In the fall of 1996, 16-year-old Sarah Hajney of McLean, New York, vanished on October 4 while house-sitting at her family’s home with a close friend, 16-year-old Jennifer Bolduc. The girls were reported missing when they didn’t show up for school; a subsequent investigation found that both had been kidnapped, tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered.

Neighbors identified John B. Andrews, who lived next door to the Hajneys, as the suspect. Authorities say Andrews dismembered the victims and scattered remains in wooded areas of Chenango and Madison counties. He was arrested and indicted on 26 counts, including murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse, but was found dead in his jail cell on November 2, 1996, having hanged himself with his shoelaces.

The killings devastated the nearby town of Dryden and remain one of the community’s most traumatic events. If anyone knew Sarah or Jennifer, or has information about what happened that October, please come forward.