Murdered Teen's Body Still Hasn't Been Found: Monmouth County Prosecutor

Michael Stern endured two unimaginable months without knowing what happening to his only child, Sarah, who disappeared on Dec. 2.

But he never gave up hope. Until Wednesday.

That's when Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Grammicioni announced that Sarah wasn't coming home. That two of her friends had robbed her at her Neptune City home, that one of them strangled her. Then together they threw her body over the Belmar Bridge into the Shark River and left her 1994 Oldsmobile 88 on the bridge shoulder.

Stern sat in the back row of Judge courtroom on Thursday with a companion and his attorney, Charles P. Stone. Stone asked the media to respect Stern's privacy, according to app.com.

"He's overwhelmed, as any parent would be,'' Stone said. "This is the worst nightmare you could imagine as a parent.''

Sarah's disappearance sparked massive water, air and land searches.

But Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a telephone interview Thursday that the young woman's body has never been found.

"We believe with the river currents and the ocean currents, it was swept out to sea,'' Gramiccioni said.

Liam McAtasney, 19, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree robbery, second-degree desecration of human remains and second-degree hindering.

Also charged was Preston Taylor, 19. Authorities contend that Taylor helped McAtasney move and dispose of the missing teen's body. Taylor was also charged with second-degree desecration of human remains and second-degree hindering apprehension, he said.

All three knew each other because they grew up in the same area, Gramiccioni said.

Sarah's Facebook page features a shot of her and Taylor in formal wear from several years ago. When one friend asks Stern who the "hottie" is, she replies "hahahah my friend Preston.'

Both men made first appearances Thursday afternoon in Monmouth County Judge David F. Bauman's courtroom. He ordered them to remain in custody at the Monmouth County Jail to await detention hearings.

The prosecution alleges that Stern was murdered on or about Dec. 2 in the course of a robbery of what Gramiccioni described as "large quantities of cash'' that she had withdrawn from her bank account.

Authorities asked that anyone "with information that may assist in this investigation" to call Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office Detective Brian Weisbrot at (800) 533-7443, Neptune City Detective Michael Vollbrecht at (732) 775-1615 or Belmar Detective John Mahoney at 732-681-1700.

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