A young woman with a learning disability was brutally murdered by two men she considered friends after being lured from her home under false pretences, in a case described by prosecutors as one of the most horrific in local history.
A Trust Betrayed: The Disappearance of Ashley Kline
The nightmare for Ashley Kline's family began on 30 December 2013. The 23-year-old told her father, Michael Kline, that she was leaving to help a friend prepare for a New Year's Eve party. Believing this to be true, he was not initially alarmed when she did not return that night, assuming she was having a sleepover as she often did.
In reality, Ashley had agreed to meet Ryan Matthew Schannauer, a 20-year-old family friend. She trusted him and believed they were going to the cinema. Tragically, this trust led to her death. Ashley, who had suffered brain damage from lead poisoning as a child, was described by relatives as happy, loving, but naive, with a mental age of around 15.
A Horrific Ordeal in the Woods
Instead of taking her to the movies, Schannauer, along with his 21-year-old accomplice Adam Morning Star Lynch, drove Ashley to the remote Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania. There, the pair subjected her to a savage attack.
Prosecutors detailed how Schannauer first raped Ashley inside his car. She was then dragged out, where both men repeatedly stabbed and beat her. The final, unspeakable act saw Schannauer douse her in petrol and set her on fire while she was still breathing. A post-mortem examination later confirmed the presence of soot in her lungs, proving she was alive when the flames engulfed her.
Discovery, Investigation, and a Chilling Lack of Motive
The crime began to unravel in the first days of January 2014, when a jogger on a New Year's run spotted a pink Ugg boot and a small handbag in a woodland area. Inside the bag was Ashley's ID card. Her horribly burned body was found nearby.
The investigation quickly led to Schannauer and Lynch. Damning evidence was found in Lynch's car, including a broken necklace belonging to Ashley and the imprint of her pink Ugg boot on a window. CCTV also showed a man matching Lynch's description buying petrol in a jerry can near the crime scene.
When arrested, each man blamed the other for the murder. Lynch, who had a prior criminal record, claimed he only helped dispose of the body. The final breakthrough came from Lynch's girlfriend, who revealed she was in the car when the pair returned to the scene on 8 January in a failed attempt to burn the corpse a second time.
Prosecutors suggested the motive stemmed from Schannauer's frustration after Ashley rejected his romantic advances. Yet, in court, neither man could provide a coherent explanation. When asked why he killed a woman he had known since childhood, Schannauer quietly stated, “I don’t have an explanation for it.”
Justice Served Without Parole
Facing the death penalty, both men negotiated a plea deal. They confessed to their crimes and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
They were charged with a litany of offences including homicide, arson, abuse of a corpse, kidnapping, and conspiracy. District Attorney Craig W. Stedman called the case “one of the most horrific crimes we have had in our history.” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lechner told the court that Ashley's trust in Schannauer had led to her death, a betrayal he hoped the murderer would contemplate every day.
More than a decade later, Ryan Schannauer and Adam Lynch remain behind bars, serving life sentences for a crime of incomprehensible cruelty that stole the life of a vulnerable and trusting young woman.
