Dateline NBC: Who is Eileen Sayles? Details explored

The 2012 disappearance of New Berlin's mother of three, Jennifer Ramsaran, brought her best friend, Eileen Sayles, and husband, Ganesh Remy Ramsaran, under the spotlight. Remy and Eileen shared a relationship outside their respective marriages.

Eileen Sayles and Jennifer Ramsaran were friends instantly from Girl Scouts, where Jen was a troop leader. The two bonded over daily chores and parenthood. However, Eileen and Remy started running marathons together, which led them to start an affair that prosecutors believed to be the motive behind Jennifer's 2012 murder.

The Dateline NBC Season 32 Episode 27 titled The Perfect Life airs on February 16, 2024, at 9 p.m. EST. The synopsis reads,

"A mystery looms over a small New York town when a woman is murdered and a stunning secret is exposed; more than a decade later, new developments lead to an unexpected conclusion."

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Who is Eileen Sayles? Details explored

The two mothers, Eileen M. Sayles and Jennifer Ramsaran met through their children's involvement in the local Girl Scouts program, where Jennifer was a Girl Scout troop leader. While Jennifer was married to Ganesh Remy Ramsaran with three children, Eileen married Patrick Sayles and the couple shared two children. The two women connected almost instantly and bonded over daily chores such as a visit to the mall or doing laundry.

Eileen Sayles previously spoke to Dateline saying,

“She was so friendly and you felt instantly comfortable with her. She was very welcoming. She had that personality.”

However, Sayles had been physically involved with Jennifer's husband, Remy, since February 2012, after the two started running marathons together, per Oxygen. While Jennifer Ramsaran was hooked on playing Kings of Camelot in her time, Remy became passionate about his fitness journey and enrolled in over 26 marathons in a particular year. Remy Ramsaran mentioned to Dateline earlier,

“It started turning into an addiction and she was on it quite a lot, close to eight hours a day, maybe more, even in the evenings."

He mentioned not feeling guilty about his relationship with Sayles, as he thought Jen and he had grown apart. However, Eileen admitted to feeling guilty for pursuing the affair behind Jennifer's back. Both Remy and Eileen had intercourse at Remy and Jen's residence while Jen was at her part-time job. She spoke to Dateline saying,

“My gut was telling me 'No you can’t do this. It’s wrong. It’s so wrong."

A year after Remy Ramsaran and Eileen Sayles had begun their relationship, Jennifer's frozen and naked body was found on an uninhabited stretch of road Center Road, in Pharsalia, per The Evening Sun. The murder made Remy Ramsaran the prime suspect in the case and led to his arrest in May 2013.

Eileen Sayles served as a key witness in the trial hearings. She testified to having started conversing with Ganesh Remy Ramsaran over Facebook and subsequently joined him to train for marathons while their respective families would show up on the sidelines to support them. Eileen addressed the jury and shared,

“I was down in the basement and Jennifer was running late. I don’t recall completely how it happened. Remy came downstairs. He asked me if he could kiss me. He did.”

The Chenango District Attorney, Joseph McBride, underlined Remy's alleged obsession with Eileen as their text messages post-Jennifer Ramsaran's disappearance were laden with sexual undertones. Both Eileen and Remy had discussed leaving their spouses for one another but Eillen, who had separated from her husband, called off the affair in November 2012.

The pair, however, continued their physical relationship until the day before Jennifer went missing on December 11, 2012. Remy had also allegedly set up an email account for Eileen with the name Eileen Ramsaran after Jennifer's disappearance. She shared that Remy Ramsaran wanted her to move in saying,

“I don’t know the dates. I don’t remember any of that. But he did want me to move in. He did want me to help take care of the kids.”

While Remy's love for Eileen Sayles was evident from the recorded phone calls from prison, Eileen Sayles started to believe that Remy had murdered Jennifer Ramsaran. Eileen admitted to feeling guilt and regret for the state of affairs and testified against Remy based on his unusual behavior since Jennifer Ramsaran's disappearance.