Shari Lynn Roth

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2:18Today I'm discussing the case of Shari Lynn Roth. In August of 1977, 22-year-old Shari set out for a short hike in New Hampshire's White Mountains, and never made it home. Nearly 50 years later, investigators have released brand new photos, and are asking for the owner of a Volkswagen Beetle parked near the trail that afternoon to come forward. This is the case of Shari Lynn Roth. It's about 7 o 'clock on Sunday night, August 21st, 1977, and 22-year-old Shari Lynn Roth was supposed to be at the teen drop-in group that she helped create at the Conway Recreation Center. But 7 o 'clock comes and goes, and Shari never shows.

3:08Her roommates knew that Shari left their Mason Street apartment earlier that day for a short hike near Sawyer Pond, but she should have been back by now. And because missing that program was so unlike her, one of her roommates called Conway police and reported Shari missing immediately. And luckily, they were quick to act. Police sent out an alert describing Shari as 5 feet 8 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. And officers began looking for both Shari and her Saab. It's a Swedish car. Not long after, a New Hampshire state police trooper found Shari's Saab in a parking area off Route 302.

3:47This is near the north entrance to the Sawyer Pond Trail, but Shari was not with her vehicle. Of course, at this point, investigators focused the search on the forest around the Sawyer Pond route. The Carroll County Sheriff's Office, the United States Forest Service, New Hampshire Fish and Game, local rescue personnel, and civilian volunteers all joined in this effort. Now, the reporting I found places the number of searchers somewhere between roughly 50 and 200. So this was a huge effort. And it mattered because this was not an easy place to search. While luckily the weather was favorable, dense tree cover can make daylight really just disappear in this area, while uneven ground, water, brush, and the environment changes with every step.

4:32In a landscape like that, someone can be close to a trail and still be hidden from view. So searchers spend all of Monday and Tuesday looking for Shari. Then, at around 12.30 on Wednesday afternoon, August 24th, a volunteer searcher noticed something off the trail. About 50 feet from the path, near the halfway point to Sawyer Pond, that searcher found Shari. She was deceased and unclothed. A later autopsy determined that Shari had died from asphyxiation due to strangulation, and investigators believe she was killed on Sunday afternoon in the place she was found. Reporting from 1977 described evidence suggesting that Shari had been sexually assaulted, but more recent reporting doesn't confirm that detail, so take that for what you will.

5:23It really seems that investigators are and always have been pretty tight-lipped about Shari's case. We don't have a lot of information about the scene, including whether Shari's clothes were ever recovered, what biological or trace evidence was collected, whether fingerprints were found in her car or at the scene, and what might still be available for modern testing. But what we do know is that for roughly three days, the scene had been exposed to the elements. That means rain, heat, animals, insects, and just ordinary foot traffic could have altered or destroyed evidence. And of course, by the time that Shari was found, any witnesses who might have seen something had already left the area.

6:06After this, investigators did impound and examine Shari's sob. They looked for fingerprints and other potential evidence, but if they did find something, they're not telling the media that. Investigators asked everyone who'd been in the area between Saturday, August 20th and Wednesday, August 24th to contact state police, and although the Attorney General's office said that the public response was strong, no conclusive lead from those calls was announced. Police now knew where Shari's car was found and where she'd been killed, but they still didn't know who she met after leaving North Conway, or what exactly happened during the hours before 7 o 'clock.

6:49A crucial part of any murder investigation is knowing who the victim was, and it seemed that Shari didn't really have any enemies. By the summer of 1977, she'd already built a life around helping other people and spending time outside. Shari grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts, where she attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. She later attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst before graduating from Syracuse University in 1976 with a degree in social sciences. During college, Shari began volunteering as a counselor for incarcerated women. According to reporting by Joanne DeBoer for Middlesex News, one of the women that Shari was working with was pregnant, and Shari really wanted to care for her baby until she was released.

7:36But when Shari's parents said that they just weren't comfortable with that arrangement, Shari found someone else who could take care of the baby. She then later helped the mother pursue college, and according to that article, the mother named the baby Shari. After college, Shari carried her love of the outdoors west, spending a summer working as a guide at Olympic National Park in Washington State. There, she really fell even deeper in love with hiking, taking pictures, skiing, bicycling, and canoeing. So when the summer ended, she continued those hobbies back in New England, and Shari was already planning a two-week camping trip to Wisconsin for later that summer.

8:16By December of 1976, Shari was looking for a home in the Mount Washington Valley, So she published an ad saying that she hoped to share a house or apartment with people interested in art, music, and taking pictures. Eventually, she found a place on Mason Street in North Conway with two roommates. Now, North Conway sits at the eastern edge of New Hampshire's White Mountains. People come from all over the world for the hiking, skiing, rivers, and just the amazing views across the valley. By August of 1977, Shari had lived there for about nine months, and was already becoming an active part of the community.

8:54While Shari waited tables and worked at a factory to pay the bills, she was still looking for a way back into counseling. So when a position opened up at the Mount Washington Valley Women's Health Clinic, she was the first person to apply, and before long, she was the clinic's full-time director. The clinic offered health and abortion counseling at a time when that work was extremely politically charged. 1977 was only four years after Roe v. Wade. Shari was also helping develop services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. She was also reportedly working to start a rape crisis center.

9:30And again, I really just want to emphasize that this was a time, especially in Massachusetts, when marital rape and domestic violence were really in a legal gray area. So while I think that most people listening today would understand that Shari was doing very important work, people in that area in that time period may not have agreed. But going back to the timeline, the teen drop-in program that Shari missed that Sunday night was another part of her work in the community. According to reporting, she and one of her roommates helped create that program at the Conway Recreation Center to give children and teens a place to gather and just someone to talk to.

10:09Friends and family have described Shari as level-headed, compassionate, and generous with her time. In that same Middlesex News article, one family member said that Shari was the only person he ever knew who truly lived every day of her life fully. But that also meant that Shari was extremely busy. By the summer of 1977, she was training an assistant to relieve some of that pressure, and whenever an afternoon did open up, she often spent it outside with her camera. And Sunday, August 21st, 1977 was one of those rare afternoons, so Shari decided to spend it in the White Mountains. She told her roommate she was going for a short hike in the Sawyer Pond area, then left the apartment.

10:52We don't know exactly what time she left or what she was wearing. What we do know is that Shari drove about 12 miles west from North Conway and parked her sob off Route 302 on Sawyer River Road, near the north entrance to the Sawyer Pond Trail. And at some point that afternoon, Shari was killed. Of course, the question was, was it a stranger, someone she knew, or someone who'd been waiting for an opportunity? This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by HERS. If you've tried everything to lose weight and still feel stuck, this summer can be different. Weight Loss by HERS is designed to support you in reaching your goals, with access to an affordable range of FDA-approved GLP-1 medications, including the WeGoV pill and the WeGoV pen.

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13:47At this point, you may be wondering if there are parts of the investigation that I skipped over, But as far as the public record shows, there's really not. Police organized a three-day search for Shari, examined the area where she was found, processed her sob, appealed to everyone who'd been in the area, and followed the tips that came in. By the following year, Attorney General Peter Heed said that every available lead had been exhausted. So unfortunately, it seems like the investigation fizzled out pretty quickly after it began. And I hate to say it, but at this point, all we're really left with are theories.

14:25So what happened to Shari Lynn Roth? Well, of course, one possibility is that Shari encountered a complete stranger on the trail. Sawyer Pond was a popular place on summer weekends, and investigators said that the trail was heavily traveled that weekend. North Conway also brought hikers, campers, and tourists. So somebody passing through could have been long gone before Shari was found on Wednesday. Now, investigators do believe that the attack happened about 50 feet from the trail, far enough into the woods that it may have gone unnoticed. But of course, the piece that we're missing here is how Shari got there.

15:03Did she step off the trail with someone she recognized? Did a stranger approach her asking for help? Or was she forced away from the path? We just don't know. That brings up another possibility. Someone Shari knew. Shari'd only lived in North Conway for about nine months, but during that time she worked multiple jobs and was very involved in her community. And here's where I kept going back trying to dig for answers in this investigation that just aren't there. I was trying to see if there was some type of sign of a struggle on the trail. That might give us some indication whether or not Shari was forced off the trail or whether she left it willingly.

15:44But again, that information just isn't available. I was also looking to see if anyone beyond her roommates knew where she was going, or whether anyone saw her leave North Conway. Of course, if the person responsible knew where she was going, they could have followed her. And I do think that Shari's work deserves another look. She directed a clinic that offered health and abortion counseling. She was helping develop a series of services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. That work could be polarizing, especially in 1977. But there was no threats against Shari, her clinic, and authorities have never connected her work to her murder.

16:23The elder reporting on this case suggesting sexual assault, of course, also raises the possibility that the attack was sexually motivated. But again, that's all we have there. I can't even confirm whether or not she was sexually assaulted. Shari's case is unfortunately another one of those cases where it feels like almost anything is possible. But as we discuss theories, I do think it's important to note here that Shari was not the only young woman killed while alone in New Hampshire around this time. And some of the most popular theories out there consider whether or not these cases are connected.

16:58So let's get into it. Just two weeks after Shari disappeared, 22-year-old Jacqueline Snyder vanished while sightseeing in Portsmouth. Her body was found 10 days later in a wooded area in Lee. Unfortunately, due to how badly decomposed her body was, we don't know exactly how she died. But authorities are treating her death as a homicide. And all we really have here is that the Attorney General's office said that it could see no logical connection between Jacqueline's death and Shari's. But there's one more case I want to tell you about. On October 24th, 1978, 27-year-old Catherine Milliken was photographing birds at a wildlife preserve in New London when she was stabbed more than 20 times.

17:43Catherine's murder also comes up when discussing Shari, and it was later included in theories surrounding the Connecticut River Valley killings. But again, nearly five decades later, no official connection has been established between Shari, Jacqueline, or Catherine, and all three murders remain unsolved. So what we have are a lot of theories without a lot of answers. But that doesn't mean that investigators had nothing. About two weeks after Shari was killed, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office asked to speak with the occupants of a red Volkswagen Beetle with New Hampshire plates. Witnesses placed the car near Sawyer Pond Trail at about 5 o 'clock on Sunday, August 21st.

18:26Now, as we've seen in other cases, officials stress that the people connected to the Volkswagen were not suspects. They may have been fellow hikers who just saw Shari, her Saab, another person, or another vehicle without realizing that any of it would later matter. But of course, identifying one car among thousands was an enormous task. According to a 1977 article in The Reporter, investigators plan to work through the state's registration records for red Volkswagen Beetles. But despite that massive effort, nothing publicly shows that investigators ever found the car. Whether Shari encountered a stranger, someone she knew, someone who was upset by her work at the clinic, someone who followed her, or just someone who saw an opportunity, another person may have witnessed one small part of what happened.

19:16And nearly 50 years later, investigators are still asking for that person to come forward. For decades, Shari's family and friends have kept her name alive. In 2004, long before a family could expect one social media post to reach thousands of people, they created a website that preserved articles, pictures, and a way for someone to share information. That website is shariroth.com. It's still up today. Of course, I'll have the link for you in the show notes so you can check it out yourself and support her family. Really? Unfortunately, that's pretty much where Shari's case is today. Her family created the website back in 2004, and they're still working for answers.

20:01We don't really know what evidence they have in the case, or whether any of it was retained for modern testing. But what grabbed my attention, what made me make this episode, was what I saw on August 21st, 2026, the 49th anniversary of Shari's death. That's when New Hampshire's cold case unit released brand new pictures of Shari, hoping to reach someone who remembered her or North Conway in the summer of 1977. The appeal asks to hear from anyone who hiked or visited the Sawyer Brook Trail, Livermore, Bartlett, or Lincoln between August 20th and August 24th, as well as anyone who lived or worked in the area that summer and remembers Shari or anything unusual.

20:46Investigators are also asking once again for the owner of that red Volkswagen Beetle to come forward. They're also urging people to search old hiking logs, journals, and pictures for references to the Sawyer Pond Trail or Mount Kerrigan area. It's been almost 50 years since Shari was killed, but investigators and her family are not giving up. In that appeal, Shari's family described her as a gentle flower waiting for the sunrise, and they shared the word she lived by. quote, you can't change the world, but you can change your corner, end quote. They asked anyone with information to change their own corner of the world by finally doing the right thing.

21:31Which brings me right to our call to action. Please share Shari's case and these new pictures. If you or someone in your family, somebody you know, spent time around the North Conway or Sawyer Pond area in August of 1977, please look through old hiking logs, journals, pictures, and just anything else that may be able to help place people or cars in this area. Shari's family has waited so long for answers. Someone out there knows something. It's beyond time that they do the right thing, come forward, and change their own little corner of the world.

22:16As a reminder, Shari Lynn Roth was 22 years old when she was killed on August 21, 1977, near Sawyer Pond in Bartlett, New Hampshire. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. If you have any information about the murder of Shari Lynn Roth, please contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at 603-271-2663. You can also submit tips directly to her family on shariroth.com. Her family is offering a$25 ,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her murderer. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

23:05Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show on your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice.

23:30Thank you.

24:09Welcome to the Secret After Show. The studio door is open and our emotional support puppies, Popcorn and Heber, are in the room. Now, before we get to the case, I did want to just tell you guys about some new initiatives with the podcast that you've already seen if you keep up with the feed. Of course, I'm talking about the Still Seeking Justice and the Next Chapter series. I recently just featured Bonnie, who is Danielle Bell's sister, for Still Seeking Justice to talk about all the updates in her sister's case and her new initiatives going forward. And just a few days ago, you saw a bonus feed drop for my Next Chapter series featuring Kara Robinson-Chamberlain.

24:51Now, these series are really just a way for me to reconnect with people on the show. Maybe provide some updates or some additional context around these cases. It was really something I felt like was missing out of this podcast. Of course I'm featuring these cases and I do update episodes, but I wanted to find a way to bring these people back on the show to speak for themselves instead of just telling you about the updates. So my hope is that I can do a few of these a year to just follow up with the people we talk about and make sure that they don't slip through the cracks. I think one piece that was missing when I was doing a lot of interviews for my sister's case was that follow-up.

25:29And it's not like I'm blaming the other podcasters, that's not what this is about. I really just wanted to follow through, like, on my own word to these families that I don't go away once the episode's finished. So I'm just really excited about these new initiatives, and I would love to hear your feedback. Let me know what you guys think, where I can improve, and how I can better reach you guys to listen to these updates. But let's go on to the case. I know this was a shorter episode, and I know how a lot of people feel about those, but I couldn't just leave Shari without an episode, not after seeing that update.

26:05There's something that, like, I literally was, like, bawling my eyes out when I saw it, right? Because there's something about not only a family, but investigators still holding out hope after almost 50 years. And I think it kind of chokes me up because like I'm at the 25 year mark with my sister's case and it feels excruciating. So encountering a case where they're dealing with double that amount of time just rips my heart out of my body and like shatters it to a million pieces. So when I saw that, I was like, I got to do it. I got to cover it. So I'm sorry it's a shorter episode, but Shari is important.

26:45Now, I do want to tell you guys about a lingering theory that I know is polarizing, but it is what it is, right? We're going to talk about abortion. Abortion is polarizing, I think, to this day, and really, of course, back in 1977. And here's why I didn't put more of it into the main episode, because I couldn't confirm that her clinic performed abortions. I couldn't find a definitive answer on that. Every description I found about her or the clinic just said abortion counseling. So it's just a little fuzzy. So I left it here for the after show. But I wanted to bring that up here because I do think it's important to talk about when we're talking about theories, right?