24-year-old Nebraska native Sydney Loofe sent out a Snapchat message on November 15, 2017 that simply read: "Ready for my date." By all accounts, Loofe was going to spend the night with 23-year-old Bailey Boswell, a woman she had met on the dating app Tinder. This meeting would have been the pair's second date. The only problem is that Sydney never returned home from her second date alive.
Now, MSN reports that Loofe's love interest and her 51-year-old roommate have been charged with the young woman's murder. Boswell and Aubrey Trail were first taken into police custody in Missouri on November 30 based on outstanding fraud warrants that had no connection to the Loofe case.
Then, on December 4, in a field some ninety miles southwest of the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, Loofe's dismembered remains were found discarded in several trash bags.
According to CBS, Nebraska police believe that Loofe was still alive when security cameras caught Trail and Boswell purchasing tools from a Nebraska Home Depot store. Police believe that these were the same tools later used to dismember Loofe's body. Trail, who plans on representing himself at his murder trial, told the Omaha World Herald that Loofe's death was an accident. Furthermore, Trail told the newspaper that Loofe had died after the trio engaged in a consensual sex game.
Trail confesses
Trail's candor about the crime is most likely part of his planned defense.
Specifically, by claiming that Loofe's death was an accident, Trail may be trying to get a manslaughter conviction rather than a murder conviction. Either way, Trail told police investigators that he strangled Loofe with an extension chord, but did not plan on killing her.
According to CBS, after Loofe was first reported missing, Trail and Boswell posted a video on Facebook declaring their innocence.
Boswell also said in the video that she and Loofe took recreational drugs before she dropped Loofe safely off at home.
Ultimate punishment
For their part, the police and prosecution have said that they believe that Loofe's murder was premeditated. However, investigators or police spokesmen have yet to suggest a motive for this murder.
Both Trail and Boswell have been charged with first-degree murder and charges related to the dismembering of Loofe's corpse. If convicted, the pair could face the death penalty. The Nebraska Attorney General, the office which will be prosecuting this case, has already told the media that it plans on seeking the death penalty.