Naman Shrestha
Hulu’s ‘Swipe Right on the Devil’ is a three-part true-crime documentary series that chronicles the tragic killing of 24-year-old Sydney Loofe in Lincoln, Nebraska, in late 2017. When the detectives began investigating her disappearance and death, they learned about her seemingly harmless Tinder date, links to witchcraft, and other women survivors with similar experiences. The unsettling case was solved through witness interviews and cell phone records, which led the investigators to the perpetrator/s.
Sydney Loofe’s Remains Were Found More Than Two Weeks After Her Disappearance
Born on August 21, 1993, in Broken Bow, Nebraska, Sydney Irene Loofe was the beloved daughter of Susan and George Loofe. Growing up in Arcadia, Nebraska, she was accompanied by her sister, MacKenzie Loofe, and her older brother, Levi Loofe. Around the time she was 7, the Loofe family relocated to Neligh, where she spent the rest of her childhood. Being an outdoorsy and athletic girl, she enjoyed playing basketball and golf and developed her fishing skills while attending Neligh-Oakdale Public Schools. Unfortunately, in her teens, she developed scoliosis, which prevented her from playing sports anymore. After graduating from Neligh-Oakdale High School, she moved to Lincoln for a fresh start.
There, Sydney landed a job at a local Menards store, starting out as a morning stocker before being promoted to cashier. Described as a kind and loving woman, she was also an animal lover who owned a car named Mimzy. In 2017, Sydney joined Tinder and reportedly went on multiple dates with different women, hoping to find her soulmate. According to her family, she began battling anxiety and depression around late 2017, to the point that she contemplated getting started on antidepressants. Days later, on November 16, 2017, when Sydney didn’t show up for work, which was rather uncharacteristic of her, and didn’t respond to texts, her manager and family became concerned.
Her mother, Susan, contacted the Lincoln Police Department and asked them to conduct a welfare check at her apartment. Upon arriving at her Lincoln house, the police noticed that her car was still parked in the driveway and her belongings, including her purse and makeup bags, were still inside the apartment. Despite searching for her, the detectives couldn’t locate the missing 24-year-old woman anywhere until 18 days after her disappearance. On December 4, 2017, during a search of a field in rural Clay County, they discovered Sydney’s dismembered remains off the side of a gravel road in multiple trash bags. Due to the dismemberment, the authorities couldn’t determine the cause of her death.
The Killers Were Alleged to Have Been Sexually Involved With At Least Three Other Women
Soon after Sydney Loofe disappeared, the Lincoln Police Department launched an investigation and dug deeper into the life of the missing woman, looking into the circumstances surrounding her sudden disappearance. Meanwhile, her friend, Brooklyn, knew Sydney had gone on a Tinder date with a woman named Audrey on November 15, 2017, in Wilber, Nebraska. So, Brooklyn created a Tinder account herself and matched with Audrey, who provided her with her phone number. The friend then gave the contact to the police. They spoke with Audrey over the phone, but she claimed she had not heard from Sydney for days and had nothing to do with her disappearance. By reviewing her cell phone records and tracking her movements in the days leading up to the disappearance, the investigators located her apartment in Wilber.
While searching her residence, they learned that Audrey was her alias and her real name was Bailey Marie Boswell. She shared the apartment with a man named Aubrey Trail. The landlords told the police that they also noticed a strong smell of bleach from Bailey and Aubrey’s room the day after Sydney went missing. More suspicions arose against Bailey and Aubrey as Sydney’s cell phone last pinged a cellphone tower near Wilber. It turned out that Sydney met Bailey on Tinder and went on a first date on November 14, 2017, then a second date the following day. In the following weeks and months, the detectives interviewed three other women associated with Bailey and Aubrey — Anastasia Golyakova, Ashley Hills, and Kaitlyn “Katie” Brandle.
All of them claimed to have met Bailey on Tinder and were later introduced to her “sugar daddy,” Aubrey. As per their accounts, Aubrey told them that Bailey was a witch and they needed one more woman to complete 13 women in their coven. According to Ashley, when Aubrey told her to kill someone in order to become a witch and join his coven, she stepped out of the group. A few weeks later, Bailey and Aubrey went on Facebook Live, which helped the investigators track them down to a hotel. While Bailey was arrested right outside the hotel, Aubrey was taken into custody in their hotel room.
The Killers Were Spotted on Security Footage Buying Suspicious Items
In her interview, Bailey Boswell maintained her innocence and asked for a lawyer. Meanwhile, Aubrey told the detectives that he would not talk unless they transferred them to Wilber, Nebraska. By tracking down Bailey’s cell phone activities on the day Sydney Loofe went missing, they noticed that it slowed down near a rural area in Clay County, where they eventually located her remains. Upon digging deeper into Aubrey’s life, the police learned that he had a long rap sheet and had spent a lot of time in prison for different crimes, including robbery.
Although he didn’t admit to being involved in Sydney’s murder, he eventually confessed to killing her to a news reporter in early February 2018. Soon, Aubrey also told the detectives that he had allegedly strangled her to death accidentally during sexual intercourse. However, he insisted that Bailey had no involvement in the killing, only in the aftermath as she helped him clean up the crime scene and dispose of her remains. The detectives also gathered surveillance footage from Home Depot, where the two suspects purchased trash bags, bleach, and hand saws, shortly before killing Sydney. Thus, on June 11, 2018, both Aubrey and Bailey were charged with first-degree murder of Sydney Loofe.
While Aubrey Trail is on Death Row, Bailey Boswell is Currently Serving a Life Term
More than a year after being charged, Aubrey Trail’s murder trial commenced on June 18, 2019, after he pleaded not guilty to the murder charge against him. By then, he had sustained two heart attacks and a stroke. During his trial, he shouted out to insist that Bailey Boswell was innocent before cutting his neck with an apparent razor blade. He managed to survive the wounds after 88 stitches and two blood transfusions. After a month of testimony, in July 2019, the jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting him of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and improper disposal of human remains.
The following year, on September 25, 2020, Bailey Boswell’s trial began. As the prosecution presented a series of evidence against the defendant, the defense argued that Aubrey had total control over her during the gruesome crime. The prosecution also highlighted that she and Aubrey communicated via coded letters while awaiting trial at the Saline County Jail, discussing the story they would tell in court. In June 2021, Aubrey was sentenced to death. On the other hand, on November 8, 2021, Bailey was sentenced to life in prison.
After his sentencing, Aubrey alleged that his earlier story was a lie and told the authorities that he and Bailey had planned to kill Sydney beforehand, as Bailey wanted to be a witch. He also claimed that Bailey wanted to be the world’s greatest female serial killer, with plans to kill other women as well. As of today, 32-year-old Bailey is serving her sentence at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York County, Nebraska, while 60-year-old Aubrey is on death row at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in Johnson County, Nebraska.
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