The Case of Ryan Zimmerman

Ryan R. Zimmerman was 21 when he was murdered in Columbus, Ohio, in September 2015. Originally from Kentucky, Ryan had moved to Columbus after meeting people online and was living with people he had come to know there. After his disappearance, his family reported him missing, but his remains were not discovered until January 2016, when partial skeletal remains were found near Coldwater Creek in Mercer County. The remains remained unidentified for more than four years until DNA analysis connected them to Ryan. The subsequent investigation established that he had been murdered and dismembered before his remains were transported from Columbus and abandoned in Mercer County.

Ryan Zimmerman was originally from Corbin, Kentucky, and was 21 years old when he disappeared. In August 2015, Ryan moved to Columbus, Ohio, after meeting people online and developing friendships through the internet. Ryan enjoyed playing online games and communicating with people he met through those communities. His parents remained in contact with him after he moved to Ohio. Ryan's last known contact with his parents was in September 2015. When they could no longer reach him, his parents reported him missing to Columbus police. At the time, there was no indication that Ryan had simply chosen to disappear, and his family continued to seek answers about what had happened to him.

Ryan was murdered in Columbus in September 2015. His remains were subsequently dismembered and transported away from the city. On January 3, 2016, a woman walking her dog discovered human remains near U.S. 127 and Coldwater Creek Road in Mercer County, Ohio. Only part of Ryan's remains was initially recovered. An autopsy established that the remains belonged to a young man who had been dismembered with a saw. Because investigators were unable to identify the victim, the case remained open as an unidentified-homicide investigation. Ryan's family continued to wait for news about their missing son.

The investigation remained unsolved for several years. A breakthrough came in June 2020, when an analyst with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's missing-persons division recognised similarities between the unidentified remains and a missing-person report filed by Ryan's parents in Columbus. Investigators obtained DNA samples from Ryan's parents. DNA testing confirmed that the remains were those of Ryan Zimmerman. The identification transformed the investigation from an unidentified-body case into a homicide investigation centred on Ryan's disappearance from Columbus. Investigators from the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and Ohio BCI then began reconstructing Ryan's movements before his disappearance. They examined online activity, social-media evidence and other records connected to the people Ryan had been living with. Investigators eventually developed evidence identifying people responsible for Ryan's murder and the subsequent disposal of his remains. The investigation established that Ryan had been killed in Columbus before portions of his remains were transported to Mercer County. In August 2021, authorities arrested Sarah Buzzard in Indiana in connection with Ryan's murder. Another person investigators identified as being involved died by suicide when authorities attempted to make an arrest. Ryan's case ultimately resulted in a guilty plea and conviction.

In December 2021, Sarah Buzzard pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in connection with Ryan's death. The plea agreement avoided a possible death sentence. On January 20, 2022, Buzzard was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years. The conviction brought the six-year investigation into Ryan's murder to a legal conclusion. Ryan's remains have never been completely recovered. His identification through DNA nevertheless gave his family confirmation of what had happened to him after more than four years of uncertainty.

The case is notable because Ryan's remains remained unidentified for more than four years before a BCI analyst connected the unidentified remains to his family's missing-person report. The subsequent DNA identification reopened the investigation and ultimately led to a murder conviction.