These killings happened over twenty-five years ago, though a good update follows the end of the story.
Eight murders happened between 1986 and 1989 along the Colonial Parkway in Virginia. A lesbian couple, Rebecca Dowski, twenty-one, and Cathleen Thomas, twenty-seven, liked to park on the Colonial Parkway for privacy. On October 12, 1986, they were found dead inside Thomas’s car, which had been pushed down the embankment. There were signs of strangulation and rope burns, and both had had their throats slashed. The motive was not robbery as their money and purses were not taken, nor was there any sexual assault. The only good thing that came of the tragedy came from Cathleen Thomas managing to pull a clump of the suspect’s hair, a clump which remained in her hand.
Robin Edwards, fourteen, and David Knobling, twenty, intended to watch a drive-in movie on September 19, 1987, but when the movie was rained out they went to an arcade. The last time they were seen was on the shore of the James River near Smithfield, Virginia. Later, they were found executed and dumped in the river.
Seven months later, on April 9, 1988, Cassandra Hailey, eighteen, and Richard Call, on their first date, were reported missing after attending a party in Newport News. Richard’s empty car was found on the Colonial Parkway the next day with the door open, keys in still in the ignition, and clothes on the backseat. Neither of their bodies have ever been found, but both are presumed dead.
Anna Phelps, eighteen, and Daniel Lauer, twenty-one, were last seen alive on September 5, 1989, when they left a rest stop on Interstate 64 in New Kent County. Their skeletal remains were found months later, in October, by hunters a mile from the rest stop. Both were stabbed; the car keys were in the ignition; the gas tank was almost full; Anna’s purse was in the car, and police found no sign of struggle.
Authorities seem to think that the killer is in law enforcement or is someone impersonating a police officer.
In January of 2010, some crime scene photos of the Parkway murder victims were inappropriately used to instruct a class by a retired FBI photographer. These pictures leaked to the media and subsequently the investigation was re-opened. Investigators soon discovered dozens of pieces of evidence stored away for over twenty years that had never been tested for DNA. The FBI met with the victim’s families after much criticism from the media and had all the evidence sent to the crime lab at Quantico for DNA scrutiny. The families were told that the testing would take some time and continue into 2011.
Update: October 19, 2011 – Lynn-Marie Carty is a famous national private detective. There is no doubt in her mind that Michael Nicholaou is the Colonial Parkway Killer and she is working diligently to prove it. The FBI is now testing his DNA for comparison.
You can see her story at this site: http://parkway.crimeshadows.com/nicholaou.htm
The Missouri River Killer
The Missouri River Killer, a.k.a. The Independence Avenue Prostitute Killer, has been haunting Kansas City since 1996. The body of Christy Fugate, twenty-one, was discovered on October tenth, 1996, after she was abducted, killed, and dumped in the Missouri River near Dover in Lafayette County. Since then, nine more bodies have been recovered.
The killer is targeting the red light district and preying on prostitutes in the Independence Avenue area of Kansas City. In all cases, the young women are approximately the same height and weight, and authorities have warned women to be extra vigilant and report anything suspicious.
In total, ten women, including Christy Fugate, have been found murdered, but more have disappeared who police believe may have worked in the Independence Avenue area.
In March of 1997, Sherri Livingston’s body was discovered in the river nearby river. In April, it was Connie Wallace-Byas; the next day, Linda Custer; two weeks later, in May, Chandra Helsel’s body was found near Boonsville; and in April of 1998, Tammy Smith’s mutilated body was discovered near Sibly in the same river. The bodies of four other Kansas City women have been discovered along the water's edge. Police believe they too may be the victims of the mysterious Missouri River Killer.
The I-70/I-35 Killer
Between April of 1992, and November of 1993, numerous women were killed in small businesses along Interstates I-70 and I-35. All of the victims were young women in their 20s and 30s. Witnesses provided details to a sketch artist and the killer was described as mid 20s to mid 30s, with short reddish hair, standing about 5’8”.
At a Payless Shoe Store in Indianapolis, Robin Fuldauer, twenty-six, was murdered execution style on April 8, 1992. Just days later on April 11 at a bridal shop in Wichita, Kansas, Trisha Smith, twenty-three, and Patricia Magers, were taken to the backroom and each shot in the head. A customer entered the store just as the shots were being fired and he ran away and contacted the police. The customer later provided a composite of the killer.
Again, the killer struck on May 3 when he entered a store in St. Charles, just off of I-70, and shot and killed twenty-five year old Nancy Kitzmiller. Four days later, on May 7, he killed Sarah Blessing, thirty-seven, in a video store in Kansas City. There are possibly links to four more deaths along Interstates 35 and 45 in Texas. On September 25, 1993, antiques store clerk Mary Ann Glasscock, fifty-one, was killed execution-style in a Fort Worth, Texas antique store. On November 1 1993 Amy Vess, twenty-two, was murdered while working at a dancewear shop in Arlington, Texas.
A Task force was set up and many suspects were eliminated. The only lead police have is the sketch and the bullets that were recovered. Hopefully, someday they’ll find the gun and be able to take ballistics comparisons, which will lead to an arrest.
Serial Killer in Rapid City
Eight homeless men have appeared drowned over the last sixteen months in a stream that runs through a park in Rapid City, South Dakota. When the first few bodies turned up in the stream on the edge of the Black Hills, police thought nothing of it. As more men died, however, law officers became suspicious. “There's just too many of them to say it’s coincidence. But it could be,” said Police Chief Tom Hennies. The latest to die was Timothy Bull Bear Sr., forty-nine, from the town of Allen on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He was found in the creek on July 8.
