The 2017 murder of Aaron Friar shocked the Medford, Oregon, community, but as authorities dug deeper, a disturbing family dynamic was uncovered. Now, for the first time since the death of her father, Sierra Friar, who was a witness in the case, will be speaking out in an upcoming interview with 48 Hours.

What Happened to Aaron Friar?

On October 2, 2017, Aaron and his 15-year-old daughter, Ellen “Ellie” Friar, were reported missing by his ex-wife, Maggie Friar. She called 9-1-1 after her and Aaron’s two younger daughters told her that their father and Ellie were missing. The two little girls had also found blood in their home.

“They saw blood spatter behind the couch, on the ceiling, all the way across the room,” Detective Bill Ford said, per CBS News. “There was … a potential that this was what we could refer to as a no-body homicide. That there had been a homicide, but we don’t have a body.”

Sierra, who was only 11 at the time, eventually revealed more information to the police about what she heard the day her father went missing.

“She woke up to her dad yelling and the sound of something crashing at 5 o’clock in the morning,” Detective Sharon Reynolds explained during an episode of Snapped: Killer Couples.

Sharon added that Sierra found “blood everywhere” after turning on the lights in the living room, but the pre-teen also revealed a detail that was crucial to the case. She heard Ellie’s 19-year-old boyfriend Gavin MacFarlane’s voice.

Police later learned that Aaron had forbidden Ellie from seeing Gavin just one month before his death.

Who Killed Aaron Friar?

Just four hours after Ellie was reported missing, authorities found her walking down the street, alive and unharmed. She was with Gavin and his friend Russell Jones, who was 22 years old at the time. The three of them were brought to the Medford Police Station for questioning.

While Ellie said she hadn’t “been home” and that “maybe her dad was looking for [her],” Russell offered up more details after he asked for a cigarette and was taken outside by Ford for a smoke break.

“I talk better when I have a cigarette,” Russell said in his taped interview.

Ford gave more details about their conversation in a sneak peek of the 48 Hours special “First Love, Then Murder.”

“I look at him and I’m like, ‘You know, Russell, I don’t want a child to find Aaron, Ellie’s dad, out there somewhere, come across something like that,’” Ford explained. “I said, ‘Can you take us to Aaron?’ And he didn’t beat an eye. He’s just like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take you to him.’ He ends up saying he wasn’t responsible for Aaron’s death, but he helped load the body.”

Russell claimed that Gavin had used a baseball bat to kill Aaron, and after authorities found the body, Gavin confessed to the murder. Gavin said that he had known Ellie was pregnant and that she had told him her dad was abusing her.

“I was just trying to protect Ellie,” Gavin said during his police interview. “That’s what set me off. I was just really angry at that moment … the anger had just been building up because of the things that Ellie had been telling me.”

He also claimed that murdering Aaron was Ellie’s idea.

“She said, ‘Go out in the front room, take him out, and text me and let me know when it’s done,’” Gavin continued.

However, it was eventually revealed by police that Ellie was never pregnant and that Aaron had never abused her. Gavin pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison, while Ellie pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Sierra Friar Speaks Out for the 1st Time in ‘First Love, Then Murder’

A little over six years after Aaron’s death, Sierra broke her silence on his murder.

“As of right now, there are two family members missing. It’s still like an open wound every day,” Sierra said while tearing up.

48 Hours’ “First Love, Then Murder” premieres on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount +.