Pennsylvania

Police Search Home of 3rd Person of Interest in Rape, Murder, Dismemberment of Teen Girl

The woman who lives at the apartment was involved in a polyamorous relationship with Jacob Sullivan and Sara Packer, according to investigators.

Police searched the Horsham, Pennsylvania apartment of a third person of interest in the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl.

Detectives from both Montgomery and Bucks counties arrived at the apartment shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday and left with what appeared to be a box of evidence after about an hour. They did not reveal what they were looking for at the apartment specifically.

The woman who lives at the apartment was involved in a polyamorous relationship with Jacob Sullivan and Sara Packer, according to investigators. Both Sara Packer and Sullivan are charged in the rape, murder and dismemberment of Packer’s 14-year-old adopted daughter Grace Packer. They are both being held without bail in Bucks County.

The third person of interest lived with Sullivan and Packer inside the Horsham apartment for about a year and a half, according to officials. The woman, who we are not identifying since she has not been charged with a crime, called 911 back on December 30, 2016 after she found Sullivan barely conscious and unresponsive inside their bedroom.

“I don’t know if you have watched the news lately,” the woman told the dispatcher, according to the affidavit. “Someone we were involved with was recently...It’s a big mess. It’s a big mess and I don’t really know how to explain it. But oh my God.”

She also later found Packer unconscious in the bathroom and took her to the hospital. Police say Packer and Sullivan both tried to overdose on drugs as part of a suicide pact.

During his time recovering at Abington Hospital, Sullivan allegedly confessed to staff members that he and Packer had conspired to kill Grace. Police say Sullivan confessed to raping the teen while Packer watched, storing her body in the attic of their Quakertown home, dismembering her body months later and dumping her remains in a wooded area in Luzerne County. Police say Packer helped Sullivan dispose of her daughter’s body and then lied to investigators for months as they searched for the girl, whose remains were later found by a group of hunters.

Jacob Sullivan
Bucks County District Attorney's Office
Jacob Sullivan is accused of raping, murdering and dismembering the body of 14-year-old Grace Packer.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub called Sullivan’s second girlfriend a person of interest in the case but not a suspect. The woman’s attorney, Sharon Meisler, spoke to NBC10 about her client’s involvement with the ongoing investigation.

“She is cooperating,” Meisler said. “She has been cooperating. I didn’t know they were going to do that but I understand why they’re doing it.”

Meisler said her client is devastated by Grace Packer’s death. Despite the arrests of Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan, officials say the investigation into the teen’s death is ongoing.

Grace Packer Sara Packer orginals
Bucks County District Attorney's Office
(L to R), Grace Packer, Sara Packer
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