Bethany Young

"I thought she really liked me, but everything she said to me was a lie. Every word, every visit. I wonder if I can trust anyone in that family. Is it like mother, like daughter?"

- Bethany (about Alison and Jessica)

Bethany Young was a 17-year-old Radley Sanitarium patient that was murdered the night of Alison's disappearance. A year later, her body was discovered and incorrectly identified as Alison DiLaurentis. S

Biography
Bethany Young was originally from Bryn Mawr, a town only ten miles outside of Rosewood. She was a troubled teen that often suffered from numerous behavioral episodes that may have been violent and/or aggressive. This is probably why she was admitted into Radley.

While she was a patient at Radley, she was introduced to Jessica DiLaurentis who, at the time, was on the board of the sanitarium. Jessica often took her out on day trips. And on one occasion, took her to stables in Harrisburg. This is where Jessica purchased a horse named Custard. Jessica insisted that Bethany call her Aunt Jessie. Bethany was angered by Jessica's comment, and she proceeded to throw a bucket at her. Following this, she found out about Jessica's alleged affair with her father. Bethany was outraged and she took out her anger by sketching pictures of Mrs. DiLaurentis with devil horns, the word "liar" written across her face, and usually with some sort of a demon chasing or attacking her.

Bethany ran away from Radley on September 1st 2009. She ended up wandering around in the DiLaurentis' yard and was hit on the back of the head by an unknown person with a shovel, and then buried alive by Melissa Hastings, who mistook Bethany for Alison as they were dressed identically that night and both had blonde hair. Melissa assumed that Spencer, her little sister, was the one who hit Bethany and proceeded to bury her to "protect" Spencer. She didn't know at the time that "Alison" was actually Bethany or that Bethany was alive at the time.

Bethany's body was found a year later after Maya St. Germain's family moved to the DiLaurentis house. The body was discovered by builders who were knocking down the gazebo that had been constructed on the site where Bethany's body had been buried, in order to build a studio. She was identified as Alison DiLaurentis by the police, presumably because "A" switched Alison and Bethany's dental records.

When it was revealed that Alison may in fact be alive, the Rosewood PD told Alisons mother, but her Mother just brushed it off and said that she was sure it was Alison in the grave, provoking suspicion to the audience. The girl in Alison's grave was identified as 'Jane Doe' until they figured it out. The girl in the grave was then after identified as Bethany Young via a televised press conference.

Series
Pilot
 * -|Season 1=

At the end of the episode, Bethany's body is found when workers are tearing down the gazebo which was built over the spot she was buried. Her body is mistakenly identified as that of Alison DiLaurentis' and her funeral occurs at the end of the episode, with everyone paying their respects to Alison, unaware that it is really Bethany in the coffin.

The Jenna Thing

In this episode it is revealed that Bethany suffered a blunt force head trauma, but her cause of death was suffocation.

Save the Date
 * -|Season 2=

Spencer and Aria break into the morgue at Rosewood Community Hospital and read the autopsy report carried out on "Alison's" body. Bethany had been hit from behind or was running away when she had been hit on the head. The wound had come from a curved, blunt object (which Spencer believes to be her old field hockey stick). However, the impact had not killed her immediately. The autopsy found her lungs to be filled with dirt, implying that she had been inhaling dirt in the last moments before her death. This basically means her assailant had struck her, either knocking her unconscious or otherwise paralyzing her defenses, and proceeded to bury her alive.

Over My Dead Body

We come to learn that the "curved, blunt object" "Alison" was hit with was a shovel and she was also buried alive with it.

It Happened 'That Night'
 * -|Season 3=

Bethany's body is stolen from Alison's grave by two members of The A-Team, one in a black hoodie and a blonde girl in a red coat.

This Is A Dark Ride

"Alison's" body is found in the ice cooler at the Halloween Ghost Train Party, after Toby and Noel fight, Toby knocking Noel into knocking the Cooler down, showing a black body bag.

Turn of the Shoe
 * -|Season 4=

Mrs. DiLaurentis reveals that when identifying the body found in their backyard all she needed to see was the yellow blouse to confirm it was Alison.

Now You See Me, Now You Don't

It was revealed that Alison was pulled out of the ground where she had been buried alive the night she went missing by Mrs. Grunwald, meaning she did not die that night. The identity of the body that was found remains unknown. This leads Emily to ask "If Alison's been alive this whole time, then whose funeral did we go to?"

Who's In The Box?

While visiting Alison's grave Hanna says that she has a theory: whoever was buried in Ali’s place still died, and she had to have been placed under the gazebo before it was filled with cement. This means that a girl must have gone missing around the same time that Ali did, and if they find out who, they can connect her to someone they know and solve the case. The girls realize that the body was identified as Ali because it was important that everyone believed that she was dead. Later on, Hanna searches for other girls who went missing the same time as Alison and finds Sara Harvey from Courtland. She went missing Labor Day Weekend and Hanna sets up a meeting with her friends, Tina and Claire. It is revealed that Sara was very similar to Alison, both in appearance and personality.

However,Sara went missing the day after Alison meaning that she cannot be in Alison's grave as she was seen after the cement was poured over the gazebo. The Liars later on pay their respects to whomever is in Alison's grave.

Bite Your Tongue

While speaking to Detective Holbrook, Hanna realizes that dental records would have been used to identify the body found in Alison's backyard. Following a clue from a book she is reading, she believes A must have swapped the dental records of Alison and the Jane Doe in the grave in order for the body to be passed off as Alison's. She goes to the dentist to try and discover who could have swapped the records by looking at patients who visited the dentist following the discovery of the body in the DiLaurentis backyard as she believes this could lead her to 'A'. However, she is attacked by 'A' who steals the sheets and shreds them.

Unbridled

Following Paige's tip that Alison is alive to the Rosewood PD, Holbrook visits Jessica and tells her that they are exhuming the body in Alison's grave to check if they are actually hers, as evidence has suggested it is not. The Liars discuss who could possibly be in Alison's grave and mention the fact that CeCe was wearing the same top as Alison the night she went missing. Spencer later on asks Jason if he is sure the girl he saw with Melissa in the yellow top was CeCe.

Miss Me x 100
 * -|Season 5=

The Rosewood Police Chief hold a televised press conference, stating that they've just received confirmation that the name of the victim, that was buried alive on the DiLaurentis property was Bethany Young. She was a 17 year old patient at the Radley Institution, and was believed to have run away from the hospital on the night that Alison DiLaurentis was allegedly kidnapped.

Run, Ali, Run

Ezra tells Aria that he is looking for a connection between Mrs DiLaurentis and Bethany Young. When Aria questions him why, Ezra explains that he doesn't think he was to far off with his Mrs D theory, "Mrs D was on the board at Radley Sanitarium. Bethany was a patient there. Bethany was buried in her yard, in the same spot where Ali was buried". Aria picks up that Ezra thinks A killed Bethany and Mrs D, and Ezra telling her that would be a connection.

At Radley Sanitarium, Eddie Lamb tells Spencer that he heard about Mrs DiLaurentis, and when Spencer says she doesn't really think it was a coincidence that Bethany Young was buried in the DiLaurentis backyard, Eddie says her he doesn't either. Spencer asks if Eddie knew Bethany well, and looking over his shoulder, Eddie tells her that if he did, he can't talk about it.

Ripping open the envelope that was left for him, Ezra finds a drawing and wonders what it is. Walking over to him, Aria says that she thinks it Mrs DiLaurentis, and when Ezra asks how she can tell, Aria explains, "that's her house, she was obsessed with her roses, and she definitely wore scarves like that". Flipping the page over, Ezra reads the signature, "Bethany", and when Aria questions how many Bethany's he knows, he tells her just one, "and she was buried in Mrs. DiLaurentis' backyard".

Rewinding and going through the footage in slow motion, they spot who left the envelope, and when Aria asks Ezra if he knows who the person is, Ezra tells her that it is Eddie Lamb, "he works at Radley, and he's one of the people I interviewed for the book". Recognizing the name, Aria mentions that Eddie Lamb was the one who Spencer talked to earlier, and that "he wouldn't tell her a thing. That it was against Radley policy", and Ezra says that he must have had a change of heart.

Scream For Me

Aria speaks to Bethany's old Radley room mate Big Rhonda and learns that Jessica DiLaurentis took Bethany to the circus and bought her a horse named Custard, although Rhonda does not know why Mrs. DiLaurentis was giving Bethany presents.

Spencer and Emily later go to the stables where Jessica had let Bethany adopt a horse. They speak to Declan, a worker at the stables, who tells them that Bethany and Jessica came up a few times, although they stopped coming after "the bucket incident". He tells them that Jessica had asked Bethany to call her Aunt Jessie and Bethany had freaked out and thrown a bucket at her. He says that they weren't related and there was something else going on between them.

No One Here Can Love or Understand Me

Melissa reveals in a video to Spencer that she saw Spencer carrying a shovel that night and later found Bethany's body. She thought it was Alison's, since she was wearing the same yellow top and did not look at her face. She buried her in the same spot Alison had been buried in in an effort to protect Spencer, who she thought had killed her. She later learned that she was, in fact, the one who killed her as the body wasn't Alison's and that Bethany was still alive when Melissa buried her. Melissa realised that she had killed an innocent girl.

Taking This One to the Grave

Spencer and Mona break into Radley to look at Bethany's hospital records, as something in there connects her to Alison. Spencer finds a tape from August 8th in which Bethany talks about Mrs. DiLaurentis. They discover that she was having an affair with Bethany's father. She then questions if she can trust anyone in the DiLaurentis family. She asks "is it like mother, like daughter?". Spencer is shocked that Alison possibly knew Bethany. Spencer herself is then arrested for Bethany's murder.

Mona discovers more from her records later on, finding out that Alison lured Bethany to Rosewood because she was jealous and wanted her dead. Mona is supposedly murdered by 'A' minutes after this, implying that Mona was getting too close to the truth, although it is later revealed that Mona was kidnapped by A and held captive in A's Dollhouse.

How the 'A' Stole Christmas

While Hanna is snooping around in Alison's attic, she discovers a letter from Bethany to Alison. In the letter, Bethany writes about how excited she is to go and see Alison that Labor Day Weekend(the same weekend Alison went missing). She also thanks Alison for sending her clothes, stating that yellow is her favourite colour. It is implied that Alison sent Bethany the yellow top. However, the letter is later revealed to be fake and to have been put there by A to make the Liars think that Alison was guilty.

Oh, What Hard Luck Stories They All Hand Me

Hanna discovers another one of Bethany's tapes, hidden in Mona's room. In the tape she calls somebody (presumably Alison) an evil bitch who can persuade anyone to do anything for them. She also states that the person is not the only person who can make plans and it is "me or her".

She's No Angel
 * -|Season 6=

Spencer and Hanna discover that Lesli Stone was a patient at Radley for a long time and that she shared a room with Bethany during her time there. Spencer theorises that Lesli is A because she is avenging Bethany's death as she probably believes Alison hit her with the shovel and the girls helped her bury the body, not knowing that it was in fact Melissa who buried Bethany alive.

No Stone Unturned

Mona tells the Liars that Lesli in fact hated Bethany, meaning that she has no motive for being A. Mona also tells them that Charles snuck out of Radley with Bethany the night she was murdered, suggesting that Charles may be avenging Bethany's death as A.