There’s a reason why there are certain rules when it comes to online dating.
1. Meet that person in a public place.
2. Make sure your friends and family know where you are.
3. Be cautious about inviting them to your place, or accepting their invitation.
Sadly for one 24-year-old woman, what started off as a fun Tinder date soon turned into an abduction and murder.
Sydney Loofe , Provided By The Lincoln Police Department
Sydney Loofe was first reported missing last November by family members, according to People.com. The family feared the worst when she’d been missing for at least a week. She had no history of running away from home, so the sudden disappearance greatly concerned her loved ones.
Their fears became reality when her body was recovered in December, three weeks after she had vanished. Authorities believed her murder happened between November 15 and 16.
They later learned that Sydney had a Tinder date with 24-year-old Bailey Boswell on November 14 and there were plans for the women to go out again the next day.
Aubrey Trail And Bailey Boswell, Provided By Taney County Sheriff’s Office
It turned out Bailey wouldn’t be the only one on their second “date.” She lived with a 51-year-old man named Aubrey Trail. The morning of November 15, when authorities believe the murder occurred, Bailey and Aubrey appeared in surveillance footage of a local Home Depot and they appeared to purchase items that authorities believe were used in the victim’s “dismemberment and disposal.”
They’ve recently been charged with first-degree murder and improper disposal of human skeletal remains.
The saddest and most terrifying statement by the authorities is that when they went to Bailey and Aubrey’s home, they saw that in their basement the walls looked to be “wiped down in an effort to clean them.”
But the creepiest and most suspicious part about the entire ordeal is the two suspects actually made a Youtube video titled “Our Side of the Story” — they tried to delete it, but once it’s on the internet it’s forever — claiming their “innocence.”
In the video, Aubrey at one point says, “We’re not trying to defend anything, we’re not trying to make you believe anything. We just feel we should get to say our side since everyone else gets to say theirs.”
However, when Bailey and Aubrey were tried for unrelated causes, their tune changed quite a bit.
Bailey claimed that she did indeed meet Sydney on Tinder, but that they only met twice and she dropped her off after their second date. She called Sydney a “sweet, amazing girl” and hoped that she would be found very soon.
A bizarre statement made by Aubrey, however, was that he had accidentally strangled Sydney during a consensual intimate encounter that involved two other women (not including Bailey). He said, “It wasn’t supposed to go to the extreme it went, of course not. It wasn’t meant that she was to die.”
In a different prison phone call, Aubrey admitted to being responsible for Sydney’s death according to the “World-Herald” and said he deserved the death penalty. “Try me,” he said, “Charge me. Let’s get justice for Sydney Loofe.”
Interesting how on YouTube they claimed their innocence, but once they were in bars for unrelated charges, they decided it was time to confess.
So seriously, be careful who you swipe right on and always ALWAYS be cautious when going on an online date.