On a September morning in 2023, police vehicles arrived at a small convenience store near Birch River, West Virginia. Officers arrested Raymer Cobb, 62, in connection with the 2010 disappearance of six teenagers near Summersville Lake. Cobb, a reclusive resident who lived in a cabin close to the lake, showed little reaction as he was taken into custody.
The case began on the night of March 19, 2010, when six teenagers—Caleb Rowan, Jesse Hart, Logan Pierce, Evan Dodson, Travis Cole, and Mason Grady—attended a spring break party near the Longpoint Trail Head. The group left the party between 1:00 and 1:15 a. m.
, splitting into two smaller groups as they walked toward the lake area.
At 1:48 a. m. , security cameras at the Birch River One Stop captured three of the teenagers passing through the store’s lobby.
No further footage showed the group. By the morning of March 20, none of the six had returned home. Families reported them missing to the Nicholas County Sheriff’s Office at 9:15 a.
m.
Investigators quickly established a timeline. All six teenagers had left home between 6:00 and 7:00 p. m.
the previous evening, telling their families they were attending the party. Mason Grady’s pickup truck was found locked in the parking lot near Longpoint Trail Head, with no keys inside. All six phones stopped responding early that morning despite being fully charged.
Witnesses confirmed the group left the party on foot. Police reviewed footage from the Birch River One Stop, which showed the three teenagers arriving from the east side of the parking lot and departing toward the north, heading back down toward the lake. The time gap between leaving the party and appearing on camera remained unexplained.
Investigators focused on two locations: Summersville Lake Marina and Battlerun Boat Launch. At the marina, they found unidentified footprints in low-light areas and noted that the secondary docks were unlocked at night. At Battlerun, they discovered long drag marks on the wooden pier, tire tracks in the dirt, and deep shoe prints consistent with a heavy object being moved toward the water.
A witness living near Battlerun reported hearing an unstable small engine running for several seconds around 2:30 a. m. , followed by silence.
Another witness reported hearing a loud male shout after 2:00 a. m. A third witness saw a small white light moving on the water near 2:00 a.
m.
Police inventorying vessels found two missing boats. A Boston Whaler replica disappeared from the marina, and a white and green pedal boat vanished from Battlerun. Both had been untied cleanly, with no signs of cutting or damage, suggesting the person responsible knew how to handle boats.
The Division of Natural Resources built drift models based on wind and water conditions that night. They identified three priority search zones. Sonar sweeps on March 21 and again on March 22–23 found no objects matching the missing vessels.
The search expanded to the shoreline and the Monongahela National Forest, but no personal belongings or clear traces of the teenagers were found.
With no new leads, the case was placed in inactive status. The file remained dormant for years.
In 2012, Deputy Mark Hollis, newly assigned to case review, re-examined the Birch River One Stop video. Playing it at slow speed, he noticed a faint dark shadow moving behind the three teenagers, following the same path but lagging by one to two seconds. The image was too blurry to identify the person, but Hollis noted the detail in the file.
The case remained inactive.
In 2018, Hollis transferred to the Charleston Police Department’s cold case unit. Using improved image enhancement software, he re-analyzed crime scene photos from Battlerun. The drag marks on the wooden dock became clearer, showing consistent abrasion patterns pointing directly toward the water, consistent with a heavy object being dragged.
In 2020, the cold case unit gained access to AI-enhanced video software. Hollis submitted the Birch River One Stop footage for processing. The enhanced video revealed a clearer silhouette of a person walking behind the three teenagers.
The figure’s gait—a slight outward rotation of the right foot and a distinctive hip sway—matched the gait of Raymer Cobb, a local resident known to frequent the lake area at night. Hollis flagged Cobb as a person of interest.
In 2021, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers began a project to upgrade underwater topographic mapping at Summersville Lake.
Hollis requested that areas around Battlerun and the eastern lake basin be prioritized. The survey used 3D sonar and underwater lidar, revealing over 40 points that had never been properly scanned in 2010.
In early 2023, the lake was drawn down more than 40 feet for dam maintenance. Workers inspecting exposed rock near the eastern edge of Battlerun discovered an object wedged between two rock ledges. It was the bow of the Boston Whaler replica, missing since 2010.
The boat was recovered under forensic supervision. Inside the forward compartment, investigators found a human skeleton, a sneaker matching the description of footwear worn by Caleb Rowan, a metal chain with a cross pendant similar to a personal item belonging to Jesse Hart, and fabric pieces consistent with clothing worn by Evan Dodson.
DNA testing confirmed the skeleton was Caleb Rowan. Forensic pathologists found a crescent-shaped fracture on the left forehead, caused by blunt force trauma before death. There were no signs of drowning.
The cause of death was ruled homicide.
Lidar analysis of the cove where the boat was found showed the vessel had not drifted naturally. The trajectory deviated from the wind pattern, and impact marks on nearby rocks indicated the boat had been steered or pushed before becoming lodged. A separate abrasion mark matched the dimensions of the missing pedal boat.
A search warrant was executed on Cobb’s cabin. Investigators found fibers matching the material of Logan Pierce’s hoodie, a faint blood stain on a cabinet door that tested positive with field reagent, plastic fragments consistent with the pedal boat’s composite material, and a map of Summersville Lake with pencil markings at the exact cove where the Boston Whaler was discovered. A cut anchor rope with unusual knots was also seized.
In the summer of 2023, a former resident named William Ridgley came forward. He had lived near Battlerun in 2010 and heard a loud argument that night between an older male voice and younger voices, followed by a heavy thud and the sound of a small engine starting. He identified Cobb’s voice from a 2011 recording, saying it was close enough to give him chills.
His testimony matched the timeline and the forensic findings.
Cobb was arrested on September 2023. During interrogation, he gave inconsistent statements, denied being near Battlerun, and could not explain the map markings or the evidence found in his cabin. He did not confess.
The trial began in November 2023. The prosecution presented the 3D reconstruction of the boat’s trajectory, forensic evidence from the skeleton, DNA results, the AI-enhanced video, and Ridgley’s testimony. The defense argued the evidence was circumstantial, but the jury found Cobb guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Caleb Rowan.
At sentencing, Judge Elaine Mercer gave Cobb 34 years in prison with no possibility of parole for the first 20 years.
The case file was officially closed in late December 2023. The report noted that limited 2010 sonar technology missed the deep rock crevices where the boat was lodged, and that the witness interview phase did not cover the entire residential area near the lake. It credited AI-enhanced video, 3D sonar, lidar, and the lake drawdown as decisive factors in solving the case.
Caleb Rowan’s death was confirmed as homicide. The other five teenagers remain in missing status. The case stands as a reminder that rural communities, limited investigative resources, and the persistence of small details can shape the outcome of a case for more than a decade.