A Virginia State Police photograph showing the isolated logging trail from the air when the bodies were discovered. Their bodies were found over a month later on October 19th by hunters on a logging road about a mile away from the rest stop. A typically tranquil area, no one expected the Parkway to be the setting for a gruesome string of murders. October 9, 2017, marks the 31st anniversary of murders of Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski. She had been strangled with a [More], About The Book Retired from a big-city homicide beat to a small Colorado mountain town, ex-detective Woodrow "Mountain" Bell yearns only to fade away. on the unsolved Colonial Parkway Murders. Throughout the '80s, this thoroughfare was home to what's believed to have been 10 murders. But [Read More], In 1971 and 1972, a deadly predator stalked the streets of the nations capital. A Virginia State Police photo of the rest area on I-64 where Daniels car was found abandoned. Murderers tend to target solo victims. At least eight of these killings comprise the Colonial Parkway murders. The two women in the car were identified as Cathleen "Cathy" Thomas, a 27 . This contemporary photograph shows part of the boardwalk from the Ragged Island parking area to the beach area near where the bodies of David and Robin were found. Colonial Parkway Murders? No charges were ever filed in relation to any of the killings, and to this day they all remain unsolved, despite numerous investigations into the various deaths which took place along the scenic route. I also want to get Early Bird Books newsletter featuring book deals, recommendations, and giveaways. On October 12, 1986, a pedestrian saw a car down an embankment on the Colonial Parkway where it was obscured from the view of the road. The whistleblower who broke the story was a former deputy by the name of Fred Atwell. "I don't know what they're going to tell us," she said. Let's check it out. Then we come to the latest, and presumed to be the final, set of victims: A pair of women who'd been camping together in 1996. As with everything in her life, her career as a stockbroker was a stunning success. ', Unsolved mystery: A team of experts delve into the Colonial Parkway murders in Virginia in the 1980s in Oxygen's two-night true-crime special Lovers' Lane Murders, Deep dive: Forensic criminologist Laura Pettler explains in a preview clip that her job is to 'take everything we know and we reconstruct the scene', The site: The Colonial Parkway in Virginia - a 23-mile stretch of road known as Lovers' Lane (pictured) - was the site of four double homicides in the 1980s, all of which remain unsolved. I think we understand where it came from. Daniels Chevy Nova. The murderer in the Colonial Parkway killings was never captured, and Steve Spingola, a private detective, believes he knows why. Every Thursday night they stole away and parked in the same pull-off along the Parkway. He had some legal problems involving a marriage to an underage girl but was preparing to move on with his life. . Nearly a year later, David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, were found shot in the head, execution-style after their bodies had washed up along the bank of the James River at Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge onSeptember 22, 1987. Someone has leaked graphic crime-scene photographs of the most notorious serial killings in Virginia history, the Colonial Parkway murders. Thanks, Bill Thomas Virginia's Colonial Parkway runs a relatively short 23 miles, from Jamestown to Yorkstown, passing through Williamsburg and thereby connecting all of Virginia's famous "Historic Triangle." Part of the Colonial National Historic Park, the scenic route is designed with sightseeing in mind. A ransom note was found in the home, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. Over the years, police have questioned 150 suspects in connection to these four cases, but all have been cleared. The 31-year-old tattoo artist loved walking her dog by the seaside and meeting friends at cafes and public gardens. Whatever the details, you're enjoying alone time, thinking this night is as delightful as any date can be, when a third, uninvited individual shows up and turns your romantic date into a horror show. A day later, CallLess's Toyota Celica was found at a York River overlook that was only a few miles away from whereThomas and Dowski had been murdered two years prior. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Independent Contractor (Newspaper Carrier), Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone, Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office ends affiliation with Reelz TV show 'On Patrol: Live', Former Virginia basketball coach Terry Holland dies after battling Alzheimer's. . The Colonial Parkway Murders were a series of homicides that occurred between October 1986 and September 1989. Annamaria Phelps locket as found on the logging trail. They were headed to Virginia Beach together, but they weren't a couple. The Colonial Parkway is a historic and scenic road that links together the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktow. Look for Book Three in 2023! Like Thomas and Dowski, Winans and Williams were bound and had their throats slit nearly to the point of decapitation. Searching for chills? Her brother Keith was killed on a first date with Cassandra Hailey. This is one of the most fascinating unsolved murder sprees ever recorded, and the Colonial Parkway Killer is truly one of the most frightening serial killers who was never caught. Diesel fuel had been poured over the bodies and their car, but it failed to ignite. According to the Daily Press, Spingola was hired by Annamaria Phelps' family to look into the girl's murder. Fired RPS employee sues school district, alleges misuse of federal funds, Farmville native caught with 42 lbs of cocaine, $862K in drug money gets 17 years, Ashland dairy farm announces Farmview Creamery to help modernize business, Diablo Doughnuts dishes up Unicorn Farts and more yeast doughnuts in Glen Allen, Norment, long among the most powerful in the Capitol, is retiring, Bezos 'ban' may speed up Commanders sale as league meeting looms, Mechanicsville man charged with 10 child porn counts, Wave of poison attacks on schoolgirls across Iran is raising alarms, Bakhmut battle intensifies as Russia bears down on Ukrainian city. Biden honors 20 years of the Homeland Security Dept. His brother's girlfriend was the second half of the murdered pair. It's possible they just hadn't found the right fit for acting out on their illness, or that the killer was growing, evolving, branching out their system to better sate dark desires and lessen the possibility of being caught. On October 12, 1986, a pedestrian saw a car down an embankment on the Colonial Parkway where it was obscured from the view of the road. . Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 69-year-old suffers stroke in his N.C. home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. Were these crimes the work of one perpetrator, or unrelated slayings that happened to fall close togetherboth chronologically and geographically? Tracey Cox asks men the Hannah Betts' Better not younger: Secret to longer, thicker locks? One big name in the case has always been Fred Atwell; he was a deputy at the time of the initial cases. It was run by the record label Factory Records.. Princess Diana's nieces Lady Eliza and Amelia share Fabulous in fuchsia! They unloaded their belongings alongside the other stacks labeled, AMERICA, MINNESOTA, ILLINOIS, MICHIGAN, NEW YORK CITY, [More], Copyright 2023 WildBlue Press. They called a highway patrolman who arrived on scene to make the gruesome discovery of the bodies of two young women in the car. A number of people saw this on the parkway after the party, including his brother Chris. Crime: Eight people were murdered at the Colonial Parkway over a four-year span, starting with the slaying of Cathy Thomas, 27, (L) and Rebecca 'Becky' Dowski, 21, (R) in October 1986, Loss Thomas and Dowski had been dating for several months and went missing on October 9, 1986, after they were seen leaving the College of William and Mary computer lab together, Murder: Thomas's white 1980 Honda Civic, had been pushed down an embankment off of the Colonial Parkway in Williamsburg. There were two pairs of underwear, shoes, and Davids wallet found in the car, which ruled robbery out as a probable motive. ", Hanlon referred calls this week to Vanessa Torres, a spokeswoman for the Norfolk FBI office. They all died at night. In total, 4 pairs of people were targeted, resulting in eight murders and six bodies found. As investigators descended upon the apartment, one of them picked up a camera and photographed the scene. All of thatmeans the Colonial Parkway killer had their work cut out for them, since they're believed to have killed, as Colonial Ghosts points out, between four and five couples. I would like to know how they got their hands on the pictures.". The former officer in question, Fred Atwell, had also inserted himself into the investigation several times, according to HuffPost. I was pleased that the victims were truly brought to life and we were able to learn more about them very well done! However, some do not think these murders were the work of a serial killer, but rather by at least two or more separate killers. For three years, between October 1986 and September 1989, at least eight people were killed or went missing along this short stretch of scenic road. 'People are attracted to spots of strong emotion,' she said. It doesn't seem as if they knew each other in the slightest. But that isn't the case for this killer. A ransom note was found in the home, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. This is to collate clues and evidence and assemble them into a comprehensible whole; in doing so revealing more clues that could potentially lead to new evidence that unmasks the culprit. Do you hate foreplay? Joyce Call's brother was one of the victims. Whether this additional double homicide, which took place some seven years after the last of the Colonial Parkway murders, is actually the work of the same killer or notor whether there was more than one, unrelated killer involved in the slayings along the Colonial Parkwayare questions that may never be answered. How they got out is now the core of an FBI investigation, and source of disgust for the families who lost loved ones. 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