Rison had disappeared on March 26, 1993. One month after she had last been seen, on April 26 a father and daughter fishing in a pond discovered a body that would later be confirmed as the remains of Rayna Rison. According to Morbidology, Rison’s death was ruled a homicide and the cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation.

Even before the body was discovered police had some strong suspects. One was Rison’s brother-in-law, Ray McCarty. McCarty had previously served time in prison for sexually abusing Rison, and he had been seen in the area around the time of the disappearance. Police would eventually find blood and firearms in his car, and arrested him for Rison’s murder, but police could not confirm where the blood came from — it could have been animal blood since McCarty was a hunter. A prosecutor dropped the charges in 1999, saying there wasn’t enough evidence against McCarty to go to trial. 

Another suspect was Rison’s ex-boyfriend, Jason Tibbs. The two had dated in the seventh grade. Years later he would become the prime suspect.