The Murder of Sydney Loofe

24-year-old Sydney Loofe’s final Snapchat, taken and sent on November 15th, 2017.

On the day this Snapchat was taken, Sydney planned to go on a second date with 23-year-old Bailey Boswell, a woman she had met on Tinder. Sydney never returned to her Lincoln, Nebraska home after meeting with Boswell. She was reported missing after she failed to show up to work on November 16th. 

Around two weeks later, on November 28th, Lincoln Police announced that they wanted to question two persons of interest in Sydney’s case. One of those persons of interest was Bailey Boswell. The other was Boswell’s boyfriend, a 51-year-old man named Aubrey Trail.

Between November 29th and 30th, Boswell and Trail posted two videos to the Find Sydney Loofe Facebook page, declaring their innocence in the case. In the first video, Boswell says that when she went to drive Sydney home after their date, Sydney requested to be dropped off at a friend’s house instead. 

After allegedly dropping her off at the home of this unidentified friend, Boswell claims she has not seen or heard from Sydney again. That first video was deleted a few hours later and the joint Facebook account that Boswell and Trail had been using was deactivated. 

Trail posted the second video on the following day. He once again declared their innocence in Sydney’s case and angrily called out people who accused them of wrongdoing. At the end of the video, Trail explains that, despite having warrants for other unrelated charges, he and Boswell were going to turn themselves in because it was the “only viable option” in order to clear their names in Sydney’s case. The two were taken into custody in Taney County, Missouri and were taken back to Nebraska on December 1st. 

After the Lincoln Police were able to speak with Trail and Boswell, they announced on December 2nd, 2017, that the two remained persons on interest in the case, but they had still had not been charged with anything related to Sydney’s disappearance. The two remained behind bars on the aforementioned unrelated charges.

On December 4th, 2017, Sydney’s body was found in a rural area of Clay County, Nebraska. In a press conference held the following day, authorities said that they had been following a “digital footprint” that prompted a search of that area and subsequently lead to the discovery of Sydney’s body.  Sydney had been strangled to death and dismembered.

Bailey Boswell and Aubrey Trail remained the only suspects in Sydney's murder, however they were not immediately charged with anything related to her case. Then, in February 2018, Trail reportedly admitted to killing Sydney. 

In a phone interview with a local news station, Trail said that Bailey Boswell was not in the room when Sydney was killed. “When she was told what happened, she freaked out so badly she had to be sent out with a bag of weed to try and calm down,” he told reporters. 

Finally, on June 11th, 2018, Boswell and Trail were finally charged with first-degree murder and improper disposal of human skeletal remains in the killing of Sydney Loofe. As the case progressed, the truth about what truly happened to Sydney was finally revealed.

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Probable cause.

After Trail and Boswell were charged with murder, court documents revealed even more information pointing to their guilt. According to the documents, Sydney and Boswell met for their first date on November 14th, 2017. At the end of that date, they decided to meet up the following night for a second date. 

Around 10:35 AM the following day, hours before the planned second date, Boswell and Trail were captured by surveillance footage at Home Depot purchasing the tools and supplies believed to have been used in the dismemberment and disposal of Sydney. This particular clue indicates that the killing was premeditated, because Sydney was still alive at the time the purchase was made.

The trials.

Aubrey Trail went to trial in June 2019. During the trial, he exhibited odd behavior in court. After a witness left the stand during testimony, Aubrey immediately screamed "Bailey is innocent, and I curse you all!" before slitting his throat with an object that appeared to be a blade. 

He was immediately taken to the hospital where he recovered, and the trial was able to continue. Eventually, in July 2019, Aubrey was found guilty of all charges.  

Bailey Boswell later went to trial, during which it was revealed that both she and Trail had fantasies of sexual torture. It was also revealed that both Boswell and Trail attempted to get numerous girls involved in their sexual relations. Both were also interested in witchcraft and the pair spoke numerous times about "gaining witchcraft powers" by killing someone.

This evidence, in addition to the physical evidence, pointed to Boswell's guilt. The jury ultimately convicted her on all charges as well. The death penalty was being considered for both Trail and Boswell, and the sentencing phases began in 2021.

The sentencings.

In June 2021, Aubrey Trail was sentenced to the death penalty. During the sentencing hearing, Aubrey spoke directly to Sydney’s family. He said, “Almost everything I’ve said before was a lie unless it benefitted me. I lured her there to try and pull her into our group. But once I sat Sydney down and explained to her our criminal activities and group sex, I knew I had made a big mistake. The truth is I killed her because of her reaction to what I had told her. I had no doubt she’d tell people what I told her. She did nothing but reject my lifestyle and threaten to expose it and I killed her for it.” The judge stated that the crime was committed with “exceptional depravity” which fit the criteria for a death sentence.

In November 2021, Boswell's sentencing proceedings were held. A three-panel jury was tasked with whether or not to sentence Boswell to death. While some voted in favor of the death penalty, others did not. As such, Bailey Boswell was sentenced to life in prison. 

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Sources:
1011 Now
3 News Now
Heavy
Oxygen
WOWT