. His name is Ricky Hammons, in prison for murdering his roommate.
Working with the police, Ricky said he decided to come forward after thinking about his niece. Ricky said he wanted someone to report if anything happened to his niece.
In 1993, Ricky was only 14 years old and living with his family. On the night of March 26, around the time Rayna went missing, Ricky went to the warehouse to smoke illegal substances. At this time, Ricky saw his sister’s boyfriend, Eric Freeman, driving up with his friend – Jason Tibbs. Jason is Rayna’s ex-boyfriend, who also owns the ring in the victim’s car.
Ricky said he discovered Rayna’s body in the back of the car as well as the black jacket she was wearing, which was later found by police.
The truth after 2 decades
The investigation team immediately searched and learned that Eric Freeman was in South Carolina. When they came to see him and asked about Rayna, Eric became nervous and refused to continue talking.
There was not enough evidence to convict Jason, the authorities offered to exonerate Eric if he confessed what he knew. Eric accepted this offer.
According to Eric, Jason gave him a ride that fateful night in 1993. On the way, Jason wanted to see Rayna at the veterinary hospital where she worked part-time. Seeing Rayna step out and approach his car, Jason quickly approached and confessed his love for her. At this time, the two had an argument when Jason was rejected by Rayna.
Jason angrily forced her into the car. The argument only stopped when Jason rushed to strangle his ex-girlfriend to death. Jason, with Eric’s help, placed Rayna’s body in the trunk of the car and went to Ricky Hammons’ family barn.
Eric then drove Jason back to the veterinary hospital to pick up victim Rayna’s car and left it on the side of the road. Next, the two took Rayna’s body to a lake. Jason placed two logs across the victim’s waist to make the body sink. He also threw away the jacket Rayna was wearing.
In 2013, Jason was arrested. At the trial in 2014, although Jason always asserted that he was not guilty, with the evidence available, the jury unanimously found Rayna Rison guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend and sentenced him to 40 years in prison.
In court, Bennie Rison, Rayna Rison’s father, told Jason: “When you kill someone, you don’t just kill that person, you kill an entire family.“
Jason’s lawyer later appealed many times but was rejected.
