MURDER
CASE #: 1985-20
Sarah Elizabeth Pryor
Status:
Open
Date of Offense:
Date of Offense:
Jurisdiction:
Offense Location:
Wayland, Massachusetts
Summary:
Sarah Pryor was nine years old when she was abducted while walking near her home in Wayland, Massachusetts in 1985. For thirteen years, her disappearance captivated headlines and her small town. In 1998, it was announced that her partial remains had been identified through DNA tests. For years, police suspected a convicted murderer was behind Pryor’s death but he has since passed away. No criminal charges have ever been filed in Sarah’s murder which remains unsolved.
Vital Statistics
Circumstances of Offense:
Sarah Pryor was last seen in Wayland, Massachusetts on October 9th 1985. She left her home located at 135 Concord Road just after 4:00 pm, telling her parents she planned to take a long walk through the woods near her home. Sarah was known to walk along a bicycle path in the woods near her house before and after school. When she didn’t return home for dinner, her parents called the police at 6:30 pm to report her missing. An extensive search took place for Sarah but no trace of her was ever found. Police looked into the possibility that Sarah was homesick and had attempted to travel back to her old neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her family had moved to Wayland on August 28th after Sarah’s mother accepted a new job offer. Her old neighborhood was searched but no evidence was found to support this theory. Sarah’s family felt she had gotten lost in the woods since she was still unfamiliar with her new neighborhood and surroundings. However, police and her family now believe she was abducted by a stranger while she was walking alone that evening. Some witnesses reported seeing Sarah walking in the area at 4:15 pm, others who were in the area a half hour later did not report seeing the girl. Multiple leads and sightings from around the globe were looked into but none of them ever led to Pryor.
Additional Details:
In April 1995, a man was walking his dog through the woods in Wayland when they discovered the fragment of a human skull. The area was located approximately 4 miles south from Sarah’s home. In late 1997 DNA tests confirmed the skull belonged to Sarah Pryor, ending the twelve year long search for her. Police believe Sarah was abducted and murdered on the same day she disappeared in 1985. The primary suspect in her death is John Whirty, a Massachusetts native who was convicted of attempting to kidnap a young girl a month after Sarah’s disappearance. Whirty was previously convicted of killing fifteen year old Rose Marie Martin in Dallas, Texas in 1967. He was out of prison on parole when Sarah Pryor went missing and he was known to be in Wayland on the day in question. He is also a suspect in the disappearances of seventeen year old Catherine Malcolmson who went missing two months before Sarah did. Whirty died while in prison in 2022 and continuously denied being responsible for Sarah’s death. He is still considered a chief suspect in the case. The murder of Sarah Pryor sadly remains unsolved as of 2025.
Case Last Updated:
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