Nebraska sex cult members killed and chopped up remains of Tinder date in savage slaughter

A couple involved in a sex cult chopped up their Tinder date into 14 pieces after inviting her on a date.

The fatal date occurred in November 2017 when Sydney Loofe went on a second date with someone she had met online.

According to Loofe, she had met a woman named Audrey on the popular dating app and had already been on a date with her. Loofe explained that she and Aubry — who both lived in Nebraska then — had driven around and got to know each other. However, when Loofe did not show up for work the next morning or return any messages several people began to worry for her.

Loofe's parents, who lived three hours away from their daughter — immediately jumped in their car and drove straight to her apartment. When they arrived, they found Loofe's cat, Mimzy, starving and alone — something that would never happen as Loofe loved her cat very much. After realizing her phone was turned off and that her car was still in the driveway, the worried parents contacted the police and filed a missing person's report.

Investigators said that the last time Loofe's phone was on, a satellite tower registered it to be in Wilber, about 35 miles from Loofe's home in Lincoln. Fearing that their daughter had been a victim of abduction, the distraught parents made an emotional public plea for her safe return. After learning that she had gone on a date the night before, Investigators turned their attention to Aubrey.

After tracking her down through her Tinder account, police questioned the woman who said that while she did go on a date with Loofe, she claimed that she left the girl at a friend's house afterward but could not recall where it was. Noting the woman's reluctance to answer basic questions, police dug into the woman a little more and discovered that her name was actually Bailey Boswell who, at the time, had been living with her much older boyfriend Aubrey Trail, then 51. Police subsequently named them both a person of interest.

It was later discovered that Boswell had been using a separate phone to message Loofe. The multiple phones ultimately led police to the gruesome discovery of Loofe's body which had been hacked into 14 pieces and missing some organs and parts. Officials ruled the cause of death as suffocation and added that Loofe had allegedly put up a fight in her final moments due to a torn earlobe and bruising on her wrists, back of her head and inner thigh.

The discovery prompted investigators to give Boswell and Trail another look as they were certain they were involved somehow.

Hunt for the truth

Delving deeper into the couple revealed some horrifying facts. Boswell had met Trail when he had answered her online advertisement for a massage. Boswell, who had lost custody of her daughter, and Trail had several things in common. In 2017, the pair moved into a basement apartment and began defrauding antique dealers.

According to the investigators, the pair also enjoyed having group sex with women that they would meet on Tinder. Investigator alleged that Trail would tell the women stories about "gaining power" from killing people. Police guessed that Boswell had lured Loofe into a trap and then was killed.

During the trial, it was revealed that footage of Boswell and Trail buying bleach and tools had been taken the night before their date with Loofe. The footage disproved statements from Trail saying that Loofe was part of a sexual fantasy with him and two other women and that Boswell had passed out on drugs in another room. Trail also had told his lawyer that the "sex party" had just consisted of him, Boswell and Loofe and that at some point, the younger woman had been handcuffed and he choked and killed her with an electrical cord.

The prosecution claimed that the twisted couple had already planned to murder someone even before they found Loofe. According to lawyers, they chose Loofe because she lived miles away from her parents and thought that her disappearance would go unnoticed.

The trial begins

During the arduous trial, Trail changed his story after he seemingly got angry with prosecutors for verbally attacking his girlfriend. In a dramatic twist, Trail screamed to the full court: "Bailey is innocent and I curse you all" before using a blade to cut his throat. Trail was rushed to the hospital where he remained for most of his trial. His lawyers attempted to argue that Loofe had agreed to be filmed doing "sexual asphyxiation."

Upon taking the stand, Trail shocked everyone — including his defense team — by saying the story was a lie. "It was only me, Bailey and Sydney there the night Sydney died. There were no two other girls there. There was no $15,000 paid for a sexual fantasy," Trail said.

According to the man, they did not plan to kill Loofe, while she had been lured there by Boswell, Trail said that Loofe "freaked out" when the pair asked her to join their sex ring. When Loofe resisted, Trail killed the girl as a way to protect their lifestyle. After this shocking revelation, three women came forward saying that they were a part of the cult saying that they would have sex with the pair for an allowance and they even participated in the antique scams. According to the women, Trail made them call him "Daddy" while referring to Boswell as "The Queen Witch."

The women stated that there were strict rules when it came to the couple and if any of them were broken, they would be punished by being slapped or choked with a belt. One of the women who managed to leave the cult stated that Trail had threatened to kill her family if she ever told them.

The Verdict

After a three-hour deliberation, a jury found the couple guilty of first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy to commit murder and improper disposal of human remains. In June 2021, Trail appeared before a three-person panel and confessed to the murder of Loofe but insisted that it wasn't premeditated.

"I won't say I'm sorry, as that would be an insult to you after what I put you through," Trail said to Loofe's family. "And I won't ask for forgiveness as I don't believe there is such a thing. I have done some terrible things in my life, but this is the only thing I have ever done that I feel real regret about."

The presiding judges said that Trail displayed a "cold, calculated" level of planning while pointing out various facts of the case. They said that dismembering Loofe's body was needless and done to satisfy his "intellectual and sexual curiosity." He was sentenced to death but not given a date. Boswell was also given the death penalty but begged to for her life for her "daughter's sake". She was later given a life sentence without the chance of parole.