True Crime On This Day November 26th

November 26th

On November 26th in true crime, serial killer attack, mystery disappearance, cold cases, Holiday Inn arson, and the Brink’s-Mat Robbery.

1978

Ten guests were killed and 34 injured in a horrendous fire at a Holiday Inn in New York. The investigation found that it was arson and one of the only fires that killed ten or more people in the United States between 1934 and 2006. No suspect has been named.

1979

In St. Petersburg, Florida, 19-year-old waitress Sharon Anne Harrer disappeared. She had last been seen at the DJ’s Pioneer Club in Madeira Beach.

After leaving the club, she got into a Cadillac with a man who went by the name of Robert Crawford. Both the Cadillac and Harrer were never seen again.

Her family confirmed to the investigation that she was not the type to run off and always kept them informed of her whereabouts. Her disappearance remains a mystery, but she is suspected to have been the victim of foul play.

1980

Close to the Lielupe Train Station in Latvian SSR, a 27-year-old female was stabbed in the stomach but managed to fight off her attacker when witnesses ran towards them.

She had gotten into a conversation with serial killer Stanislav Ivanovich Rogolev, AKA: Agent 000, who became angered when she refused his advances.

Rogolev was caught in 1982 and subsequently sentenced to death. He killed 10 women and attacked a further 11 between 1980 and 1982

1981

In Goffstown, New Hampshire, 23-year-old Denise Beaudin vanished without a trace. She had disappeared unexpectedly with her then boyfriend Robert Evans, AKA: Terrance Peder Rasmussen, and her six-month-old daughter, Dawn.

Dawn has since been found and is no longer considered missing, but she was unable to shed any light on what happened.

In 1985, Rasmussen abandoned her under the name of Lisa, and she was put into foster care. Rasmussen was subsequently jailed for child abandonment.

He was paroled in 1990 and went into hiding. In 2002, he was arrested and charged with the murder of his most recent wife, Eunsoon Jun.

He was convicted of her murder and sentenced to 15-years to life in prison. Rasmussen died in prison in 2010 before further charges could be brought against him.

It wasn’t until 2014 when a DNA database matched Lisa to a cousin of Beaudin. She then confirmed her name had originally been Dawn but had no memory of her mother.

In 2017, Rasmussen was connected to five more murders and is suspected to have been involved in numerous missing persons cases.

It is alleged that he killed Denise Beaudin and dumped her body somewhere between New Hampshire and California. Her disappearance remains unsolved.

1982

In Los Padres National Forest, California, 20-year-old Peter Laan disappeared while hiking in the region. He had been dropped off by his father at Toland Road just before noon, on the edge of the forest, but was never seen again.

Police and investigators launched a large search of the forest and mountains that lasted eight days but there was no sign of him. He was known to have been an accomplished hiker who was rarely out of touch with his family.

Despite some investigators suspecting he had simply gotten lost, there are others who have long suspected foul play. No trace of Laan has ever been found and his case remains unsolved.

1983

At the Heathrow International Trading Estate, London, £26million ($40million USD) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash were stolen from a warehouse in the area.

It became known as the Brink’s-Mat Robbery due to the name of the warehouse at the time. The bullion was owned by Johnson Matthey Bankers Ltd, which controversially collapsed the following year after making large loans to fraudulent and insolvent firms.

The gang of six robbers used a security guard insider named Robert Black to gain access to the warehouse, where they poured gasoline over the staff and threatened to set them alight unless they revealed the combination of the vault.

The robbers had expected to find approximately £3million in cash but made off with an additional three tons of gold bullion.

One month later, one of the robbers, Brian Robinson, was caught when Black gave his name to investigators, believing he was protecting himself.

There was never enough evidence to convict Robinson of the crime. Another, Micky McAvoy was caught after he had melted down some of the gold and moved the proceeds through a bank in Bristol. Investigators discovered the large sums of money and arrested him.

In December 1984, McAvoy was sentenced to 25 years in prison for armed robbery. Black was sentenced to six years for aiding and abetting.

Only two of the people involved in the robbery have ever been convicted and only a small percentage of the gold bullion was ever recovered.

It is now believed that at least half of the gold had found its way back into the legitimate gold market. It has long been described as the crime of the century.

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