An abandoned car was found on a New Jersey bridge. Was it a missing person case, or something more? What happened to 19-year-old Sarah Stern? The answer sent shock waves through the close-knit community of Neptune. Listen to the story of how a young woman’s childhood friends committed the ultimate betrayal.
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TuneInJust a Normal Day in the Neighborhood
December 2nd was a normal day for 19-year-old Sarah Stern in Neptune NJ. Neptune is a tight-knit community on the Jersey shore. Sarah lived on a block where everybody knew everybody. She grew up playing with the other kids from the neighborhood. They were always at one another’s house. She was still living at home. She was at home in the morning and then met up with her friend Liam, who she had known since childhood. Together they dropped a box of knick-knacks at the neighbor’s house across the street and went to lunch.
On the way home, Sarah stopped by the bank. When they got there Liam left for work. Her father and his girlfriend were on vacation to Disney so she had the house to herself and her dog, Buddy.
At 2:00 AM on the 3rd a call came into 911 from an Uber driver. There was a beat-up tan sedan sitting on the bridge of Route 35 over the Shark River. Neptune police found no one in the ’94 Oldsmobile. The keys were in the ignition and the car was functioning with no signs of mechanical problems or an accident. The car was on the side of the bridge next to the river. The police found no signs of a struggle or anything indicating what could have happened.
They began looking for the car’s owner and through the registration found that the car belonged to 95-year-old Lillian Stern. They did a Welfare check and through contacting family members found that the driver of the car was actually Sarah, her granddaughter. Police checked her home and found no one there but her dog, Buddy.
Sarah Stern Is Missing
Police contacted her father, Michael Stern, at 3:00 am. They called him in Florida asking if he knew Sarah’s whereabouts. He had no idea and immediately panicked because it was very unlike Sarah to not be answering her phone and texts.
He and his girlfriend immediately got in the car and headed back to NJ.
Right away Police began investigating two theories. The first was that Sarah may have jumped off of the bridge and the other was that she may have “run away.”
The family gathered and police began questioning friends and family of which Sarah had many. At 4 am they visited Liam McAtasney, a close friend of Sarah’s that she had been with that day. He said that she had been depressed lately and wanted to get away and go to Canada. He described her father as crazy and their relationship as tense.
They got a good sense of Sarah’s whereabouts that day and a camera from the front porch of the neighbor across the street confirmed everything. It had also captured Sarah’s car reversing out of the driveway late that night around 11:45 pm.
By early morning, the Belmar Water Rescue Team was called to search Shark River for any evidence of her body. The Belmar Water Rescue Team was assisted by the United States Coast Guard, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, the Area Network of Shore Water Emergency Responders Team, and the New Jersey State Police. Divers, boats and helicopters from those units searched the Shark River but attempts to locate Stern’s body were unsuccessful.
In addition to the water team, search parties began with hundreds of people showing up to search Neptune and other nearby communities while police continued to investigate.
The Squad
Sarah was a “miracle.” Her parents had tried for years to conceive before Sarah came along. She was a great kid and grew up in an idyllic family and group of friends. The neighborhood and community were very tight-knit and always hung out together.
“There was just an instant connection,” Megan McAtasney, the mother of Sarah’s friend Liam explained. “They had a nickname for their group called ‘the Squad,’ and the Squad would always come up with the weekend plans. And then the moms would try to figure out how we were going to get the Squad to all of their weekend plans, whether it was Six Flags or the movies or whatever adventure they had decided they’re doing that weekend.”
Sarach Takes An Interest In Art
Tragically, when Sarah was 15 her mother passed away from cancer. This was a devastating blow to Sarah’s otherwise untainted childhood. While this was extremely difficult for Sarah, she took solace in a new passion, art.
She was naturally talented and was attending exhibitions and watching YouTube artists. This helped her through her pain and she fell back into being the bright smiling girl she had been. A few years later her father met Christine, and Sarah was actually happy about their relationship. Christine had also lost her mother at a young age and was able to help Sarah and developed a great relationship with her.
As a teen, Sarah had visited Toronto and felt that it was the perfect place for her to pursue her passion. She was waiting to have the opportunity and the funds to be able to move there and start her independent adult life. This is why police thought it was possible that Sarah had taken off. Her friends and family felt that if that were the case she would have said goodbye.
In interviewing her friends, the police did get the impression that there was some tension in the relationship between Sarah and her father, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 19-year-old girl.
Sarah Stern Came Into Some Money
In questioning the friend and neighbor where Sarah had dropped off her knick-knacks, police discovered something about Sarah that even her family didn’t know. That morning Sarah had been excited to tell her friend that she finally had the money she needed to move to Toronto. She said that she was cleaning out a house that her mother had owned and that she found a safe with money. Sarah didn’t say how much it was, but that she knew her mother had been putting it aside for her. Now that she found it she could live her dream.
When police learned this information it discourage them from thinking that Sarah could have jumped. No one had noticed her demeanor changing and she had something she was looking forward to and was even excited about earlier that day.
This could leave the possibility that Sarah took off. Police went back to the bank Sarah had visited on Dec 2nd and found that she had multiple accounts as well as a safe deposit box. Police obtained a warrant for the box and in it they found $25K cash. The money was old and brittle and would fall apart if not handled carefully.
This confirmed what her friend had told police, but it also caused a problem with their theory. If Sarah had gone off to Canada, she would have taken this money with her.
So where was Sarah???
A Break In The Case
Weeks went by without any developments or leads. There was nothing until police received a call in January 2017.
The call was from Anthony Curry. He had grown up in Neptune and went to school with Sarah. Anthony was living in Brooklyn to pursue a career in making horror films. He had been home the previous Thanksgiving. Just more than a week before Sarah’s disappearance. While he was home he had been hanging out with a friend who said that he planned to kill a girl. He was going to rob her, strangle her, and throw her off a bridge.
Being that Anthony was in the film industry, he thought the small town friend was pitching him a script and thought nothing of it. However, when he learned that Sarah was missing and that her car had been found on a bridge, he couldn’t get the conversation out of his mind.
Liam Confesses On Tape
Anthony agreed to help the police, calling his friend and asking if he could spot him some cash from “that girl’s” money. He explained that he had busted his filming camera and couldn’t get another. The friend didn’t want to talk over the phone but agreed to meet with Anthony.
With his car bugged and on video, Anthony went to a parking lot off of the boardwalk (which was empty in January) and met his friend, Liam. Liam first patted down his friend looking for a wire but found nothing.
After a little probing, Liam confessed everything to Anthony. He described in detail that after convincing her to take money out of the bank, they went back to her house where he attacked her.
“I pretty much hung her -like, I picked her up and had her dangling off the ground.”
“And it took me a half an hour to kill her. I thought I was going to be able to choke her out and have her out in like a couple of minutes.”
Anthony and the police listening to the conversation live were stunned and disgusted.
He went on to say, “I thought I was walking out with $50,000, $100,000. She only had $10,000, and this money – I dunno if it was burnt or something … all the money was terrible quality. I don’t even know if I can put any of it in the bank.”
Liam Implicates Sarah’s Prom Date
Liam then implicated a fellow friend of him and Sarah, Preston Taylor. Preston was such a good friend, that he had taken Sarah to the junior prom. After strangling Sarah, Liam went to work, then met with Preston. He told him what happened and that he had to go back to her place and hide the body. They would get rid of it that night. While Liam returned to his shift, Preston when to Sarah’s hopping over the back fence. He found her and dragged her body out of the house hiding it under some bushes in the backyard.
Liam and he went back after Liam’s shift and got her into her car.
He said that he had watched how Sarah pulled out of her driveway before and later that night, with Sarah’s body in the passenger seat he pulled out, exactly as she would have.
He drove to the bridge with Preston following in his car and together they threw her body over into the river.
The day following the confession police arrested Liam and Preston.
While Liam refused to speak to police, Preston quickly confessed. He took a deal and pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree Armed Robbery, second-degree Conspiracy, second-degree Desecration of Human Remains, third-degree Hindering Apprehension of Oneself, third-degree Hindering Apprehension of Another and fourth-degree Tampering with Evidence. In the deal, Preston agreed to testify against Liam. Preston was given a sentence of 18 years.
Liam was charged with first-degree murder, robbery, Disturbing or Desecrating Human Remains, and third-degree hindering.
The Trial
During the trial, Preston confirmed what Liam described in the tape. But he was able to add that this had been planned for months. Liam had wanted to attack Sarah the week before but realized that she didn’t have the cash on her and pushed it off. Liam’s defense team tried to show that the tape was a lie, that Liam had been auditioning for a movie for Anthony and had made it all up.
Liam McAtasney was found guilty on all counts by a jury on February 26, 2019.
On June 21, 2019, the sentencing took place. Sarah’s father made a statement saying, “I was devastated and numb from shock the day I learned from detectives Sarah was murdered. I’ve had horrific dreams and nightmares,” he said. “The horrid act of what happened to her body haunts me every day. I will never be able to hug Sarah again.”
Liam was sentenced by the Honorable Richard W. English, J.S.C. to life in a New Jersey State Prison without the possibility for parole plus ten years.
Sarah’s body has never been found. Not being able to hold a funeral, her family did hold a Celebration of Life Ceremony at the local community center. They filled 3 event rooms with her artwork and 1,000 people attended to celebrate the beautiful person that Sarah was.
Resources
- Liam McAtasney sentenced to life without parole for murdering friend Sarah Stern, dumping her body off NJ bridge
- Friend Who Killed 19-Year-Old New Jersey Student Sarah Stern Gets Life Without Parole — Plus 10 Years
- The Murder of Sarah Stern
- Alleged video confession in Sarah Stern murder
- Childhood Friend Who Murdered College Student Sarah Stern Over Inheritance Sentenced to Life in Prison