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The 48 Hours episode this week explores the story of Aaron Friar and his daughter Ellie Friar, who disappeared from their Medford residence on October 2, 2017. When authorities reached the crime scene, they discovered patches of blood splattered on the couch and the ceiling.
Without any trace of the body, the case could not be concluded as a murder. However, four hours into the investigation, authorities tracked down 48 Hours subject Ellie Friar with two men named Russell Jones and Gavin MacFarlane.
The complete story behind the disappearance of Aaron Friar is documented in the 48 Hours episode titled First Love, Then Murder. The episode was released on April 19, 2025. The 48 Hours episode is available for streaming on CBS and Paramount+.
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What happened to the 48 Hours subject, Aaron Friar
As reported by CBS News, Aaron's second daughter, Sierra Friar, revealed she heard her father screaming around 5:30 am on October 2, 2017. Sierra revealed that around 6:15 am, when she went outside the room, she couldn't find her father and elder sister, Ellie Friar.
When Sierra asked for help, she was taken to her mother's house, a couple of blocks away in the Medford neighborhood. It was Aaron's ex-wife, Maggie Friar, who made the emergency call around 7:00 am in the morning.
When authorities from the Medford Police Department reached the crime scene, they found patches of blood splattered on the ceiling and walls. Additionally, a visible trail of blood was detected. It started from the front door and went to the alley, through the back door.
At the point where the blood trail ended, some fresh tire marks were discovered. As reported by CBS News, the case was assigned to the Major Assault and Death Investigation Unit. During the investigation, Sierra revealed to Detective Shannon Reynolds that she saw 48 Hours subject Ellie Friar's boyfriend outside the residence from her bedroom window.
As reported by CBS News, the boyfriend, Gavin MacFarlane, was strictly not allowed at the Friar residence. Aaron had prohibited Ellie from meeting MacFarlane.
When investigators started looking for 48 Hours subject Aaron, they found his vehicle around 9:52 am, about five miles away from the residence. Authorities discovered that there was blood on the carpet inside the car's trunk, as well as on the rear bumper.
Investigators found the 48 Hours subject Ellie Friar
As per CBS News, around 10:48 am the same morning, investigators found Ellie Friar a couple of miles away from the residence where she was reported missing.
The 48 Hours subject was walking on the street with her boyfriend Gavin MacFarlane and his friend, Russell Jones. The three of them were detained and brought in for questioning.
As reported by CBS News, Russell Jones was interrogated by Lead Detective Bill Ford. Reportedly, Detective Bill went for a cigarette break with Jones and described him as having an easy-going nature. Reportedly, in an hour of conversation, Jones agreed to lead them to the location where the remains of 48 Hours subject Aaron Friar were disposed of.
As reported by CBS News, Russell Jones led the investigators to a secluded highway 20 miles away from the Friar residence. The body of Aaron Friar was wrapped in a green tarp over a blanket.
A baseball bat with patches of blood was found stuck in a tree near the scene. As reported by Oxygen, upon autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.
As reported by Oxygen, when the 48 Hours suspects were questioned about their involvement in the murder, the three had their separate stories. Ellie Friar claimed that the 48 Hours subject, Aaron Friar, was controlling and abusive to her.
“My dad is very abusive. Verbally. Emotionally. And a few times, when I did something that he didn’t like, he would grab me right here [indicating throat] and he’d pin me against the wall,” Ellie said during the police interview.
As per Ellie, she was planning to run away from the house, and the other two suspects were on their way to get her. However, as claimed by Ellie, Jones entered the residence and killed Aaron with a machete.
The police declined to believe her story. As per Lead Detective Bill Ford, Ellie had equal involvement in the murder. The prime motive was for Ellie to stay with her boyfriend, Gavin MacFarlane.
Reportedly, when Russell Jones was brought in for questioning, he shifted the blame to Gavin MacFarlane. As reported by Jones, it was MacFarlane who used a baseball bat to beat Aaron Friar to death.
“He [MacFarlane] goes into the living room, beats the crap out of the guy. I walked through the front door, and I see [a] dead body,” Jones said in a taped police interview.
As per Oxygen, Russell Jones said that he only helped Gavin to dispose of the body. As per his story, they wrapped the body, loaded it into the car trunk, and then disposed of it near the secluded highway.
As reported by Oxygen, when Gavin MacFarlane was questioned about his involvement in the murder, he revealed that Ellie was pregnant. As reported by MacFarlane, he came to know about the pregnancy two weeks back and also discovered that Aaron was abusive to her.
“That’s what set me off. I was just really angry at that moment…the anger had just been building up because of the things that Ellie had been telling me,” Gavin MacFarlane said.
Gavin revealed that the murder was Ellie's idea. As reported by Oxygen, MacFarlane bashed Aaron Friar with the baseball bat multiple times. However, upon interrogation, authorities discovered that Ellie Friar was not pregnant, and there was no evidence of Aaron being abusive with his daughters.
All three 48 Hours suspects were found guilty of their involvement in the murder of Aaron Friar. As reported by CBS News, in October 2018, Gavin MacFarlane was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
In January 2019, Ellie Friar was sentenced to 25 years for plotting the murder of her father. And in August 2021, Russell Jones accepted the guilty plea for his involvement in planning the murder. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Check out our other articles to learn more details about the 48 Hours episode titled First Love, Then Murder.
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