NBC Sarah Goode on Dateline NBC
Tonight on Dateline NBC, reporter Andrea Canning examines the disappearance of Sarah Goode, a 21-year-old single mother at the time of her disappearance and murder in 2014.
Goode’s family was heavily involved in the search for her after she went missing, and they spent time tracking down everyone who had spoken to her the night of her disappearance. Goode’s four sisters were close to her, and her brother-in-law was thrown out of court during the trial of her murderer for yelling at him from across the room.
The episode of Dateline includes interviews with Goode’s family and friends, prosecutor Janet Albertson and more. Goode was part of a large, tight-knit family.
Here’s what you need to know about Goode’s family:
1. Sarah Goode Had a Daughter
Goode gave birth to her daughter, Jocelyn, when she was a teenager. At the time, Goode was in a relationship with a boy she went to high school with who eventually joined the army, and things did not work out between the two when he returned home.
She was a single mother to her daughter at the time of her disappearance, and her siblings and parents said she was a good and capable mother. Her friends said they believed this was because she came from such a large family and was always babysitting her nieces and nephews.
Jocelyn was just 4 years old when her mother was killed. She now lives with Goode’s sister and brother-in-law and is cared for by the large family.
2. Goode Was The Youngest Child in Her Family
Goode was the youngest of nine siblings, seven girls and two boys. Her extended family was also close, though.
According to the New York Post, 50 of Goode’s relatives showed up to court, including her mother. May of them wore T-shirts with photos of Goode on them and lyrics from John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
The shirts read, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
3. Her Brother-In-Law Was Escorted Out of the Murder Trial
Nick Giannetto, Goode’s brother-in-law, was one of Goode’s close family members. During the trial, he could not contain himself, yelling at the man who was charged with his sister-in-law’s murder.
According to the New York Post, Giannetto screamed out “I hope you burn in hell, you f**k,” before being escorted away from the courtroom.
Goode’s convicted murderer, Dante Taylor, was sentenced to life without parole in prison. He was found dead in his jail cell in October 2017.
4. Goode’s Four Sisters Open Up on the Dateline Special
During the Dateline special, “Finding Sarah Goode,” her four sisters opened up about what it was like to realize their sister was missing and later to realize she was not coming back to them.
Her older sister Jennifer also talked about how happy she was when Sarah was born, saying, “I just remember going to the hospital after she was born and mom let me change her first poopy diaper,” recalling that she had a lot of good times with Sarah growing up.
Three of her sisters were pregnant at the time that Goode went missing, and they said Sarah was always willing to take care of other people first before taking care of herself.
“She had a daughter to take care of, and she was always willing to do things for everyone else and put herself last,” her sister Samantha said.
5. She Was Reported Missing After Not Showing Up to Her Nephew’s Birthday Party
Because she was so close with her family, they knew something was wrong when she did not show up to her nephew’s birthday party after she did not return home the night before. They knew that she sometimes stayed out all night with her friends, but they also knew that she would not miss something as important to her as her nephew’s birthday.
Her family searched for her and then reported her missing the next day when she didn’t turn up. Two days later, her car was found abandoned about a mile from her home. Volunteers searched the surrounding area, and they found her body less than a mile away on June 12, 2014.
Tune into Dateline NBC at 9 p.m./8 p.m. central to watch interviews from members of Goode’s family and learn more about the case.