S1: E12 – BFFs: The Disappearance of Sarah Stern, Part 1

Summary

American Homicide: S1E12 – BFFs: The Disappearance of Sarah Stern, Part 1

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Introduction

In the twelfth episode of the first season of American Homicide, journalist Sloane Glass delves into the mysterious disappearance of 19-year-old Sarah Stern from Neptune City, New Jersey. Hosted by iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts, this episode meticulously unpacks the events leading up to Sarah's vanishing, the subsequent investigation, and the unsettling revelations that emerged.

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Discovery of Sarah Stern’s Car

On the early morning of December 3, 2016, authorities were alerted to an abandoned Oldsmobile sedan parked atop the Belmar Bridge over the Shark River in Neptune City. A rideshare driver discovered the vehicle and promptly contacted emergency services.

[06:43] Sarah Stern: "I tried the house phone and her cell phone, and I wasn't getting anything through."

Upon investigation, police found no signs of a driver or passenger, with the keys left in the ignition. Surveillance cameras near the bridge were non-functional that night, and the only footage available from a nearby home security camera was inconclusive, capturing only Sarah’s car arriving and leaving their residence.

[15:29] Sloane Glass: "In the early hours of December 3, 2016, 19-year-old Sarah Stern's car turned up on a bridge near her home in Neptune City, New Jersey."

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Initial Investigation and Community Response

Michael Stern, Sarah's father, was away on vacation in Orlando when his daughter disappeared. Back home, he found Sarah missing from their household, with only their dog, Buddy, left locked in his cage—a security measure Sarah typically used when strangers were around.

[07:03] Sarah Stern: "We had no answers, no answers at all."

The community rallied together, organizing extensive searches across beaches, lakes, and marshy areas, but no trace of Sarah was found. The police initially entertained theories ranging from an accidental disappearance due to a car breakdown to potential foul play.

[08:28] Tom Davis: "There were a couple of theories that law enforcement believed early on."

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Sarah’s Background and Recent Behavior

Sarah Stern was a vibrant young woman passionate about the arts, studying media production in college. However, beneath her creative exterior lay profound personal struggles, notably the loss of her mother to breast cancer when Sarah was just 15. This traumatic experience significantly impacted her mental health, leading to periods of depression and self-destructive behavior.

[05:24] Sarah Stern: "And Sarah, you know, she was a champ. She loved her mom and she did everything she could to keep her comfortable when she was going through chemo."

In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, friends and family noticed changes in Sarah's demeanor. She had expressed a desire to start anew in Toronto, indicating her wish to leave Neptune City without informing her family directly.

[09:37] Tom Davis: "Sarah talked about possibly starting a new life in Toronto and moving away."

Adding to the mystery, Sarah withdrew $7,000 from her safe deposit box the day before her car was found abandoned, raising questions about her intentions and financial independence.

[11:24] Tom Davis: "On the day before Sarah's car was found abandoned on the bridge, police learned that she had gone to a bank during the day to withdraw money from a safety deposit box that she had."

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Suspicious Conversations and Unraveling the Truth

The investigation took a dramatic turn when Anthony Curry, a 19-year-old aspiring horror movie maker and friend of Sarah's, approached the police with unsettling information. Curry recounted a conversation he had with another friend, Liam McAtasney, about a movie plot eerily similar to Sarah's disappearance.

[22:13] Sloane Glass: "Anthony Curry told detectives about a bizarre conversation he had with a longtime friend about movies."

In this fabricated movie scenario, a young woman is robbed, murdered, and her body is disposed of in a manner that mimics a suicide, paralleling the real-life circumstances surrounding Sarah's vanishing. This revelation prompted detectives to reconsider the nature of Sarah’s disappearance, moving away from theories of accident or suicide toward potential foul play.

[22:19] Michael Stern: "It was a detail by detail description of what had happened to Sarah Stern."

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Interrogations and Confessions

To uncover the truth, law enforcement devised a strategic plan involving Anthony Curry and Liam McAtasney. They orchestrated a meeting between the two, secretly monitoring their interaction to extract confessions.

On January 31, 2017, seven weeks after Sarah’s disappearance, Curry and McAtasney met under police surveillance. During this encounter, McAtasney shockingly confessed to the murder of Sarah Stern.

[28:37] Liam McAtasney: "I did something really dumb, and I planned it out for half a year. And the worst part is we threw off the bridge and the body never showed up."

McAtasney described the brutal killing, revealing a cold and detached demeanor throughout his confession.

[30:16] Liam McAtasney: "She was just laying there having a seizure or something. I got a shirt and I just shoved it down her throat so she wouldn't throw up or anything and held my finger over her nose. And it took me like a half an hour."

He further implicated his roommate, Preston Taylor, as an accomplice in the premeditated murder and robbery of Sarah.

[31:07] Liam McAtasney: "You are the only person on this planet that knows besides Preston, and Preston doesn't know that you know."

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Conclusion and Cliffhanger

The episode concludes with the chilling confession of Liam McAtasney, leaving listeners in suspense about the legal repercussions and the unraveling of this gruesome case. Sloane Glass teases the continuation of Sarah Stern's story in Part 2, promising to uncover deeper layers of this harrowing mystery.

[35:05] Sloane Glass: "With Liam McAtasney on tape detailing what he did to Sarah Stern, you would think there would have been enough evidence to charge him with murder, but this story was far from over."

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Notable Quotes

• Sarah Stern on Her Mother’s Passing:

  [05:24] Sarah Stern: "And Sarah, you know, she was a champ. She loved her mom and she did everything she could to keep her comfortable when she was going through chemo."

• Liam McAtasney’s Shockingly Detached Confession:

  [30:16] Liam McAtasney: "She was just laying there having a seizure or something. I got a shirt and I just shoved it down her throat so she wouldn't throw up or anything and held my finger over her nose. And it took me like a half an hour."

• Detective’s Reaction to the Case:

  [35:05] Sloane Glass: "With Liam McAtasney on tape detailing what he did to Sarah Stern, you would think there would have been enough evidence to charge him with murder, but this story was far from over."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of American Homicide masterfully weaves together personal narratives, investigative journalism, and shocking revelations to explore the tragic disappearance of Sarah Stern. Through detailed interviews and compelling storytelling, Sloane Glass provides listeners with a thorough understanding of the complexities surrounding the case, setting the stage for deeper exploration in the subsequent episode.

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of "BFFs: The Disappearance of Sarah Stern" as Sloane Glass continues to uncover the truth behind this heartbreaking case.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Sloane Glass]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Michael Stern]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Sloane Glass]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Narrator]

At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human. Amica empathy is our best policy.

[Sloane Glass]

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[Michael Stern]

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[Liam McAtasney]

Medical health care just got less painful.

[Sloane Glass]

When a 19 year old's car was found abandoned on a bridge at the Jersey Shore, speculation ran wild.

[Michael Stern]

Keys were in the ignition, no sign of foul play, nothing.

[Sarah Stern]

Sarah was nowhere to be found.

[Sloane Glass]

But was Sarah Stern trying not to be found?

[Tom Davis]

Dara talked about possibly starting a new life in Toronto and moving away.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

Her mother had left her a lot of cash.

[Sloane Glass]

It all added up to one giant mystery.

[Tom Davis]

You don't know what to think, to be honest.

[Sloane Glass]

Today we're at the Jersey Shore in the community of Neptune City for BFFs the disappearance of Sarah Stern. I'm Sloane Glass and this is American Homicide. As a note, this podcast also contains subject matter which may not be suitable for all audiences. Discretion is advised. The Jersey Shore. What did it give us? Snooki, Pauly D, and jwoww. But what you see on TV and what really happens in real life are two completely different things.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

The Jersey Shore is not quite what you would expect to see.

[Sloane Glass]

Journalist Tom Davis grew up on the Jersey Shore and now covers the area.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

For patch.com it's actually a very conservative, traditional community that's mixed in with a tourist atmosphere.

[Sloane Glass]

Like clockwork every summer, tourists and Beachgoers take over the area.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

During the summertime, I would say the population probably quadruples, at least, especially on the weekends. It almost develops a little bit more of a Miami feel to it.

[Sloane Glass]

The party atmosphere every summer takes over the many bars, restaurants, and of course, the beaches.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

The beaches are the best place to be.

[Sloane Glass]

The shore features 44 beaches in total. And if you're like Tom and live there year round, you look forward to the off season.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

For a lot of people, they really kind of hate the crowds. So they actually like the fall and the winter because it's obviously a lot emptier, it's a lot less crowded. I always called it the void between Labor Day and Memorial Day, because literally nothing happens here.

[Sloane Glass]

But in the early morning hours of December 3, 2016, something did happen. A rideshare driver noticed an abandoned Oldsmobile sedan atop a bridge heading out of town and called911. 911, where is the emergency?

[Anthony Curry]

Actually, on the Belmar Bridge, there's a car that's abandoned.

[Sloane Glass]

It's off to the side of the road.

[Tom Davis]

Was there anybody inside the vehicle?

[Sarah Stern]

I looked.

[Sloane Glass]

Now, that tall bridge spans the Shark river, which, despite its name, isn't known for having sharks.

[Eduard Kirschenbaum]

The water underneath is a shark river, which is a very shallow river. They might do some fishing there. There's really no swimming or anything like that.

[Sloane Glass]

When police got to the car, they found no one inside. So they contacted its owner, Michael Stern.

[Sarah Stern]

About 3:00 in the morning was kind of a squeaky voice saying they were from the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department and they were looking for the owner of an Oldsmobile.

[Sloane Glass]

Michael lived in Neptune City, New Jersey, year round with his daughter Sarah, but at the time he was out of town. He was vacationing in Orlando.

[Sarah Stern]

And I said, yeah, you know, Sarah drives that car.

[Sloane Glass]

Sarah was his 19 year old daughter. She was in college studying media production.

[Sarah Stern]

Well, Sarah was into the arts. She was taking television production, art classes, pottery, photography.

[Sloane Glass]

While her dad was in Orlando, Sarah was back home.

[Sarah Stern]

Sarah was basically by herself. And she didn't like to be by herself.

[Sloane Glass]

Yes. But sometimes, like everyone, Sarah just needed her space.

[Sarah Stern]

When she was 15, her mom passed away, cancer. And it was a tough time for her.

[Sloane Glass]

It was very tough. Sarah's mom had a long bout with breast cancer.

[Sarah Stern]

And Sarah, you know, she was a champ. She loved her mom and she did everything she could to keep her comfortable when she was going through chemo.

[Sloane Glass]

And sadly, her mom ultimately lost that fight. When Sarah was a freshman in high.

[Sarah Stern]

School, she struggled at times, you know.

[Sloane Glass]

Losing her mom, Sarah took that pain and channeled it into her artwork.

[Sarah Stern]

So she had to kind of find herself. And that's when she threw herself into art, drawing, photography, and the media. And her talent just blossomed. Within a couple years, she was doing things that I thought were incredible.

[Sloane Glass]

According to michael, as a widower and father of a teenage daughter, he thought the only thing to do was to pull Sarah close and cope together.

[Sarah Stern]

Our family basically was Sarah and myself and always a dog. She loved her dog, buddy, and she dressed buddy up in different outfits and, like, put jackets on him and sweatshirts, and she'd get buddy dressed up for Halloween. That was her best friend.

[Sloane Glass]

With sarah and buddy back home, Michael spent the early morning hours of December 3, 2016, trying to figure out why Sarah's car was left on a bridge some two miles from their home.

[Sarah Stern]

I tried the house phone and her cell phone, and I wasn't getting anything through.

[Sloane Glass]

Then he did what every father of a 19 year old would do. He sent her a text message.

[Sarah Stern]

The messages were coming up green, as opposed to blue on an iPhone. So I thought maybe her phone was off or, you know, the battery life had gone down.

[Sloane Glass]

By then. The police had gone to Sarah's home and already did a search.

[Sarah Stern]

No one was there except for the dog.

[Sloane Glass]

The police found buddy locked in his cage, which was something Sarah's dad said she would only do when strangers were at the house.

[Sarah Stern]

It was kind of odd that he would have been in there. But Sarah was nowhere to be found. At that point, we just didn't know what was going on. So we just packed up and threw everything in the car and started driving north.

[Sloane Glass]

The 16 hour ride from Orlando to Neptune city gave Gave Michael plenty of time to think about what could have happened.

[Sarah Stern]

There was a million scenarios going through my head. Did the car stall? Was something wrong with it? You know, did Sarah have somebody with her that might have abducted her?

[Sloane Glass]

There was also the terrifying thought that Sarah, who was struggling with the loss of her mother, possibly took her own life.

[Sarah Stern]

We had no answers, no answers at all.

[Sloane Glass]

Early that morning, the police sent a team of divers into the frigid waters of the shark river to look for any signs of Sarah.

[Sarah Stern]

The tides go in and out very, very quick. It's cold, it's rocky in some areas, and it's marshy in other areas.

[Sloane Glass]

By the time the sun came up that Saturday morning, there was still no sign of Sarah and no evidence of what could have happened.

[Tom Davis]

There were a couple of theories that law enforcement believed early on.

[Sloane Glass]

Alex napoliello covered the story for NJ.com and the Star Ledger newspaper.

[Tom Davis]

It's possible her car had broken down and she flagged the wrong person for help and someone did something terrible to her, possibly threw her body off the bridge. And I remember early reports talking to sources off the record that there was belief that she had jumped off the bridge. So then law enforcement wants to start putting the pieces together. What was her mental state leading up to this? You know, was she sad? Was she depressed?

[Sloane Glass]

Well, according to witnesses who last saw Sarah, she was not in a good place mentally.

[Tom Davis]

Police talked to her neighbor across the street, Robyn Draper, and what Robin had told them was that Sarah had seemed a little off that day and not necessarily herself. Sarah was over at their home earlier in the day, and she had dropped off some bins of her belongings.

[Sloane Glass]

But Sarah didn't just drop off some of her stuff. She also dropped some hints about where she might be going.

[Tom Davis]

Sarah talked about possibly starting a new life in Toronto and moving away. If she's getting rid of these belongings while her father is vacationing, maybe she wanted to leave town without necessarily notifying her family that she was leaving.

[Sloane Glass]

One of the last people to see Sarah Stern before her disappearance was one of her best friends, Liam McAtasney.

[Tom Davis]

Liam McAtasney was one of Sarah's closest friends growing up. They lived about a block away from each other. They were childhood friends, and they did what normal kids do. Play video games, talk on the phone, text with each other.

[Sloane Glass]

The two had one of those rare lifelong friendships. They met at Sunday school when they were just six years old.

[Tom Davis]

They were close, and they remained close up until the day she disappeared.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam was with Sarah that afternoon as she moved those bins filled with her personal belongings into a neighbor's house. When detectives questioned him, he painted a bleak picture of Sarah's state of mind.

[Liam McAtasney]

In the past. She has had a tendency to have self destructive, suicidal behavior.

[Tom Davis]

He was telling law enforcement she wanted to move away. She wasn't happy. She was depressed.

[Liam McAtasney]

Over the past few months, she's been telling me how bad her relationship with her father is and how she just needs to get out of here.

[Tom Davis]

She had a rocky relationship with her father. There were some periods where, you know, they fought and had disagreements.

[Sloane Glass]

So let's say that one of Sarah's best friends was right and she did leave to get away from her dad. Well, how could she afford it?

[Tom Davis]

On the day before Sarah's car was found abandoned on the bridge, police learned that she had gone to a bank during the day to withdraw money From a safety deposit box that she had.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam said he went with her to the bank. The that stayed in the car while Sarah went inside.

[Tom Davis]

She took out $7,000. What would a 19 year old be doing with this money?

[Sloane Glass]

What 19 year old has thousands of dollars socked away in a safe deposit box?

[Tom Davis]

You don't know what to think.

[Sloane Glass]

To be honest, Sarah's father also didn't know what to think of that cash.

[Sarah Stern]

I didn't know about it.

[Sloane Glass]

Well, here's what he learned. Sarah found those thousands of dollars in a shoebox inside their home. And this money was filthy and old from well before the U.S. treasury redesigned the 20 and $50 bills.

[Sarah Stern]

Her mother had squirreled away money, I guess for years. But she mentioned it to somebody and it got back to Sarah and she found it.

[Sloane Glass]

So Sarah Stern had some problems with her dad and she had a pile of cash. So it makes perfect sense that she left town. But her dad wasn't buying it.

[Sarah Stern]

You know, she just wasn't leaving her car on a bridge and leaving her suitcase and her passport. Her passport was up in her drawer where she kept it.

[Sloane Glass]

Yeah, without a passport, Sarah would have no way to get into Canada.

[Sarah Stern]

We just. We didn't know then. It just left a big open, open wound.

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Discuss and celebrate savings. I know it's usually a master detective or a super sleuth who loves true crime as much as we do, but today it's better. It's cheap Caribbean's 25th anniversary sale. That means 25 good reasons to put up your away Message now until February 3rd. You can unlock up to $250 off all inclusive vacation packages site wide. You're definitely going to need a portable charger for all these vacation picks. Visit CheapCaribbean.com for up to $250 off. Offer ends February 3rd.

[Narrator]

Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Sloane Glass]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Michael Stern]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Sloane Glass]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Narrator]

At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking.

[Tom Davis]

It's human.

[Narrator]

Amika empathy is our best policy.

[Sloane Glass]

In the early hours of December 3, 2016, 19 year old Sarah Stern's car turned up on a bridge near her home in Neptune City, New Jersey.

[Michael Stern]

There's really not a lot of room over there on the shoulder, so it's very, very odd for people to be stopping on the bridge.

[Sloane Glass]

Eduard Kirschenbaum was the director of public safety for the Neptune City Police Department.

[Michael Stern]

Keys were in the ignition with no sign of a driver or passenger, no sign of foul play, nothing.

[Sloane Glass]

And here's a bit of bad luck. Surveillance cameras near the bridge were not working that night. But a home security camera across from the Stearns house was working. Unfortunately for detectives, they couldn't make out anything other than the time Sarah's car came and left the house.

[Michael Stern]

You don't know what's going on, so you have to pull in every resource that you can to try to get to the end line of what happened.

[Sloane Glass]

Hundreds of Sarah's friends and neighbors joined Sarah's best friend Leah McAtasney in the search for any sign of Sarah.

[Michael Stern]

The beaches and the lakes and the inlets were all searched by volunteers. So there was an all out effort by the community to see if they could locate anything that would give her any indication of what happened to Sarah Stone.

[Sloane Glass]

But detectives were concerned about Sarah's bizarre behavior the afternoon before she disappeared.

[Michael Stern]

There was conversations with friend of Sarah's, Liam McIntassy, where she may have had some type of suicidal tendencies that she was upset with issues maybe because of her mom's death.

[Sloane Glass]

In fact, Liam was with her when she moved some of her stuff into a neighbor's house. The afternoon before she went missing, Sarah.

[Michael Stern]

Had dropped off bins of her personal belongings to be kept in the friend's basement. Sarah also gave a bin of footballs and basketballs or some type of equipment to kids in the neighborhood. So that was kind of odd.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam told detectives that afternoon, the two went to the bank, got tacos for lunch and, and returned to Sarah's house. They ate and then played video games until around 4:45pm that's when Liam left for his job at a local steakhouse.

[Michael Stern]

Liam was the last person that Sarah had talked to.

[Sloane Glass]

And most concerning was what Liam told detectives about Sarah's state of mind.

[Michael Stern]

Sarah was unhappy with her home life, that her father was overbearing, that the relationship between Michael Stern and Sarah Stern was not a good relationship.

[Sloane Glass]

So naturally, detectives questioned her father, Michael, about his relationship with Sarah and they were surprised by his response.

[Michael Stern]

Michael Stern was an open book. He was forthcoming with everything that we discussed. Any type of telephone communication, whether it be text messages or voicemails.

[Sloane Glass]

And these messages didn't show any sort of conflict between them. Just before Sarah disappeared, she texted her dad, hey, dad, good afternoon. What day are you coming back from Florida? Her text also contained emojis, a smiley face with sunglasses, a palm tree, and a little red car. Michael's response included a picture of a rainbow that had just appeared right around that time. He later sent a picture of Disney's Magic Kingdom where he was vacationing. Sarah wrote back, wow, the castle looks so pretty with the lights. She added a shooting star emoji. It was the last message he received from Sarah. So again, what's going on here?

[Michael Stern]

It's a parent's worst nightmare. I couldn't imagine it myself and my heart was breaking for him.

[Sloane Glass]

At this point, all detectives knew for sure was that Sarah took out a large sum of money from the bank and then vanished.

[Michael Stern]

There was no utilization of any bank cards or anything that would give some kind of information that she had left the area. Because without funding, how far can you go? You have no car. So it was a unique case. There was nothing adding up.

[Sloane Glass]

Even the surveillance footage from the bank showed Sarah smiling and waving to the manager as she left. It didn't exactly point to someone who was considering taking her own life or fleeing the country.

[Michael Stern]

There were no hardcore facts out there. So you had to use the totality of circumstances to just old fashioned police work, hoping that somebody says something and just talking to everybody to try to put the pieces together.

[Sloane Glass]

Journalist Alex Napoliello covered the story very early on.

[Tom Davis]

The reports coming to us from police was that Sarah was missing and that there wasn't anything suspicious about her disappearance. And then sort of seemingly out of the blue, the Monmouth county prosecutor's office puts out information that they are willing to pay anyone who would have information in her disappearance.

[Sloane Glass]

That Reward, which totaled $5,000, caught everyone off guard.

[Tom Davis]

Now, that struck us as a bit odd because usually those rewards are put out when there's a crime that has occurred.

[Sloane Glass]

Reporters saw it as a sign that police no longer believe Sarah took off to Canada or took her own life.

[Tom Davis]

And it was the first indication to us that maybe something nefarious had happened here.

[Sloane Glass]

And then seven weeks after Sarah's disappearance, detectives got a mysterious lead from someone who went to high school with Sarah.

[Michael Stern]

Police department got information of a gentleman by the name of Anthony Curry.

[Sloane Glass]

Okay, let's talk about Anthony Curry. Like Sarah, he was 19 years old and liked the arts. At the time, he considered himself to be an aspiring horror movie maker and sort of looked the part. He was tall with long dark hair, wore dark clothing and smoked cigarettes. But he wasn't exactly a loner. In high school, he was named most likely to become famous.

[Michael Stern]

Mr. Curry met with detectives of the case and told them an incredible story.

[Sloane Glass]

Incredible is an understatement. Anthony Curry told detectives about a bizarre conversation he had with a longtime friend about movies. This friend floated a movie idea past Anthony that involved robbing and killing someone.

[Michael Stern]

A scenario of parking a vehicle on the bridge, making appear that somebody committed suicide by jumping off the bridge into the water.

[Sloane Glass]

This so called movie plot sounded all too familiar to detectives.

[Michael Stern]

It was a detail by detail description of what had happened to Sarah Stern.

[Sloane Glass]

Making things even more bizarre. This conversation with Anthony Curry happened on Thanksgiving 2016, just days before Sarah Stern went missing.

[Michael Stern]

Anthony came up with information that only somebody involved in the crime would know.

[Sloane Glass]

And this person who shared this movie idea with Anthony, well, he was also no stranger to Sarah.

[Michael Stern]

It was a friend of Sarah's, Liam McIntassy.

[Sloane Glass]

I know a lot has happened, so let's take a moment to reset. A week before Sarah disappeared, Anthony Curry alleges that Sarah's good friend, her best friend Liam, shared his idea for a movie about a young woman who was robbed, murdered, and then thrown off a bridge while her car was left on a bridge to appear like she took her own life. Things are getting really weird here.

[Michael Stern]

It's just the whole concept is beyond comprehension.

[Sloane Glass]

And Anthony said he never thought about this conversation. After it happened. That is, until he read about Sarah's mysterious disappearance.

[Michael Stern]

Mr. Curry came forward to law enforcement because Mr. McIntassey continued to reach out for Mr. Curry.

[Sloane Glass]

Lia McIntasney told Anthony it was urgent they meet up, which is what caused Anthony to go to the cops. But again, Liam was one of Sarah's old, oldest and best and most devoted friends. Could he actually be involved in Sarah's disappearance? Was this just some sort of weird coincidence? Or had Sarah and Liam cooked up some sort of plan?

[Michael Stern]

This is just so off the charts that nobody knows what happened.

[Sloane Glass]

So the police came up with a plan to learn the truth, and it involved some serious work on the part of Anthony Curry. If he could pull this off, it would make him famous for reasons no one in his high school could have ever imagined with the best All Inclusive Vacation Deals to Mexico and the Caribbean Booking your getaway with Cheap Caribbean Vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal. Whether you want to enjoy snorkeling, endless margaritas and more, or simply soak up the sun and sand in a tropical paradise, Cheap Caribbean Vacations has your deal for that. Plan and book the exact getaway you want at exactly the right price for you by using our exclusive budget beach Finder. Or find a featured adults only all inclusive package to seekers resorts and spas and do your [e-mail] Every day our.

[Narrator]

World gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Sloane Glass]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Michael Stern]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Sloane Glass]

Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of.

[Narrator]

At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking.

[Tom Davis]

It's human.

[Narrator]

Amica Empathy is our best policy.

[Anthony Curry]

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[Sloane Glass]

A week before 19 year old Sarah Stern went missing in December 2016, Liam McAtasney told his friend Anthony Curry an idea for a movie. In this movie, a young woman is robbed and killed. Her body is then thrown off a bridge, all to make it look like she took her own life. Now back to reality. No body was found when authorities searched the river. But since the rest of the movie plot sounded like what could have happened to Sarah Stern, Anthony Curry went to the cops.

[Michael Stern]

So they wired Mr. Curry up.

[Sloane Glass]

Edward Kirschenbaum worked for the Neptune City police department.

[Michael Stern]

And a plan was put in place by the investigative team for a meet between Liam McIntassy and Anthony Curry. With law enforcement wiring Mr. Curry and monitoring with audio and video the conversation that would take place.

[Sloane Glass]

On January 31, 2017. Seven weeks after Sarah Stern's disappearance, Anthony Curry met Liam McIntasney in his car. The police listened from a safe distance in hopes of learning whether Liam's idea for a movie was actually his plan to murder Sarah.

[Liam McAtasney]

What's happening, buddy? Don't. How you doing? What you been up to, though? Hiding from the cops. What happened, dude? You can't blame me for doing this, right? I gotta feel you up real quick, all right?

[Sloane Glass]

Right off the bat, Liam McAtasney amped up the drama. He was nervous and asked to pat down Anthony Curry in case he was wearing a wire.

[Liam McAtasney]

No disrespect. I'll show you no disrespect. Okay? Nothing.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam's pat down of Anthony didn't reveal anything because the police didn't wire him up. They wired up his car so Liam had no idea their conversation was being recorded.

[Liam McAtasney]

I got the FBI on my ass, dude. What are they questioning? Oh, yeah, a lot. About what? About killing Sarah.

[Sloane Glass]

The FBI was not involved in the investigation. So what was Liam talking about? Was this another page from his script? Was this all a game to him? And then police heard this.

[Liam McAtasney]

I did something really dumb, and I planned it out for half a year. And the worst part is we threw off the bridge and the body never showed up.

[Sloane Glass]

Well, that was pretty shocking. And who is we? Then Liam shared what happened the afternoon before Sarah disappeared.

[Liam McAtasney]

I'm hanging out with her. We went to the bank. She took some money out. Not all from Liam.

[Sloane Glass]

Said after Sarah took $7,000 out of her safe deposit box, the two went back to Sarah's and that's when Liam put his plan into action.

[Liam McAtasney]

We're counting out and then she goes to walk out the front door. I choke her out. Like I just. I picked her up and had her just like dangling off the ground. And she just herself said my name and then that was it. And her dog laid there and watched as I killed her. Didn't do anything.

[Sloane Glass]

That's really hard to hear and makes my stomach drop. Such a sad ending to Sarah's life. And the police could not believe what they were hearing. Sarah Stern's friend and neighbor, Liam McAtasney, very nonchalantly described how he killed Sarah with his own two hands.

[Liam McAtasney]

She was just laying there having a seizure or something. I got a shirt and I just shoved it down her throat so she wouldn't throw up or anything and held my finger over her nose. And it took me like a half an hour.

[Sloane Glass]

It's really hard to listen to this because he is so cold. But Liam went on. He said he ran out of time. He had to be at work at 5pm so he dragged Sarah's body to the bathroom and left her there. And that's where Liam's accomplice comes into the story. His roommate, Preston Taylor. According to Liam, Preston was in on the plan. They had actually been planning to rob and kill Sarah for six months.

[Liam McAtasney]

You are the only person on this planet that knows besides Preston, and Preston doesn't know that you know.

[Sloane Glass]

So if what he is saying is true, then while Liam was at work, Preston entered Sarah's house through her back door and then moved her body to a bushy area in the backyard.

[Liam McAtasney]

I get off work that night. Preston and I go over to her house. Then we take her body out of the bushes and drag it over to her back fence. And I crawl, get into her car and I back up. There's a security camera across the street, so I had to back. I had to act like her. I watched her. Every time she backed out, she does the same thing. So I backed out exactly like she did and drove off.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam still hasn't said anything that establishes a clear motive. His story is so brutal and so nonchalant at the same time, it's hard to believe it's true. And then there's another thing. Somehow Liam dodged the security cameras, which wasn't easy considering where he put the body.

[Liam McAtasney]

Put her in the passenger seat of.

[Sloane Glass]

Her own car with a seat belt around Sarah's dead body in the passenger seat of her own car. Liam said he drove to the bridge over the shark.

[Liam McAtasney]

I go up, open the door, unhook her, pull her out, start dragging her to throw her over. And then cars start coming up. I see like, headlights coming. I try to get her over, and I can't my leg up, like so now I'm limping, my leg's up, and there's three cars coming up.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam said he freaked out and dragged Sarah's body back to the car, pushing her into the passenger seat and signaling to his roommate Preston, for help. From the way he described it, Liam did all of this with no regard for Sarah. It was like she was no longer a person, but just an object, no longer his best friend. Just a thing.

[Liam McAtasney]

The two of us throw the body over, and then we're out. This is the thing about heist. There's so much you can't account for. You don't know until it happens.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam then explained how he and Preston stole a safe from Sarah along with that money Sarah took out from her safe deposit box.

[Liam McAtasney]

That's not even the worst part. The worst part of it is I thought I was walking out 50 grand, 100 grand in my pocket. She only had 10 grand. And this money, I don't know if it was Burt or something. It's old money. Terrible quality.

[Sloane Glass]

That's the worst part. He's upset about the money. Well, if you remember, those 20 and $50 bills looked old and beaten up, which upset Liam.

[Liam McAtasney]

I don't even know if I can put any of it in the bank.

[Sloane Glass]

Throughout this sickening discussion with Liam, Anthony Curry kept repeating, it's like a movie. It's like a movie, man. And Liam agreed.

[Liam McAtasney]

It's your life. You might as well make it one. What, are you gonna live some boring ass life?

[Sloane Glass]

That's when Liam said he needed to go and exited the car. But then, seconds later, Liam turned around and ran back to Anthony's car. Liam knocked on Anthony's window and looked worried.

[Liam McAtasney]

What's up? I don't know where my keys are. Thought I had everything. Oh, they're there. You found them? All right, brother. All right, bro.

[Sloane Glass]

Liam found his keys in Anthony's car, car, grabbed them and left. Anthony exhaled, lit up another cigarette, and drove back home, wondering how on earth this horror movie plot Liam shared with him on Thanksgiving may have turned into a real life murder. As for the detectives, they also tried to process what they heard.

[Michael Stern]

It was a detailed accounting of what he, along with President Taylor, did to Sarah Stern.

[Sloane Glass]

Ed Kirschenbaum of the Neptune City Police Department was shocked, not just at what Liam said, but how he said it.

[Michael Stern]

It was a chilling account with no remorse, no emotion.

[Sloane Glass]

With Liam McAtasney on tape detailing what he did to Sarah Stern. You would think there would have been enough evidence to charge him with murder, but this story was far from over.

[Sarah Stern]

They spotted somebody that looked like Sarah.

[Liam McAtasney]

I got a good look right in.

[Anthony Curry]

Her face, stared right into her eyes.

[Liam McAtasney]

The way I'm looking at you right now.

[Anthony Curry]

And she turned her head, ducked down an alleyway.

[Liam McAtasney]

I said, I don't know what that.

[Anthony Curry]

Is, but that girl did not want to be seen.

[Sarah Stern]

I just, you know, I was beside myself.

[Tom Davis]

I had never seen anything like that As a reporter covering crime for many years.

[Sloane Glass]

I'm Sloan Glass. Join me for part two of BFFs the disappearance of Sarah Stern as we learn what really happened in the small beach town of Neptune City. That's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing [e-mail] that's AmericanHomicidePodmail.com American Homicide is hosted and written by me, Sloan Glass and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The series is also written and produced by Todd Ganz with additional writing by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristin Melchuri. Our iHeart is Ally Perry and Jessica Krynchak. Audio editing and mixing by Matt D'Alvecchio, Dave Sea and Britt Robicheauxaux. Additional editing support from Nick Arouca, Tanner Robbins and Patrick Walsh. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library provided by My Music. Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and please rate and review American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Sloane Glass]

Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance and keep an eye on what your kids are spending. With real time notifications, kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Try Greenlight Risk free [e-mail] iheart ABC.

[Tim Allen]

Tim Allen and Kat Dennings star in the new family comedy Shifting Gears.

[Sloane Glass]

Dad, I'm broke and I need a place to stay until I figure out what the rest of my life looks like. So a couple of days when his.

[Tim Allen]

Daughter moves back in.

[Sloane Glass]

The last time you walked out that.

[Anthony Curry]

Door, you looked back at me and.

[Tim Allen]

Gave me a double bird.

[Sloane Glass]

I was 18. The double bird was how I ended all our conversations.

[Tim Allen]

The wheels come off.

[Sloane Glass]

Can we try to talk to each other like rational adults? Have you watched the news lately? That's not a thing anymore.

[Tim Allen]

New Wednesdays, 8, 7 Central on ABC.

[Sloane Glass]

And stream on Hulu.