lovers' lane murders solved lovers' lane murders solved

The outlet noted that there were no clear signs of robbery or rape for any of these cases. Their bodies have never been found, but both are presumed dead. The lead investigator in the case believed that Pettinger had likely been hog-tied. When they didnt come home that night, their families assumed they had eloped, Sergeant Kadner said. It worked: DNA testing led investigators to a man named Kenneth Gould. "It was such a big case. Phil Matteson, a now-retired detective with the sheriff's office, sent that sample to a local lab for testing in 2001, and the team there identified sperm that did not belong to Bogle, her boyfriend, the paper reports. At night its dark and isolated,making it an ideal spot for couples to be romantic discreetly. ', Break down: Former FBI profiler Jim Clemente suggested the killer may have posed as law enforcement and reenacted what that would have looked like, Loss: Nearly a year after the first double homicide, David Knobling, 20, (L) and Robin Edwards, 14, (R) were found shot in the head along the bank of the James River in September 1987, 'Statistically, a lot of the personal attacks that we have on victims close to their faces are someone they knew,' she says. So if I was asked is this great modern technology a great thing, I would say, on balance, yes, for my generation, a generation once removed. She was determined She was also a Russian scholar. On October 3, 1937, 20-year-old Lewis Weiss and 20-year-old Francis Hajek were found dead in a lovers' lane area in Queens. Knobling had taken Edwards out with his younger brother and cousin that day. Sergeant Kadner said the crucial piece of evidence was a DNA sample from a sperm cell that had been collected from Ms. Kalitzkes body during her autopsy. Kalitzkes parents had their answer: their daughter hadnt eloped. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. They were last seen attending a party in the University Square area in Newport News, Virginia at 1:30 a.m. on April 10. Authorities initially believed they had gone swimming and drowned, but an extensive search of the river turned up no sign of them. Kidnapped? The sheriff called the lovers lane murder the most merciless and brutal Ive ever seen.. In 2014, retired Great Falls police Detective John Cameron wrote a book claiming Edward Wayne Edwards, a serial killer implicated in several murders similar to Kalitskes and Bogles, had done the deed. He was face down, and had been shot in the back of the head. Clue? We feellike we could be just as close to start to solve these cases. A new documentary is exploring a string of unsolved double homicides that occurred at a 'lovers' lane' in Virginia more than three decades ago, as experts try to figure out if the murders were the work of a serial killer or just a gruesome coincidence. And Becky was also extremely athletic. Scientists May Have Figured Out The Root Cause Of Gray Hair. that has never been solved and featured in one of . Several other additional homicides have also been tentatively linked to the four confirmed cases. [citation needed], In January 2010, a team from FBI Norfolk and FBI Headquarters met with the victims' families to update them on the status of the investigation. (Photo by Scott Neville/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images), Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for February 11, 'Fatal Attraction' behind the scenes secrets from the 1980s thriller, King Charles coronation intimate guest list includes notable snubs, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry 'disloyal' for 'trashing royal family,' need to 'find their own identity': ex pal, Katy Perry says she and fianc Orlando Bloom 'continuously put in the work to keep their relationship strong, Prince William will honor King Charles in his coronation role, Willie Nelson at 90: Texas legend shares a birthday to remember with George Strait, Snoop Dogg, and others. Meghan Markle's ex-BFF Jessica Mulroney visits the National Gallery and treats herself to a Who Were The Colonial Parkway Murder Victims? ', The wound to Becky's neck is nowhere near the degree that the wound to Cathy's neck is. She had been shot in the head, just as Bogle had been, but she had also been sexually assaulted. Mr. Gould, who was 29 in 1956, lived just over a mile from Ms. Kalitzkes house and kept horses about 600 yards from the house where she had grown up, Sergeant Kadner said. But their love story was brutally cut short by the actions of a killer whose identity would not be revealed for more than 60 years. One attack caused two fatalities, another resulted in one fatality, and the other attack caused no fatalities. They were living every parents worst fear. Hailey left her family's residence in Grafton, Virginia on April 9, 1988, when Call picked her up for their first date and they planned to spend the day together. Kalitzke died approximately an hour after Bogle. At first, Thomas said his family suspected Cathy and Dowski were victims of a hate crime. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, PrettyLittleThing - Offers on women's clothing, Get inspired by the newest styles and offers, Click through for ASOS promo codes this Autumn, Spend less with Missguided's exclusive codes, Treat yourself to offers on make-up and accessories, Check out the latest Wayfair sale to save on furniture. 'That tells me that either they were getting ready because they thought they were pulled over by a police officer or a park ranger, or whoever approached them pretended to be a cop or was a cop,'Clemente suggests. Kalitzke and Bogle went for a date at a drive-in movie on January 2nd, 1956, and were last spotted at 9 oclock. After murdering Bogle, his killer turned his attention to Kalitzke. It was their first date together, and Hall's first date since he broke up with his girlfriend of nearly four years. [32] and "Was the Colonial Parkway Killer Pretending to be Law Enforcement? Moderated by former FBI Special Agent Maureen O'Connell, the panel featured family members and advocates Joyce Call and Bill Thomas along with Blaine Pardoe, coauthor of a book on the case, A Special Kind of Evil: The Colonial Parkway Serial Killings. Before moving to Missouri in 1967, Gould had lived with his wife and children in the Great Falls area around the time of the murders, according to the Tribune. On June 1, their bodies were found at a remote campsite in the park about a quarter-mile from Skyline Drive off the Appalachian Trail. But two years before, in 2012, Detective Sgt. We're starting with a distant relative and trying to work back toward our unknown sample.". 'As a forensic criminologist, we take everything we know and we reconstruct the scene, each piece of evidence, breaking it apart, analyzing everyone individually, and then reassembling them into the mosaic that is the crime,' Pettler explains. At the time, she was also thinking about going to grad school and possibly studying international relations. "New Investigator Looking into the Colonial Parkway Murders", "Part 1 | Agent stalks dark path of serial killer", "Part 2 | Serial Killer's Trademark: Colonial Parkway Murders", "Part 3 | Scores of suspects but no serial killer", "Sensitive FBI photos from Colonial Parkway murders leaked to the public", "FBI takes new approach in hunt for Colonial Parkway killer", "A cold case heats up: The Colonial Parkway murders", "The Colonial Parkway Murders | Dark Minds", "After 30 years, relatives of victims in Parkway Murders hope for break in cases", "Colonial Parkway Murders: Help Find a Killer", "10 Disturbing Facts About The Colonial Parkway Murders", "Authorities have 'potential perpetrator DNA' in Colonial Parkway murders, family says", "Dateline Crime Capsule: The Colonial Parkway Murders", "Former deputy's death leaves Parkway victims' families wondering what he knew", "Sooner or Later Your Cousin's DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder", "Victims, Families and America's Thirst for True-Crime Stories", "Lovers' Lane Murders Sets Out to Solve the Infamous Colonial Parkway Murders", "Why Would Law Enforcement Not Release All Records On A Case Like The Colonial Parkway Murders? On September 23, 1987, Virginia salesman David Lee Knobling, 20, and eighth-grade Huntington Middle School student Robin Margaret Edwards, 14, were found shot to death around 100 feet away after being washed ashore with the tide in the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge, on the south shore of the James River in Isle of Wight County, near Smithfield, Virginia. In 2014, retired Great Falls police Detective John Cameron wrote a book claiming Edward Wayne Edwards, a serial killer implicated in several murders similar to Kalitske's and Bogle's, had done the deed. Thomas described the Colonial Parkway as a popular spot to travel along the river. Cathy Thomas (left) andRebecca Ann Dowski were dating at the time of their murders. They were never seen alive again. Ms. Kalitzkes sister has advanced dementia, Sergeant Kadner said. Investigating the terrible murders along lovers' lanes like this one in the beautiful Tuscan countryside, police uncovered a subculture that many Florentines found disturbing: these hills were. LA County Criminal Prosecutor. It s a place where instead of love, the couple met a terrible fate. "Cathy was somebody that could more than hold her own in any situation," he said. Fortunately, Kadner had something to work with. The linking of the four crimes is circumstantial, and no suspects have ever been publicly identified. Phelps had been dating Lauer's brother at the time they went missing. Cathy has been gone longer than she was with us. The note, which was undated and purportedly written by Phelps, indicated that she was to meet someone in a blue van at a rest stop. After he dropped her off that night, she snuck out to meet him. Then in April 1988, Keith Call, 20, and Cassandra Hailey, 18, disappeared after a college party, The Virginian-Pilot reported. 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. [4] While the Virginia State Police claim the information in this note was previously examined, one of the state police investigators working during the 1989 PhelpsLauer murders told a television reporter from WAVY-TV that he was "unaware of the existence of the note".[5]. They're the 'guilt-free' doughnuts with the same calories as a glass of milk - but are they any good? On August 17, 1984, Mike and Donna told their respective families they planned to go on a camping trip together. However, Thomas claimed new tips come in "every week or two," giving hope that these cold cases can be solved today. ", "We told her upfront and we express concern that going to the Naval Academy was going to be very tough," he continued. Newspaper reports at the time say she was fully clothed, but a vaginal swab was taken, even though there was no sign of sexual assault. Princess' abseiling trip to Wales with Prince William echoes a heartwarming childhood A new Coronation do? [18], In 2013, the Colonial Parkway murders were profiled in the Investigation Discovery television series Dark Minds, with host and true crime author M. William Phelps. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Laurie was not scheduled to be at work on March 9 and her family assumed she was staying with a friend. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Their killings went unsolved until this week when investigators announced they had cracked what is believed to be the oldest case solved with DNA and forensic genealogy. Investigators turned to genetic genealogy in 2018, after the authorities arrested Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the Golden State Killer, and accused him of committing 13 murders and nearly 50 rapes that terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s. The bodies of Julianne Marie Julie Williams, 24, and Laura Salisbury Lollie Winans, 26, were found by Park Rangers at the Shenandoah National Park on June 1, 1996, after Lollies golden retriever dog - Taj - was located wandering near the Whiteoak Canyon Trail and turned over to Rangers. Legal Statement. Bogles body was autopsied and sent back to Waco for burial; an unnamed person of interest, who had argued with Bogle, was questioned and released. Forensic genealogists first develop a DNA profile of the culprit. Three years later, someone else added: 'Beautiful and yet one of the scenes of a serial killerthat has never been solved and featured in one of Patricia Cornwell's earlier novels. Neither of them has been seen again. Laura was found inside the tent. Its like it just happened yesterday, Ms. McCarthy said. Market data provided by Factset. There was only one problem: Gould had died on May 31, 2007. The lover's lane murders just wouldn't be solved. His daughter basically said: You never know. Now Peter's sons learned that key pieces of evidence have gone. Armed with this knowledge, Kadner in 2019 sought out the assistance of Bode Technology. Inside The Unsolved Cases", "Inside the Maddening Search for Virginia's Colonial Parkway Serial Killer", "Murder Accountability Project: Tracking America's unsolved homicides", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colonial_Parkway_murders&oldid=1152289093, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, October 12, 1986 September 5, 1989 (Confirmed), This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 09:39. These killings, known as the Colonial Parkway murders, remain unsolved. It's been almost 35 years since a series of double homicides dubbed the Colonial Parkway murders began, and despite decades of investigations into the crimes that shocked and rocked Virginia, the killer, or possibly killers, still have not been identified. ", JONBENET RAMSEYS HALF BROTHER STILL WANTS TO FIND HER KILLER: THIS CASE CAN BE SOLVED, Part 1 and 2 of Oxygen's 'Lovers Lane Murders' airs Thursday night. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. With the strange real estate heir Robert Durst - who has multiple ties to Houston. Police assume Daniel died similarly. [10][11] Detective Steve Spingola who was asked to investigate the Colonial Parkway murders as a private investigator believed that the murders of Cathy and Rebecca were not related to the other Colonial Parkway murders at all and were, in fact, connected to the double homicide that occurred in Shenandoah National Park in 1996. It was the first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy. Police dogs tracked the two students scent to the York River shoreline. The Atlanta Lover's Lane Murders were a series of unsolved shooting attacks on three different couples in Atlanta, Georgia from January to March 1977. In September 1987, a truck belonging to David Knobling, 20, was found abandoned by the James River Bridge. Andy's body was discovered tied to a nearby tree. Knobling's black Ford Ranger pickup truck was discovered on Monday September 21, 1987, by a patrolling police officer at the refuge parking area next to the James River Bridge with the wipers, engine and radio still running and some articles of clothing inside near the Ragged Island Wildlife Management Area about two miles upriver from where their bodies would eventually be discovered. The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a term coined by the contemporary press, was a series of four unsolved serial murders and related violent crimes committed in and around the Texarkana region of Arkansas and Texas in the late winter and spring of 1946. Thomas's wallet was found open and face down on the floorboard of the driver's side, Horrific: Their bodies were found bound with rope inside the vehicle. Both driver and passenger side doors were unlocked with the keys still in the ignition. A year later in September 1989, the outlet reported Annamarie Phelps, 18, and Daniel Lauer, 21, vanishedfrom a rest stop in New Kent County. [2] The lesbian couple had been missing since the evening of October 9 after they had been seen leaving a computer lab at William & Mary College. In September 2009, it was discovered by CBS News affiliate WTKR that nearly 80 highly graphic crime scene photographs of Colonial Parkway murders victims were used to instruct a class by a retired and now deceased former FBI photographer. Kate nails sporty chic in 600 Mountain Equipment jacket, 110 jeans and 175 walking Time flies! Donnas body was found without shoes, no defensive wounds, and clutching pine needles leading investigators to believe that she and Margaret were actually killed where their bodies were found. The only way to prove his guilt or his innocence was to test the DNA of his remaining relatives. However, Cathy moved on and pursued a thriving career as a stockbroker. That lab finally found a break in the cold case, 45 years later: the vaginal swab contained a sperm cell that didnt belong to Bogle. From 1986 to 1989, four double homicides occurred either on or near the scenic, seemingly safe road. Both victims had been shot; Robin in the back of the head execution-style, and David twice, once in the head and once in the shoulder like he had been running from the killer. Adventure Princess! ', 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. (Oxygen). Where was their daughter? Gould, born and raised in Great Falls, lived there with his wife and children in 1956, a little over a mile from Kalitzke. ", "Was The Colonial Parkway Killer Pretending To Be Law Enforcement? "Two popular kids who were essentially gunned down in a Lover's Lane situation," said Kadner. She had been shot in the head and had injuries that were consistent with a struggle or a sexual assault, Sergeant Kadner said. Laurie Ann Powell Compton, 18, a Gloucester High School graduate, went missing on Tuesday March 8, 1988, after having an argument with her boyfriend which ended with Laurie getting out of his car. The causes of death included strangulation, gunshot, and stabbings. Had she been killed? In that case, the victims were similarly bound and stabbed. Speaking Russian was very important because they were, at the time, probably our top adversary in the world.". The jogger assumed that a drunk driver might have accidentally swerved there so they alerted a highway patrolman who arrived on scene and discovered Thomas and Dowski's bodies inside Thomas's white 1980 Honda Civic. ", NASHVILLE TV PRODUCER VERONICA BOZZAS MURDER EXPLORED IN TRUE CRIME DOC: THE WHOLE THING WAS SENSELESS, The James River as seen from College Creek Beach on the Colonial Parkway. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment. Mr. Gould died in 2007 at age 79 in Oregon County, Mo. The vehicle had veered off the beaten path and into thick, dense shrubbery, only a few feet from a 15-foot drop into the York River. The four episodes were to feature former FBI profiler Jim Clemente, as well as investigators including former FBI Agent Maureen O'Connell and former prosecutor Loni Coombs, together with crime scene reconstruction expert Dr. Laura Pettler. Sadly, to close the case, giving Kalitzke and Bogles families peace, Kadner had to confront the killers children. Why Urban Legends Surround Lovers' Lanes In 1986, a 23-mile scenic road run by the National Park Service in Virginia became indelibly linked with a series of double homicides that came to be called the Colonial Parkway murders. Bogle, an airman hailing from Texas, and Kalitzke, a junior at Great Falls High School, had fallen for each other and were even considering marriage, the Tribune reports. Some people just have secrets that they never told anybody, the sergeant recalled. 'Murder scenes have the sense of an aura.' Traci Rosenbaum/USA Today Network via Reuters Co. But even as he digitized the case, he knew theyd only solve the Kalitzke-Bogle murders with that sliver of DNA. EXCLUSIVE: Peter Thurgood and his lover Lindy Benstead were blasted at point-blank range in Rake, West Sussex, in April 1986. Cathy had graduated from the U.S. But the case still sat cold. JONBENET RAMSEY'S HALF BROTHER STILL WANTS TO FIND HER KILLER: 'THIS CASE CAN BE SOLVED' Part 1 and 2 of Oxygen's 'Lovers Lane Murders' airs Thursday night. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. That changed the whole dynamic of the case.". Both were involved in a lesbian relationship and on May 19, 1996, the two young women went on a camping trip in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Theyre excited, but at the same time, it has brought up a lot of memories, Kadner said. Pettinger's murder remains unsolved and occurred during and around the area where the Colonial Parkway murders took place. 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. The state coroner stated that Mike and Donna had likely died Ms. Kalitzke was a junior at Great Falls High School.