Do you know who murdered Sarina Towle? On the morning of March 25, 1994, a two-year-old girl named Sarina Towle was found dead by her mother, Loralee Meserve, in her bedroom. The family, including Sarina, her mother, two brothers aged four and nine, and her mother's boyfriend, Carl Bickham, lived in an apartment on Danforth Street in Portland, Maine. An autopsy would later reveal the horrifying truth that the little girl, whose nickname was "Pretty," had been beaten and sexually assaulted.
The medical examiner noted bruising on her genitals and marks of various ages across her abdomen, chest, arms, and legs. Police believed she died sometime after 11 p.m. the night before from multiple internal injuries sustained from blows to her chest.
The investigation into Sarina's murder immediately focused on the individuals who were in the apartment at the time of her death, as there were no signs of a break-in. Both Loralee Meserve and Carl Bickham told police they did not know how Sarina had died. Investigators interviewed around 20 people, but Meserve and Bickham were considered persons of interest. It was discovered that just three months prior to Sarina's death, Bickham had been indicted on charges of assault and criminal threatening in a case that involved a former girlfriend. Years later, in 2005, his name would appear on the sex offender registry in Dover, New Hampshire.
Despite the circumstances pointing toward someone inside the home, no arrests have ever been made in the case of Sarina Towle's death. Her homicide remains one of Portland's unsolved cases. Over the years, law enforcement has publicly stated that while they believe they know who is responsible, they have never had enough evidence to prove it in a court of law. The Portland Police Department continues to ask for the public's help, seeking any information that might finally bring justice for the little girl whose life was cut tragically short.
