In September 2015, Ryan Zimmerman was murdered and dismembered in Columbus, Ohio. In January 2016, human remains were discovered in a wooded area off US Route 127 in Mercer County, Ohio, showing signs of clean dismemberment. After years as an unidentified cold case, DNA analysis in June 2020 identified the victim as Ryan Zimmerman, who had been reported missing from Columbus in late 2015. Detectives traced Zimmerman's final contacts to 30-year-old Sarah Buzzard and her partner, 33-year-old Naria Whitaker (also known as Jennifer). On August 25, 2021, authorities arrested Buzzard in Marion, Indiana; during a concurrent arrest attempt, Whitaker drew a firearm and committed suicide. During police interrogations, Buzzard initially attempted to distance herself, but after being confronted with her search history for 'jugular' from the morning of the murder, she confessed to choking Zimmerman while Whitaker smothered him with a bleach-soaked rag. Buzzard detailed how they dismembered Zimmerman's body in their bathtub, stored parts in a freezer and a lye-filled pot, scattered torso remains along a highway, and dumped other body parts in various dumpsters. Buzzard pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 30 years.
Country: United States
State/Province: Ohio, United States
City/Region: Columbus
Incident Type: Murder
Relationship Status: Love triangle
Relationship Duration: Approximately 3 months
Incident Date: Sept. 27, 2015
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
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How the relationship or connection began.
Approximately 3 months
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2015-09-27
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Tangled Web Interrogations · Original language: English
Ex Wife Kills Her Husband’s New Gay Lover
Love Triangle / Domestic Conflict
The incident stems from a high-conflict multi-partner domestic arrangement. Corey Buzzard sought a third partner via Craigslist and brought Ryan Zimmerman into the household shared with his wife Sarah Buzzard and her girlfriend Naria Whitaker. Unresolved domestic friction, resentment over unemployment, and intense interpersonal dynamics between Buzzard and Whitaker culminated in a planned physical assault, strangulation, and gruesome post-offense dismemberment.
The victim remained unidentified for over four years until June 2020, when a BCI cold case analyst cross-referenced Mercer County remains with a 2015 Columbus missing person report. DNA confirmed Zimmerman's identity. Investigators established Corey Buzzard's alibi through hotel location data. Sarah Buzzard was arrested on August 25, 2021, in Marion, Indiana. Co-suspect Naria Whitaker committed suicide by gunshot during her concurrent arrest attempt. Buzzard accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to aggravated murder, and was sentenced on January 20, 2022, to life with parole eligibility after 30 years.
Initial progress was stalled for four years due to the inability to identify the dismembered body found in Mercer County in January 2016. Investigators initially lacked clues connecting the rural site to the Columbus missing person case. During interrogation, Buzzard attempted to fabricate a narrative that Zimmerman had left voluntarily with a new boyfriend, leaving his vehicle behind.
On September 26, 2015, Sarah Buzzard dropped her husband Corey off at a hotel for the weekend. That evening, Buzzard and Whitaker ambushed Zimmerman near the bathroom. Buzzard placed him in a headlock/chokehold while Whitaker applied a chemical rag and duct tape to strangle him. They placed the body in the bathtub, dismembered the limbs and head using a handsaw from the shed, froze parts, and placed the head in a lye-filled soup pot. They drove Zimmerman's car, which stalled, requiring a tow back to the complex, before transferring remains into Buzzard's vehicle to discard along highways and dumpsters.
The case displayed severe escalation hidden within secret domestic dynamics. Red flags included pre-offense violence ideation expressed by Whitaker, online search activity regarding vital anatomy ('jugular') during the assault, deliberate co-offender manipulation, and elaborate post-incident concealments involving body dismemberment, moving remains across state lines, and suicide pacts.
Cold case cross-referencing of missing persons databases with unidentified remains remains critical. Digital forensics, specifically search history timestamped to the exact window of the murder, served as the decisive key in breaking down suspect denial during interrogation.
The primary early signal was Zimmerman's sudden disappearance on September 26, 2015, while leaving his maroon vehicle behind at his apartment complex, followed by an impound notice received by his family weeks later.
A BCI analyst's cold case review in June 2020 connecting physical anthropologist descriptions from Mercer County to a 2015 Columbus missing person report provided the critical breakthrough.
Key evidence included DNA matching the victim's remains, apartment forensic evidence, location data confirming Corey Buzzard's hotel stay, and Sarah Buzzard's Google account search for 'jugular' at 10:09 a.m. on September 27, 2015.
In interrogation statements, Sarah Buzzard claimed that Naria Whitaker proposed and orchestrated the murder plan, supplied chemical chemicals and tools, and threatened to execute the killing alone if Buzzard did not assist.
Initial missing person reports yielded no immediate leads. The case transitioned into a homicide investigation following DNA confirmation in 2020, eventually leading to Buzzard's full confession regarding co-planning and dismemberment after Whitaker's suicide.
Ryan Zimmerman's head and limbs were never recovered, having been disposed of across unknown dumpsters and hidden containers as described by Buzzard.