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Sarah Pryor was just nine years old when she disappeared from her neighborhood in Wayland, Massachusetts, back in 1985. One October afternoon, the little girl ventured for a walk and never came home.
It wasn't until nearly a decade later, despite a huge search effort and years of investigation, that a fragment of her remains was found and brought some closure to the devastated family. But the question of who was responsible for her death has never been definitively answered.
This week's episode of Investigation Discovery's Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior, titled, Michele, revisits Sarah's case as it delves deep into the dark and disturbing world of Hadden Clark, a convicted killer who said he was responsible for Sarah's murder.
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But even with a confession from Clark himself, the mystery surrounding Sarah Pryor's death has remained open, leaving her family and the public in search of an answer. The episode is set to air on September 2, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
The disappearance of Sarah Pryor and the recovery of her remains
On October 9, 1985, Sarah Pryor started a walk from her Wayland, Massachusetts home that should have been routine but never returned. The Pryor family had recently relocated to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania, and Sarah Pryor was described as anxious to get acquainted with her surroundings.
She did not return home. Her family grew extremely worried as the hours ticked by and Sarah failed to turn up. An extensive community search campaign was mounted. Nothing was found of her, however, until nearly ten years later when a man walking his dog in a wooded area near the Pryor home discovered a fragment of a human skull.
In 1998, after being subjected to comprehensive testing, using newly developed DNA technology, the remains were identified as belonging to Sarah. The finding, although heart-wrenching, proved to be an important clue to a cold case.
The suspected involvement of convicted killer John Whirty
After Sarah's disappearance, several individuals emerged as potential suspects in her disappearance, including convicted killer John Whirty, on parole at the time. Whirty had been convicted previously for violent crimes against young girls, which included kidnapping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Texas.
Witnesses were able to place him near the general area where Sarah was last seen, thus raising suspicions that Whirty might have been involved with her disappearance. Despite the criminal history and all of the circumstantial evidence stacked against him, law enforcement officials were not able to charge Whirty with the murder of Sarah because of a lack of concrete evidence.
Whirty later returned to Texas and was convicted again for another murder in 1986 that kept him behind bars. Sarah's family opposed his parole every time, knowing he could be the one who murdered their daughter.
Hadden Clark's chilling confession and the ongoing mystery
Years later, another potential suspect who emerged in the murder case of Sarah Pryor was Hadden Clark, a convicted serial killer. Clark had been convicted of two other murders and had a notorious history of aberrant behavior as well as mental instability. In 2000, Clark said he killed Sarah Pryor and described how he allegedly coaxed her into his car and then disposed of her body.
He even took authorities to a site where he said he buried her remains; however, nothing new was found in that search. Instead, the bucket was found filled with jewelry, which further complicated the case. Though he had confessed to the crime, many including Sarah's family, still doubt his involvement in the case.
The police authorities were not able to corroborate his confession with any physical evidence, and the case is still officially unsolved.
The disappearance and subsequent murder of Sarah Pryor form part of those haunting mysteries that have left her family and the community wondering where justice is after such a long period. Despite the confessions of a convicted killer and years of investigation, no one was ever formally charged with her murder.
Revisiting Sarah's tragic story, Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior brings back the memory of unresolved pain regarding cases like hers. The attention from the show could bring renewed focus to her case, but for those who loved her, the hope for definitive answers about her disappearance remains as strong as ever.
