5 Things Witnesses Recall About The Night Barbara Rowan Disappeared 33 Years Ago

BENSALEM, PA — Trial opened Tuesday in a 33-year-old case: the 1984 slaying of 14-year-old Barbara Rowan in Bensalem.

George Shaw, 56, of Geneva, Florida, is accused of raping and murdering the girl, who lived near him, and dumping her body along Route 1. The case remained unsolved for years, but in 2015 a man who said he was in Shaw's apartment at the time of the girl's death came forward. Charges were filed against Shaw soon after.

On the first day of trial, witnesses recalled their memory of an evening more than three decades ago.

Here are five key takeaways from the first day of trial, according to information released from the Bucks County District Attorney's office:

Barbara Rowan rarely missed her curfew, until that night

Barbara's mother, Patricia Rowan, testified that on Aug. 3, 1984, Barbara missed her strict curfew of 7 p.m. That was a rare occurrence. "I get alarmed when she's five minutes late," her mother said. She immediately went out to look for her daughter in the Bensalem trailer park where they lived and at nearby friends' houses.

Something about George Shaw was "wrong" that evening

Barbara's father, Robert, joined the search soon afterward. While he was knocking on doors and showing people Barbara's photo, he stopped at Shaw's apartment and asked two men inside if they had seen his daughter. Something about the men "struck him wrong," he testified.

Shaw was sweating, fidgety and had bulging eyes, prospective car buyer says

Timothy Johnson was 18 at the time and looking to buy a used Chevy Nova from Shaw's neighbor the day Barbara disappeared. He went to the Nova owner's apartment, which was next to Shaw's unit, and banged on the door. The car owner did not answer. Instead, a young, red-haired girl opened the door of Shaw's unit. The girl told him her name was Barbara. A "burly, shirtless" man who was "sweating, fidgety and with bulging eyes" appeared almost immediately behind the girl, Johnson said. The man told Johnson the neighbor wasn't home and rushed him away.

Shaw "just disappeared" after Barbara vanished, apartment owner says

Alwin Gougler owned the apartment where Shaw and his wife, Lori, lived with their young child. Gougler said he remembered seeing Barbara playing in the front yard with a small child. The Shaws moved out without notice in August, Gougler said, not long after Barbara vanished. "They just disappeared."

Man who found Barbara's body was looking for his two dogs

David Watkins, who lived less than a mile from Shaw, testified that he was searching in the woods for his two lost dogs on Aug. 16, 1984. As he was walking back from Rt. 1, "I locked my foot on what I thought was a log or a stick," he said during testimony. It was actually the "badly decomposed" remains of a small body later identified as Barbara's, authorities said.

Testimony is expected to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The case is being tried without a jury, at Shaw's choosing, before Common Pleas Court Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr., the Bucks County District Attorney's office said.