Cops seek living relatives of Chameleon Killer's young daughter whose body was stuffed in a metal drum and dumped in New Hampshire woods four decades ago - as police suspect her mother was one of her mass murderer father's victims

Mississippi police are asking for help tracking down relatives of a young girl who was murdered and stuffed into a 55-gallon metal drum left in the New Hampshire wilderness four decades ago, as DNA evidence shows she has ancestors in the South.  

In 1985 police discovered a metal drum holding the badly composed bodies of two women, and found another drum in the same area in 2000, holding two more bodies, outside Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire. 

Officials ruled all of their deaths a homicide. 

Three of the victims were identified in 2019 as Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch and her two young daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters.

Now police are asking for help in identifying the final victim, a young girl believed to be between two and four years old, found in the second drum in 2000. 

Her biological father is serial killer Terry Peder Rasmussen, according to a DNA analysis in 2016 and authorities say he is the primary suspect in 'Jane Doe's death.' 

New DNA evidence shows her mother has relatives in Pearl River County in Mississippi, prompting the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations to issue a plea for help in identifying her potential family members.

Authorities believe the little girl’s mother, who is unidentified, is likely another one of Rasmussen’s victims.  

Police are asking for help in identifying a young girl who was murdered and stuffed into a 55-gallon drum that was left in the New Hampshire wilderness and discovered in 2000. Police shared this artist rendering showing what the child looked like at the time of the murder between 1979 and 1981. A DNA analysis found she is the daughter of serial killer Terry Peder Rasmussen and her mother, who is unknown, has relatives in Pearl River County in Mississippi

The Bear Brook murders: In 1985 police discovered a 55-gallon drum holding the badly composed bodies of two women and found another one in the same area in 2000 holding two more bodies. Officials ruled all of their deaths a homicide. A view of one drum found near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire

A view of another metal drum in which Rasmussen's alleged victims were found above

Authorities believe Rasmussen’s daughter was between two and four years old when she was killed. She was likely born between 1975 and 1977 and was likely murdered between 1979 and 1981, police officials said. 

Rasmussen is suspected of killing at least six people across the US and is dubbed the 'Chameleon Killer' because he went by a series of aliases including Terry Peder Rasmussen, Robert T. Evans, Curtis Mayo Kimball, Jerry Edwards Gorman, Gordon Curtis Jenson, and Lawrence William Vanner. 

He died in a California prison in December 2010 at the age of 67 before he could be questioned about this girl's identity. 

The Bear Brook mystery was a cold case for years but is slowly being solved thanks to genetic investigations.

Rasmussen was identified as the killer in the case in 2017 and his victims were named in 2019, all except for this last Jane Doe.

The New Hampshire State Police partnered with the Genetic Genealogist Dr. Barbara Rae-Venter to help identify Jane Doe.  

The child and her mother could be the descendants of Thomas 'Deadhorse' Mitchell, who was born in 1836 or William Livings who was born in 1826. She’d be the fifth  or 6th great-grandchild of one of these men, authorities say.  

Mississippi authorities are asking for people to share the rendering of Jane Doe on social media and if possible for Mississippi residents to upload their DNA into GEDmatch or Family Tree DNA to increase chances of identifying the girl 

The victims: Three of the four victims found wrapped in plastic and placed inside the metal drums left in the New Hampshire woods were identified in 2019 Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch and her two young daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters

Honeychurch was killed along with her two daughters including Marie Elizabeth Vaughn . They were last seen in November 1978 in La Puenta, California when Marie Elizabeth was six

Honeychurch and her kids had no ties to Mississippi nor New Hampshire prior to going missing. A view of her youngest daughter found murdered Sarah Lynn McWaters above. She was just 11 months old when she was last seen in November 1978

'She had slightly wavy brown hair and stood approximately 3 feet, 3 inches to 3 feet, 9 inches tall. She had a slight overbite that may have been noticeable,' the news release said. 

She may have had anemia in her life, according to a bone analysis, and her DNA showed she is primarily Caucasian with a small amount of Asian, Black and American Indian ancestry. 

Mississippi authorities are asking for people to share the rendering of Jane Doe on social media and if possible for Mississippi residents to upload their DNA into GEDmatch or Family Tree DNA to increase chances of identifying the girl. 

'The idea is to get as close as we can to a living relative,' Associate Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin, who oversees the Cold Case Unit, said on the case.

Pearl River County is in southern Mississippi and borders Louisiana and has a popluation of 55,500. 

Authorities are hoping someone in Pearl River County will remember a woman and her young daughter disappearing in the late 70's. 

The analysis found that the young, unamed girl, was not related to Honeychurch or her daughters. 

Honeychurch and her girls were all last seen alive in November 1978 in La Puenta, California. They had no ties to Mississippi nor New Hampshire prior to going missing.        

Honeychurch was just 24 at the time and visited her family for Thanksgivng at her mother’s house where she introduced them to Rasmussen.

In 2003 Rasmussen pleaded guilty to murdering his then-girlfriend 44-year-old California chemist Eunsoon Jun, whose dismembered body was found in her Richmond, California home

She, Rasmussen and the daughters, who were then six and 11 months old, left the home after Honeychurch and her mother got into an argument and the family never saw the three ever again.

'It tore my mom up. She took the blame for her leaving. just hurts that she doesn’t know that it wasn’t her fault, that she left with somebody that was gonna be horrible,' Honeychurch’s brother David Salamon said to ABC’s 20/20 last year.  

Rasmussen has a lengthy criminal record. 

In 2003 Rasmussen pleaded guilty to murdering his then-girlfriend 44-year-old California chemist Eunsoon Jun, whose dismembered body was found in her Richmond, California home. 

Since 2017 he has been linked to several other crimes, thanks to DNA profiling.

If you are aware of a missing child or a missing child and mother from this time frame, please contact NH State Police at (603)MCU-TIPS or Sgt. Matthew Koehler of the NH State Police Major Crime Unit at (603)223-3648 or matthew.koehler@dos.nh.gov.