Man Dismembered After Open Marriage Gets Messy

When a person goes missing, there's usually some trail to follow, a message, a call, a clue pointing somewhere, but in the case of Ryan Zimmerman, there was nothing. The family really doesn't know much of anything except that the fact that his car was then found under suspicious circumstances. He seems to have vanished completely, and it's years before his family would ever find out what happened to him. Mercer County Sheriff's Office? I was just out walking my dog, and I came across some bones that looked to me to be human. Our detectives made a promise to the family that the Mercer County Sheriff's Office would do everything possible to get the answers on what happened. That we wouldn't just close this case, we wouldn't say it's too complicated because we felt that we owe Ryan's family answer. You asked if you were under arrest, you are going to be placed in a custody, you're going to be booked into there. The last time anybody in Ryan's family heard from him was in September of 2015, it's almost like he vanished into thin air. Back in 2015, 21-year-old Ryan Zimmerman is living in Columbus, Ohio after moving out of his parents' house in Kentucky months earlier, hoping to spread his wings and start his own path. At first, nobody is thinking of this as really even a missing person's case, Ryan's an adult, and he could certainly leave on his own accord. Ryan was at a point in his life where he was trying to figure himself out and what he really wanted to do. Ryan's mother and brother report that one day he just left home. But Ryan's disappearance isn't one that makes national headlines, and the first real sign that something's not quite right, it comes quietly in the mail. The following month in October, Ryan's father receives a piece of mail saying that the car Ryan had been driving, had been found abandoned with the keys inside, and that was taken to an impound lot. Ryan's father collects the car from Columbus PD, but months go by, no word on Ryan's whereabouts, there's no indication if he left voluntarily or if foul plays involved. When Ryan moved, he didn't tell his family where he was moving to, his dad said he did keep in contact with the family, and so after he goes missing, and the police really aren't actively investigating, the family takes it upon themselves to try to find their own answers. Ultimately, that was a dead end for them too, so the family essentially stops, trying to find out where Ryan is, figuring maybe he just doesn't want to be found. A few months after Ryan's disappearance, there's a break, but investigators won't be able to tie it to this case for another four years. On January 3rd of 2016, at 2.43 in the afternoon, a Mercy County citizen was walking her dog, just off of 127 at West Bank Park, and we received a call. Mr. County Sheriff's Office? Yes, I may be just totally off my rocker, but I was just out walking my dog, and I came across some bones that looked for me to be human. Three months after, the car was found abandoned. A woman is walking her dog, and stumbles upon what she thinks could be human remains, about two hours away from Columbus. I'm probably just being paranoid, maybe than not. Where did you find this at, ma'am? Right on call at her creek, I'm still walking my dog. Right on 127, okay. We'll probably just send somebody out there to take a look. Something to keep in mind about this area of Ohio, it's very rural. Grand Lake St. Mary State Park is in Western Ohio. It's alongside this massive man-made lake, and it's different. From other major cities in Ohio, it's quiet, it's isolated, it has a significantly lower crime rate than larger metro areas. We contacted Dr. Elizabeth Murray. She is a forensic anthropologist, and she examined the bones, and she was able to confirm for us that they were human skeletal remains. At that point, we did a three-day search at that site. So now that it's conclusive, that these are indeed human remains. Investigators need to figure out how this person died, and maybe more importantly, who are they? The University of North Texas was able to extract a full DNA profile. We firmly believe that our remains were the victim of violent death, and I really want to find out who did it and hold them accountable for what they did. And finally, June 1st, 2020, investigators officially identify the remains as Ryan Zimmerman. It takes so many years for his parents, for his family to be alerted. It took all that time to be able to identify him, and that's really where the investigation begins. Once they've identified Ryan, then the police start looking at all of the pieces to this puzzle, the possible circumstances around his homicide, and who might be involved. Detective Buckner, can I help you? My name is Warren Zimmerman, and Detective Cameron seemed to me this morning and told me some said news about my son. Yes, sir. I'm sorry to hear about that. We know when this when this happened. We got a call on January 3rd of 2016. Okay. A female was walking in the area, just south of the city of Selina, which was our county seat. Here in Mercia County. Is it far from Columbus or is it a couple hours, about two hours? Oh, because the last I won, he was living in some part in an apartment in Columbus. So we did a multiple day search of the area. It's kind of a waterway is where he was found. It doesn't appear that he had been buried there or anything like that. It seems like he would place there. After a thorough search of the area, it was determined that there were several parts of the body that were not accounted for, such as the head, the arms below the elbows, and the legs below the knees. It was obviously there was foul play involved. Okay. It was also discovered that he had been dismembered. He wasn't missing in September. He did. And I didn't know until I colder when I received the 2015 or I received a certified water in the mail saying that my car has been impounded in Columbus by the Columbus Police Department. Well, I went up there and got the car on the end pound. The only thing that was gone was the license plate was missing. The location was right in the intersection, like a block and a half for more of the apartments where he was staying. Ryan's family never got rid of the car. In fact, they kept it intact. But the problem is back in 2015, Ryan's car was never processed. The investigation that Columbus PD did do, it didn't lead anywhere. I started knocking on doors around here and two of the neighbors remember there was a black tow truck. They dropped the car off there and left. There was a guy, a white couple, a guy and a female. And about a half hour later, Columbus Police Department came. Ryan was a bit of a loner. He had friends, but not many. Didn't have a great experience in childhood. But he enjoyed playing video games. He was not very popular at school. He was bullied. And he had a few friends, but not a lot. So Ryan wasn't somebody who really knew the ways of the world yet. There's really sick people in this world either. I'm just faking them. But I just know now that no one can hurt him anymore. He got many pounds. Now days after this initial phone call with Ryan's parents, Vicki and Warren Zimmerman, investigators from Mercer County, Ohio go to visit them and Kentucky to speak to them in person. And this is the first time in years that they are forced to revisit memories that are now tied to a homicide investigation. So all these years, we kept thinking that we're hoping and trying to do something without enjoying life. He was so close to Ray, his brother, the college, the one brother. And you know, you just know that you wouldn't go that long without calling a son. When he was saying that he was going to leave, did he end up keeping a friend? He wanted to go see you or anything like that? Yeah, he said he was going to go see a friend in Ohio. And he was going to stay with him for a while. That's all I do. The last message Ryan's family receives from him is a Facebook message. And this is on September 25, 2015. This is almost the exact time that Ryan disappeared. So, it's pretty hard to identify whether or not that message really came from Ryan Zimmerman or from someone else trying to give the illusion that Ryan is still alive and well. I told him when I got up there, that talked to a guy next door. He was, "Yeah, man, I remember him. I remember a guy." And it was with some white chicken ahead, long hair on one side and the shaved head on the other side. And that's all he knew because I hadn't seen him in about three weeks. When I was first reporting him missing, we were able to go through his drop box. What I forwarded to the Teachtas and Columbus was a conversation between a guy that did those comments. But down here, it says, "Could be the Laurel Emerson?" Yeah, it was two names on the Laurel. I think that's his actual name. And he got his quarry, which one of those two names is his actual name. That's kind of why we're kind of intrigued with the computer idea to see what else we could pull because I think that would be a good starting point. I guess, give the idea to even go that way. You know, is there any understanding as to why he would have, you know, traveled to Columbus or who, specifically, on how he got connected to that? Was it through a gaming? Was it Craigslist or something, or could it go Craigslist? He would go out Craigslist a lot to look for gaming systems. So Ryan's computer was actually located inside the vehicle back when it was found. Ryan's dad Warren did some digging of his own through that computer and Ryan's online accounts. Ryan was a gamer. A lot of times you play online. You talk to hundreds of people sometimes in a month. So at this point, the list of suspects is wide open. In the messages, Ryan's dad noticed that he was communicating with someone and Ryan was starting to explore his sexuality and was starting to think about possibly transitioning from male to female and was posting ads online to find like minded people. They have to work backwards. Who was Ryan communicating with online? Who did he go to live with in Ohio? Those names, Corey Laurel, those could be key in figuring out what happened to Ryan. He was talking to some folks online. Any investigator I know would have had the bell go off and say this is where I'm going to start. Police go through all of Ryan's digital information, all of the data that they can find. And Ryan was quite active on social media. You're dealing with multiple people, multiple platforms. In addition to, time has elapsed. The likelihood of success is next to none. Key word searches. And then let's look at the flavor of these conversations. We start to then identify where is the most consistent, the most comprehensive and who is still actively involved in the conversation. We start wide and we narrow our focus. So some good old fashioned detective work, starting with an examination of digital evidence, lead the police to an apartment complex in Ohio. Law enforcement reached out to the apartment complex to find out anything they could. So things started to come together. They're given names, which is Corey and Sarah buzzard, a married couple who had lived in a unit there at the complex, which ended up matching some of the communications that Ryan's dad found on the computer. The conversation that they were having was one in which Corey was inviting Ryan to come stay with him and his wife, Sarah, because they were looking possibly for a third person in their relationship. Had Ryan ever been in a relationship that you guys were aware of? No. So did he ever talk about this moral or Corey, what you will? I heard him. Sarah and Corey met when they were in high school, back in Indiana. They got married when they were just 18. And then Corey followed Sarah to Ohio where she would pursue an art degree. Neither Corey nor Sarah had any history of criminal behavior or violent behavior. No brushes with the law. Jen had moved in with Corey and Sarah in July of 2015. And it seems that Sarah and Jen were having a very strong relationship. And I think that Corey then wanted to develop a relationship of his own. Ryan was essentially something that her husband wanted for himself, that he was the one that told him to move up there. Corey still lived in Columbus, Ohio. However, Sarah had moved to Indiana. They started looking at marriage licenses and find out Corey and Sarah have gotten divorced. And not only that, Sarah has gotten remarried to a new person named Jen. And so now we have a third person in the equation. So it turns out that Sarah buzzard actually lives in Marion, Indiana, which is just about an hour west of where Ryan Zimmerman's remains were found. But investigators still need to learn more about Sarah and her new wife, Jen. For the next year, detectives conduct surveillance on Sarah buzzard, Corey buzzard and Jen Whitaker, who also goes by the name Niro. Sometimes investigations, they move a little bit slower than we'd like. We think why does it take so long? Why would the police be observing them for such a long period of time? But what they're looking to do is gather as much information as possible, especially about the relationships, the behaviors. All of that information will be really incredibly helpful. They don't want to go in cold. So this is an information gathering stage that will prove helpful later on. Yeah, we need to talk with you about a case for work and I think you're just a witness to it, but your name has been brought up. Okay. So will you come down to headquarters with us? No, okay. Do you want to talk here? Is there a summons paperwork? No, no, no. On August 25th, 2021, investigators go to talk to Corey. Now at this point, Corey is remarried to another woman and they tell him that they think he may have been a witness to a homicide and they would like to talk to him. You're not in any trouble. I don't have an arrest warrant, nothing like that, Corey. Okay, we just want to talk with you because your name was brought up as a witness in a case on a homicide. A homicide? A homicide. I have not. I don't recall witnessing any homicides. Okay. Well, then it shouldn't take very long. You want me to come with you right now? Preferably yes. That way, we can just get this done and wrapped up and take care of. And we'll drive you there. We can drive you back. We'll make sure you get home. All right, give me a second. Immediately, he just becomes a little combative. He does not want to talk to investigators, very standoffish, not really willing to cooperate at all. Except Corey, can you talk to me through the door please? We're not going to go anywhere Corey. We need to talk. I'm not really comfortable with providing information without counsel. You don't even know what we're talking about yet. Oh, that's exactly like. It's about Ryan. I don't know who Ryan is. Ryan lived with you for a while. We're trying to figure out what's going on. Who may be last saw and where he went. That kind of stuff. I don't have any information for you. Okay, and I don't really know what to tell you about. Some of the questions is like, when did you last see him? Where did he go? I mean, that kind of stuff. How long was he with you guys? That kind of stuff. No, I have no idea what you're talking about. Okay, so you don't know Ryan? I don't. I say it all the time. Uncooperative is not a normal baseline behavior. To be uncooperative out of the gate is instantly going to tell investigators something's not right here. It doesn't mean that that's the potential suspect or offender. The person doesn't want to be involved. Does it want involvement? Well, they just involve themselves by being uncooperative. And we already have Sarah, we're talking to her now too. Sarah, believe your ex-wife. Okay, so we're talking to her as well. Okay, you want her to pretty much decide your fate here? Or do you want to decide? Right now, you kind of look like the bad guy. You don't want to talk to him. Everybody else wants to talk to him. Meanwhile, a state-over investigators are now moving in on Sarah and Janet, what they've determined to be Sarah's mother's house in Marion, Indiana. Look at for Sarah, couldn't step up for me. Well, I think you got a warrant. Uh, it's out of real high, I think, it's a theft warrant, I believe. Okay. All right, so go ahead and turn around, put your hands on your back for me. See you mouse in the house, would you? My mother and my wife. Sarah comes to the door, she says she just woke up, seems very confused about what's going on and they put handcuffs on her. So what? Oh, you got to tell your downtown. You all right? Yeah, I'm just really like Heather. Are you even sick or? No, just shocked. We never, we never did crack it, bruising. Her mom is there, trying to baby her daughter, law enforcement, lets the mom know she's an adult. We have a warrant for theft out of Ohio, we have to take her downtown. Meanwhile, Jen comes to the door and the police are interested in talking to Jen as well, however, they don't have a warrant for Jen's arrest. Is he a jettah? I'm Chris Namburg, I'm a look at how it's written Jen. We're all in a minute, we need to be more. Yeah, so, one, two, three. - Say you can kind of, you do not have any information. - We use, we have a search warrant for the residents too. - Okay, so we're not stepping outside. Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Zimmerman. Lift with you guys in Columbus in 2015. - With you and Sarah and Corey, he's missing. And you guys would like the last people to see him. - Well, there's another person there living with you at that point in time that came in, Emma. Yep, that's who we're talking about. - Yeah. - That was his name before Emma. - Something to note here. Ryan's parents had indicated that he was struggling with his gender identity. So he started using the name Emma when he moved in with these friends he met online. - For somebody like Ryan, who seemed to be very much an introvert, somebody who didn't really hang out in large crowds, it was a little bizarre that he had just up and moved in with people's states away that clearly he had never met in person. - What is the last time that you saw Emma? What's the last time you had a conversation with him? I wouldn't have wearing your left. What was that? 2015? Okay. Did he have a car or anything that he would have left with? Did he take the bus? Yeah, he had a car. You were with him and you were with Sarah at the time, right? And there was a relationship going on between Emma and Amy. I'm having Corey, Emma, and Sarah too. Okay. All right. And how was that relationship? I mean, was it a healthy relationship? It went to understand Emma was experimenting with different things. And we're not judges, but I'm interested in imagination. Our whole soul focus is, is to find out our, you know, Emma had a girlfriend. And his last contact with anybody was when he was with, with all of the United States. Corey responded to an ad. to an ad that Ryan had posted where he wanted to explore a sexuality. But it also seems to me like he wanted somebody who was already transitioning or had transitioned and wasn't just thinking about it. At some point, what happened? What made Emma to say to Lee? The way I remember it, Lee. I'm gonna stay in there for a while. Cory, I feel like he regretted it. Was it not what Cory thought it was gonna be? Yeah, a lot. What happened from there? I mean, those two just weren't hitting it off? No. Maybe they wanted to be, like, what's more, that 40 was under the impression that they were, like, more alone in the version. OK. But I don't think that was the case at all. So speak up, speak up. You know, the way Dad described it was, he was very much so prudish, you know, kind of kept himself wasn't really in trouble, you know, wasn't out there really testing the limit. And then he starts to question himself as to, is this the way I see myself? Not just in terms of his sexual orientation, but I think just in life, is this where I see myself? What does this have to do with that? I have his parents, you know, declared him missing. And we're just, we had some other evidence that kind of came up and we're trying to we know where he was last that was that the apartment right and then the car was recovered stolen by Columbus PD. Was there like a lot of arguing in the house before and left between Sarri? worry. Okay. Do you recall what that was about? So you have a convoluted situation of a marriage where both partners are having affairs on each other knowingly and with consent. And Ryan is in the middle of all of this. And so were they trying to get M out of the house? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It got really uncomfortable. So I guess how were you guys trying to get M out? I'm encouraging to find somewhere else to move. How was Cory's demeanor, I guess, after M would have left? do you do you remember when M left? Do you know does she tell anyone any of her plans of where she's going to go what she's going to do? Don't know. Okay. Back then it's not what everybody thought it was going to be with them. Yeah. And then the pressure was on for him to leave and him didn't want to leave. I don't know about it. So you have to start figuring out did they have something to do with with his disappearance and his murder? Or are we looking at somebody completely different? - The Cory, happy you guys, get rid of his issue. Emma's not what he expected. The selfies didn't show what Cory had wanted. Comes up, Emma's completely shy, reclusive, nothing. What Cory expected. Cory and Sarah were fighting a lot over it. Let's just get rid of the problem. - Sure. - Can I get you to stand up for me, hunge? All right, do you have anything on you that's gonna stick me, so I hope not. - I'm sure this is the last thing you wanted to do today. (gentle music) - We're looking into a situation back when you lived in Columbus, okay? And about what time frame did you live in Columbus? 'Cause did you, I went for college. - Okay, so it happened to be 2010, okay? and then I was there for a few years after I graduated. Detectives in this case use a tactic where they interview two potential suspects at the same time. So you have a better chance at getting the truth or getting someone to spill some information because they don't know what the other person is saying. She's very soft-spoken and seems calm at the same time she seems nervous, which is interesting to me. She doesn't start shaking, she doesn't start freaking out or raising her voice or getting combative. So at that point, I started to wonder, did she really think this was just for a theft? And as the interview progresses, you start to see Sarah get a lot more nervous. Like maybe this isn't just a theft because she knows, in her mind, the other elephant in the room, which is Ryan Zimmerman. - Did you have a roommate, my husband at the time? Did you ever bring any roommates in anything like that? At my very last apartment, they were a friend of Corey's. They didn't have much to do with them. - Okay, and who would the friend have been? I don't remember what their real name was, but we referred to them as Emma. Don't I want you to know about Ryan? Or Emma, it's a little bit of a tudgy subject. My husband at the time had sexual interests. Corey had this ideology that a perfect relationship required three people and the whole reason that he got in contact with Ryan was to make him that third person, but I obviously didn't agree with that. They had talked online extensively and he had invited them to come stay with us. which I did not want to happen but long story short it did so they drove under the agreement that they would pay part of the rent and within I think I gave them three months that they would find a job and find their own choice which did not happen. So Corey ended up asking him to leave which he did because I guess he found a new boyfriend or something and had mentioned that he might move in with them or at least see how things went. That's as far as I know. A lot of times we see people start to get defensive or get very verbal or immediately start talking about the issue at hand without being solicited by law enforcement and that was something she didn't do. So she told the framework of the story that connected everybody together but there was much more to the story. Were you there whenever Emma did leave? What? I know that they had tried to plead with me to give them another chance but I said that I had already given too many chances and that it was Corey's call ultimately and I remember them packing and either I went to the store, I was in a different room, I don't remember. I just, I can't quite remember who was all home at that time. I was, Corey was not and then my girlfriend was over. I just knew that one minute Emma was there and then the next he had just left. Somebody pulled up and he got in the car and drove off. I thought that he might come back because he did leave his car but he didn't come back and then we didn't hear from him again. What Corey say about it? Something to the effect of the good riddance I think. Yeah, four individuals, Corey and Sarah by this point separated. Corey and Jen didn't really get along, Ryan didn't get along with Corey, Jen or Sarah. They're living in close quarters. There's a lot of complex relationships, tendons were running high in this apartment. You mentioned that he was pleading with you to give him another chance or what, have you tell me more about that? He was crying and I, I know he said I'm sorry but that Corey ultimately makes the, the call and if he says that you need to go, I have to agree and then I asked him if he had anywhere else to go, which is when he mentioned that there was someone else that he had met and was getting close to. Did that get a little heated? Didn't want to leave, obviously. He did, like the, our initial conversation, I was calm, he was upset, there was no shouting or anything like that. Didn't get physical? No, not at all. So tell me about the day, what you can recall about when, when Ryan left. And I were in the kitchen having coffee or a whiner or something or sitting at the kitchen table and Ryan came downstairs with his bag, we kind of awkwardly had to chat. And then a car pulled up in front of the apartment and then he said goodbye and left without any fuss. The question comes back around to Ryan's car and Sarah, who's charged with theft of the vehicle, had no reason to be driving the car yet gives this lame story, which would explain in a way any possible forensic evidence left behind. What kind of car did he have or what color, anything like that thing? I know it was an older car, maybe a dark red, like a room. Okay. That's all like a room. Have you ever ridden in it? Yes. Did he come back to get it? I know that it disappeared. I don't know what happened to it, though, so I don't know if he came back to get it. Did you ever have any contact with Ryan after he left? Not at all. Back at the house, the conversation with Jen ramps up. That's because investigators have something up their sleeves. Information, they have been keeping to themselves this whole time. We're trying to find Emma and we were somewhat successful in that. Wait, what? Somewhat. Whatever happened to Emma happened in the apartment, where you guys stayed at. So it's up to you at this point to help yourself out and be honest with us and give us whatever you can give us because we need to find out what happened to Emma so we can give his family some peace. We've recovered evidence from the apartment. We recovered evidence from Sarah's car. Yes. And Emma's body. Here's the bottom line. Was it an accident? Was it something that went south? And then it's like, "B*tch, now what do we do?" Okay, we can't. He's dead. It was a sex game that went bad. Or you guys found him and something else happened and then you did this. So, suspicion of wanting to come on you, we need you to fill in the gaps. What went south? This is a f*cking behavior dream. And this is why Sarah's being interesting. No way. No way she has anything to do with any of that. What she did. No, there's no way. Everybody's playing the hall. Yeah, no. Just nobody wanted this guy around anymore. It kind of got to be a burden having him in the house. There it was. He just went up and disappeared one day. Well, wait a minute. You go from living together one minute to not living together in this, but nobody knows or even cared to ask where this guy go as he coming back. So I think that automatically, you know, your experience as an investigator is going to tell you somebody's not telling us the whole truth, that's to what happened here. And this is where cold, hard evidence comes into play because the investigators, they've already done their homework. They found a fair amount of blood. It seemed to indicate that there was a foul play that happened in that apartment. And it seemed to support the idea that possibly Ryan was murdered in the apartment. And not only were they able to find physical evidence in the apartment, at that point, Sarah had sold the car that she was driving, but they were able to track that car down. And sure enough, there was blood and biological evidence found in that car years later. When the police look through Sarah's phone and her search history, they find some alarming searches. In particular, she's got searches for jugular, she's searching how to start a Ford focus. And that happens to be the car that Ryan was driving. And then she's got this peculiar art piece saved and it's of a dismembered body. So I think there were some alarm bells going off her officers. The Google searches, the deep dives that we did, the stuff that she was then to at least, painting with blood, like into drinking the blood. And then the searches that she did on her Android phone, we knew that Sarah was researching frantically at 1 o'clock in the morning how to start the Ford focus. Interestingly, Ryan's car had this unique ignition system, this aftermarket mechanism that required a specific technique to start it. The car was dumped off a couple blocks from what the apartment was by a record because the car was not able to be driven. The license plate were stolen off the car and we've got Sarah on her Android phone who couldn't move the car, Emma's car. We're not asking you if you did it, we're asking you what happened there because you were there and what had happened. How did he die? I don't know. We're telling you that we know that you do. I know. I don't know. I see you want to put this all on Sarah. Your wife who's currently sitting in jail, there's no way that Sarah did this. You can't help us fill in what happened to Emma. She left. We know she left. How did she leave? Presumably. In the car. No. That's not in this. Not in her car. and not alive. - You're 99.9% there. I know your whole mouth. I don't know anything. The car when I earned a park buy in it. - I think that's a natural humor response. But it gets beneath you. - There was no (beep) murder. - Waiting on us. And she didn't confide in you about any of this. I mean, this probably has to hurt her. Having her husband at that time wanting to bring someone else into this relationship repeatedly. I wouldn't like anyone else coming in between my relationship. - It was her, I'm sure. - Okay, so what made her snap? - She did snap. - Was it self-defense? Did Emma do something? - I don't know. - Easier said than done to hold on to the emotion where you want to just jump across the table and say, we have all this already, right? Because you're only gonna get one chance at the person telling you. But at this point, they know what happened. They just don't know who happened, right? So what I mean by that. We don't want to then tell the wrong person we have all this and then squander our only opportunity as to identify and elicit that confession from the person. - I told you, bud, obviously chat with that Korean and we're having the forend came out here. And in these, he describes you. Any talks about you. - Oh boy. - Right, it's not flattering. Initially, he was calling you psycho girl. He said he was nervous about bringing Emma 'cause he said he wouldn't be very accepting of Emma. - I would be very excited. - Okay. - He said he would take matters into your own hands that you would hate Emma because he's still had his penis. - And from what we have read, the agreement between Sarah, 'cause Sarah communicated with Emma as well before they came out, right? 'Cause she wasn't all for it. So there were rules. So there's no intimacy. And then the other thing would have been, if Emma goes, you go. So if Emma leaves, that means you would have had to leave. - I was just aware of that. So when Corey comes back from his rendezvous, Emma's not there anymore. She's left on her own. You're safe to stay. - Oh no, I wasn't aware of it. As she goes, I know. - To the investigator's surprise, it is revealed that Corey was not home that weekend and that would later be corroborated by other parties as well. - Ultimately law enforcement cleared Corey. Sarah had dropped him off at a hotel in downtown Columbus. He had made arrangements to spend the weekend with a woman who came in from out of town. So he was out of the equation as someone who was involved. - What happened between you and Emma? - When Sarah doesn't work. - That's safe. - Something bad. - You left. - Yeah, he left just not on his own accord. Sarah's talking right now. I mean, Sarah's already phone it up to some of this stuff. Okay. - Is she really? - She is. - The conversation with Sarah back at the police department kicks into high gear. It has been hours since these interviews began and law enforcement is not playing around. - Sarah, I don't know if you know this or not, probably not, but you're talking to Jennifer right now. You're talking to your mom and also talking to Corey and Columbus. And there's major inconsistencies about the inconsistencies about this with your involvement with Ryan. And you know, Ryan is now deceased. He's been murdered. I need to know like really what happened here. I mean, this is a bad situation. We're able to track down your car. The one they used to own, the time of this incident. Something happened in that apartment, the weekend that you dropped Corey off with that girl in Columbus. You're gonna have to tell me your version of this and to see if it matches up with the evidence we have. - I'm not comfortable talking about this. - Well. - They already know. So they're waiting to see more and more and more as to now what are they going to tell us and compare that to what we know? - Was it an accident? - Yeah. - I don't know. I don't know what was an accident. - With Ryan? - I didn't even know that he was dead. - Sarah, come on. - We always know there's two sides to our side. - Always. - So this is your opportunity to give your side okay? I've said what I know. I'm Sarah Lloyd-Tragon, the top two. - Well, that's your decision. - I don't know what to say. - Is it true, maybe? - Later on in the interview, Sarah breaks down. - Sarah, look at me. I think you want to tell us the truth. Look at me. Is that correct? Just tell me what happened. I'm scared. I understand, I'm scared. - What happened? - I'm scared. - I'm scared. - Okay. - So the accident happened every day. - There was an angry, he was coming out of the pass and. I came up behind him. The late, full of no chokehold and no chokedown. He passed down. - Okay. - Typically they didn't like go. I don't know, it was too late. Just talk to me. And then if it wasn't for what to do. I'd never done anything like that. - Where was Sarah at the time? - She was downstairs. - What was she doing? Or did she hear the scoffer and the commotion? - Okay. Came up and then we had to figure out what to do. - What did we cut him up? - So where did you cut him up at? - Got him. What did you use? - Just kind of soft. - Who did the cutting? - It was me. - Then what happens? - We have to figure out where to put everything. We started driving and trying to get rid of little things at a time. On the road or is there special spots? - Some upstairs, couple of castations. Had you at any point told Corey what happened? - I just knew. - Okay. - And he had nothing to do with it. He didn't say, "Hey, I'm gonna go into the hotel for this weekend, take care of Ryan." Nothing like that. - Why were you so angry at him? What happened that you came up behind him? Didn't start a joke. - He ruined my life. - She really laid out how they were able to dispose of Ryan in several places to where it made it harder to find Ryan. In their mind, they had probably committed the perfect murder and would never be caught. - Got an update, Sarah just admitted everything. You helped dismember the body. She admitted to all of it. - Okay. - She's coming clean and you help dismember the body with her, I mean, she's trying to do the right thing. Why don't you try to do the right thing? - Why is the Sarah's the ring leader here? We've already established that. - She asked you to do something. You're gonna do it. - She's not a murderer. - She was in this case. - And her world's crashing down. - She's (beep) is. - Police have this three-hour conversation with Jen where they're confronting her with all of this information. Everything Sarah's told them. They're trying to get her to corroborate some of it, to admit to her involvement. But Jen never does. What she does ultimately though would shock everyone. - So I'm just gonna read your rights. Okay, we're gonna start with that. And then we can have a conversation. - I didn't know that he was dismembered until he told me. - Did you know he was dead? - Not until he was dead. - It wasn't he laughed and then hooked up with somebody who then did what they did to him. The only two people in that house on that weekend, which we know is when it happened or right around those days that Cory was gone, are you Ryan, Emma, and Sarah? - Continue first. - So Jen, like we talked about you asked if you were under arrest, you are gonna be placed in a custody and he's a detective with a city of Marion police department. You're gonna be booked into there. (gun firing) - Central 055. I need an ambulance at the shop's bar. How long's your hand but in that? (indistinct) - Jen pulls a firearm from her purse and shoots herself. She takes her own life. - I mean, there was no indication that there was a firearm in the house, just a situation where a lot of answers died with her that day, which I think in some ways are detrimental to really knowing the full story of what happened. - 055, do we have a victim? - Sarah tells the police that she knows why Jen died by suicide. She describes what she calls a suicide pact the two had. If they were to get caught, Jen would shoot Sarah, and then Jen would take her own life. So they are supposed to die by suicide together. But ultimately, Sarah decides that she's too afraid of death to partake in this alleged pact. Sarah buzzard is essentially the last person left standing to face justice for the murder of Ryan Zimmerman. She is facing multiple counts, murder, kidnapping, gross abuse of a corpse, but this case isn't quite over just yet. Aside from searching the apartment they all lived in as well as Sarah's car, they executed a search warrant on the home that Jen and Sarah were living in with Sarah's mother. And it was a complicated situation because clearly now you have someone who has killed themselves right there in the home. But at the same time, they're still looking for any evidence that ties Sarah and Jen to Ryan's murder. And sure enough, they find a piece of evidence that is so haunting and so chilling that I would imagine even seasoned investigators had a problem with. By this point, investigators have plenty of evidence to charge Sarah with this crime. They have the evidence from the apartment, they have the evidence from the car, they have her own statements that also match up with the other evidence that they found. Perhaps the biggest piece of evidence in this case was found when they did a search on Sarah's mother's home. Only part of Ryan's skeletal remains were found. The one thing that was never located was his head. But officers would discover that his head was in a super pot, in a box, in Sarah's mother's garage. This was a bombshell. These women have had the head all of these years. In fact, they traveled with them throughout several moves. At first, it was stored in the freezer in their apartment behind some frozen vegetables. Then as they moved around, they would take it with them. And it's unclear if they just didn't know where to dispose of it or if it was looked at as some sort of trophy. By December 2021, Sarah buzzer is facing the possibility of a death sentence. So she decides to take a plea. Pleads guilty to one count of aggravated murder for the killing and dismemberment of Ryan aka Emma. And now with this plea, the death penalty is taken off the table. As Sarah buzzer enters the courtroom for sentencing, she faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life behind bars. I accept her responsibility for the role I played in Ryan's death. And I will live every day the rest of my life attempting to redeem myself through positive action is indeed. To me, this seems like somebody who felt like this was warranted in her mind. And maybe the pain that she felt Ryan caused her was that justification. So in the end, it was going to come back on Sarah anyway with the physical evidence. She admitted to killing Ryan. But it's also very clear that one person could likely not dismember and do this alone. But in the end, I think she knew that time was up. She had gotten away with it for several years, but it was time to pay the piper. My kids will never know their uncle Ryan. They'll never get to talk to him and see the similarities that I see that they have with him. They'll never get to play those games with him. And they would have all blessed that so much. I was a bit shocked that, you know, she did what she did in terms of, you know, hey, I'll take the rat. But then I think that she wanted to avoid the death penalty and lo and behold was at least afforded that opportunity. Sarah buzzard is handed down a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years served. If you think about from the day Ryan Zimmerman was killed to when we got resolution in the case, from the secrets that were kept just between Jen and Sarah over the years to law enforcement working together to find this physical evidence. This definitely was a very egregious case. But in the end, it answered the question of what happened to Ryan Zimmerman and with that and the guilty plea, you hope that it gave his family the ability to be able to move forward. But it's a good reminder, don't judge a book by its cover. Because you never know what's lurking underneath. This case breaks my heart because at the end of the day, Ryan was a very young man who was just trying to figure out where he fit in this world and where he fit as a person. And there were people that took advantage of that who had way more experience in life than he did. [BLANK_AUDIO]