Shawn Baur and Scott Fosnaught

Two mothers are still looking for answers after their 15-year-old sons were killed 23 years ago in Forward Township.

Thursday, July 17, marks 23 years since the deaths of Shawn Baur and Scott Fosnaught, both 15, whose bodies were found in the center of Cashdollar Road after walking home from another friend’s house in 2002.

Police said it appeared the two had been struck by one or more vehicles around 1:20 a.m. The criminal homicide was reported around 1:50 a.m. by a passing motorist.

“I’m a mess. I mean, that was my boy,” said Ailvie Rausch, Fosnaught’s mother. “He was a good kid. He didn’t deserve this, and neither did Shawn.”

Fosnaught died at the scene, and Baur was pronounced dead at an area hospital. State police still consider it an active investigation with a $10,000 reward for information, according to Cpl. Max DeLuca, who is investigating.

“We have continued to investigate, to send pieces of evidence to various labs for testing and to follow up on leads,” said District Attorney Richard Goldinger. “We have to be able to solve this mystery to provide closure, and potentially justice, to these families.”

Family and friends have also raised about $25,000 as a reward for information, according to Baur’s mother, Patty Baur. The boys would have turned 39 this year.

Baur’s birthday was July 22, and Fosnaught’s birthday was July 25, Patty Baur said.

“I don’t know why, but someone knows, and no one’s coming forward with any information,” she said.

Baur said DeLuca has told her tips are still coming in, which leaves her with a cautious optimism, but she questions how the case can be solved without DNA evidence. Baur would get tips herself sometimes, but she said she hasn’t gotten anything substantial in 5 to 10 years.

“I don’t know if God wants me to know what happened,” she said.

Rausch said before her son died, he spoke of how excited he was to get his learner’s permit and learn how to drive in eight days, which would have been his 16th birthday. He also loved fishing and riding dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles.

Baur described her son as a happy boy who liked to fish, hunt and camp after school at Seneca Valley. However — as teenage boys do — Baur and Rausch both said they thought their boys lied about where they were going that night.

Baur said the boys were going to McConnells Mill State Park — as her son took an extra pair of sneakers — then to eat, and then to Moraine State Park. That night, the boys went to a pond for a party and then to a friend’s house not far from the pond.

Police believe the boys were struck by a car while walking home after the friend’s house. Baur learned what had happened around 7:30 a.m. the next day. Rausch said she learned about an hour later around 8:30 when investigators came into her work to ask about her son’s hair color and piercings.

She said she thought the investigation would take only a few days with the size of Evans City.

Baur said she believes something else happened that night, and the injuries between the two boys weren’t consistent. Fosnaught’s injuries looked like he’d been hit by a car and dragged 25-40 feet, and Baur only had injuries to the top of his head.

She said she thinks Fosnaught may have been hit by a car, and her son may have been hit or otherwise injured while helping him.

“I’ll be optimistic until I die. I won’t stop fighting for my son,” Rausch said.

Baur’s husband also died from cancer July 15, 2023, two days from the anniversary of her son’s death. The parents got to know Fosnaught from going to the gun club together before the boys became best friends, Baur said.

After their deaths, people with tips would come into her husband’s business. But most tips were difficult to follow up.

“He never got over losing my son, either,” Baur said.

State police’s Butler barracks can be reached at 724-284-8100.