They were reported missing on April 10, 1988, and Calls red Toyota Celica was found at the York River Overlook along the Colonial Parkway on April 11. It was the young couples very first date. From pull-offs featuring lush foliage, to memorials, tunnels, and bridges charged with centuries of American history, there's a little something for everyone. They're no longer there.". Were David and Robin marched down this walkway for a mile to the beach only to be killed there? 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You saw Dr. Pettler in the four part true crime TV series, "Lovers Lane Murders" on the Oxygen Network. Plus crime scene photos. Your email address will not be published. The First Murders. Its isolation and lack of patrols by the NPS made it a perfect place for murder or to dispose of a vehicle/bodies. Autopsies performed on the bodies found that both women had been bound and strangled before their deaths, and afterward, the car and the bodies had been soaked in diesel fuel. The Colonial Parkway Murdersthe name given eight murders that took place in the Tidewater [Read More], On Christmas Night 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. The first of the killings, that of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Ann Dowski, he said, was a hate crime, committed by someone who targeted lesbian couples. Logically, this is the most easily accessible place at Ragged Island for the two young victims to have reached the water. Atwell, who lives in Williamsburg, said he first saw the slides at a school for private investigators where an FBI agent had once helped teach a class. They had been strangled and their throats were slashed, though there was no evidence of sexual assault. In total, 4 pairs of people were targeted, resulting in eight murders and six bodies found. For four years a killer, or killers, stalked Virginia's Tidewater region, carefully selecting victims and terrorizing the local community. 'Urban legends usually come out of some seed of truth,' former prosecutor and Lovers Lane Murders co-host Loni Coombs explains in a preview clip. Between 1986 and 1989, three young couples were found brutally murdered while one couple is still missing and presumed dead, on or near the Colonial Parkway, a roadway that connects Jamestown,. They all died at night. Snow is somewhat rare for most of the state with the upstate receiving it more often. You have permission to edit this article. Hanlon declined to explain what happened between Atwell's first complaints, and this recent scramble to retrieve the photographs. 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. The pair is thought to have been murdered, though there's no way we can say that for sure since their bodies, as Colonial Ghosts notes, have never been found. On October 12, 1986, a jogger found Cathy Thomas's white Honda Civic pushed down an embankment just off of the Colonial Parkway and called the police. The other two happened in the mid-'90s, and their connection to the originals remains a highly debated topic. I am almost finished with this book after watching the Oxygen documentary special recently I became very intrigued and wanted more information. The photo was taken in an abandoned Illinois barn, where Rhoades killed Walters after cutting off her hair and making her wear a black dress and heels. About a year and a half later, two more young people went missing near the Colonial Parkway. After he dropped her off that night, she snuck out to meet him. Why would this killer switch things up? The couple had been missing since the evening of October 9th after they had been seen leaving a computer lab. Authorities suspect that the perpetrator planned to burn the car and its contents to cover their tracks, but for whatever reason never did. Their bodies were found on June 1st. running on the Oxygen Network . If Call wanted to make a good impression, it was his job to have her home by 2 a.m. Their deaths had been brutal. It's unclear what they were doing together. Their throats were slashed so deeply that Thomas was nearly decapitated.. I just don't think it's right.". Someone has leaked graphic crime-scene photographs of the most notorious serial killings in Virginia history, the Colonial Parkway murders. Sept. 23, 1987: The bodies of David Knobling, 20, left, of Hampton and Robin Edwards, 14, of Newport News washed ashore on the James River at the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge. It's not illegal. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 2,940 Shares. Fred Atwell clearly rekindled the efforts of law enforcement on the Colonial Parkway murders with his release of the crime scene photographs to the media. This recent image shows the only marker at Ragged Island, a gunshot sign. He had some legal problems involving a marriage to an underage girl but was preparing to move on with his life. And why did the horror stop as abruptly as it had begun? You know, all his belongings.". "These were human beings. This scandal is why I became so much more involved in my sister Cathy's case and the Colonial Parkway Murders in general. 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. The two women had been bound with rope and strangled, and the killer had slit their throats so deeply that they were nearly decapitated. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. One of the first famous crime scene photos was taken on May 5, 1903, in the home of a Parisian woman named Madame Debeinche who had been murdered. Like Thomas and Dowski, Winans and Williams were bound and had their throats slit nearly to the point of decapitation. Or could there be four killers roaming free? They detail where the knives slashed and the bullets struck. Cassandra, aka Sandy and Missy was fun loving, vibrant, and energetic. Detective Steve Spingola was asked to investigate the Colonial Parkway Murders as a private investigator. One of the most infamous murders in this area is the Colonial Parkway Murders. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of a nightmare, not the end of one. [1] During that time, three couples were murdered and one couple is missing and presumed to be dead. The second pair of victims, David Knobling and Robin Edwards, had just met before heading out to a local makeout spot, where they were attacked, according to NBC. | Crime News, Do not sell or share my personal information. Atwell says they asked for his copies, and seized photographs from the school, too. If he does, I hope he comes forward with that information soon.. ben suarez bread / joseph wiley kim burrell / casey's nickelodeon murders crime scene photos. The FBI has effectively reopened the case as a result of losing control of graphic crime scene photographs of the Colonial Park Murders. Bill contacts the other Colonial Parkway Murders families for the first time. 'Murder scenes have the sense of an aura.' FBI aerial photograph of the pull-over spot where Keith Calls car was found the day after their date. Tragic, but important story and one not heard of before ( west coast reader). "They told me there was no crime. 10 The First Murders Photo credit: Wild Blue Press Current day image of where Cathy Thomass car was discovered. Whats more, he believed that the same killer was responsible for the 1996 murder of Lollie Winans and Julianne Williams, another couple who were killed in a similar fashion while camping in Shenandoah National Park. His conclusions were that the Colonial Parkway slayings were committed by several different individuals, for different reasons. A ransom note was found in the home, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. Call's Toyota Celica was found off Colonial Parkway at the York River Overlook the next morning, but there were no bodies in it and no obvious signs of death. Without any leads, the case went cold. However, the car was. The Colonial Parkway is a beautiful stretch of highway which cuts through the Colonial National Historical Park in South-East Virginia. Fred Atwell says this investigation into the leaked photos shouldn't be hard. Some aspects of the killings fly in the face of the patterns of other serial killers, and some of the facts don't quite add up. A ransom note was found in the home, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. His targets, young girls who he kidnapped, raped, and left their remains along busy roadways in plain view. The car was found on the westbound side of the highway, the opposite direction of their destination, which confused police. A serial killer or killer (s) roamed scenic Colonial Parkway in the late 1980s. 'Lovers lanes they are places that killers target. The locations of the two sets of murders were just 30 minutes apart, and investigators linked the cases together, but both of them have remained unsolved. Why Movieland says you have to be 17 to attend a movie after 7:30 p.m. . On April 10, 1988,Christopher Newport University students Richard CallLess, 20, andCassandra Hailey, 18, vanished after attending a party together in Newport News. They were found dead with their throats cut in a way that was just inches of flesh away from full decapitation. For the second time in a month, authorities in Virginia are investigating a former deputy sheriff who has ties to the Colonial Parkway murders -- a series of unsolved homicides that began in. The place is a sightseeing extravaganza brimming with historical points, scenic pull-offs, markers . In the late 1980s, one possible serial killer in Virginia claimed at least eight lives along a certain stretch of road connecting the two historically important cities of Jamestown and Yorktown. Cathy Thomas, a 27-year-old graduate of the Naval Academy, and Rebecca 'Becky' Dowski, a 21-year-old student at the College of William and Mary, were the first two known victims in the homicides that have been dubbed the Colonial Parkway murders. Spingola believes that the two sets of murders were hate crimes committed by the same perpetrator. He had a young pregnant girlfriend and was just starting a new career. He could work magic on a safe that would have sent Mandrake the Magician [More], On an unseasonably warm April evening in 2001, the headless body of a tiny girl was found discarded in a makeshift dump site in the woods on the southeast side of Kansas City, Missouri. None of the victims were robbed, and sexual assault did not appear to be a motive in any of the cases. Robin Edwards, a spitfire youngster who was more mature than her physical years. Keith Call's car. I am Bill Thomas, brother of Cathleen Thomas, one of the first two victims in the Colonial Parkway Murders case, who died in Williamsburg, Virginia on October 12, 1986. Fred Atwell, a former deputy from Gloucester, began informing the family members of victims that valuable crime scene photos - containing images of the . It is easy to see how the vehicle was overlooked for so long. Knobling had taken Edwards out with his younger brother and cousin that day. Diesel fuel had been poured over the bodies and their car, but it failed to ignite. Its proximity to where Becky and Cathy were found a year earlier should have been a clue to the park rangers but it was one they chose to ignore. They were couples in cars. Daniel Lauer + Annamaria Phelps . A crime scene photograph showing the roadway leading back into the woods. There's less of a chance that a single victim will get away or fight back. A crime scene photograph of some of the investigator at the recovery site. Daniels plan was to move in with his brother Clinton and Clintons girlfriend, Annamaria Phelps. A crime blog referencing unsolved criminal cases. Queen Letizia of Spain cut an elegant figure in a matching pink skirt and top as she Who Were The Colonial Parkway Murder Victims? "It's an unsolved crime, number one. There were two pairs of underwear, shoes, and Davids wallet found in the car, which ruled robbery out as a probable motive. On Columbus Day weekend in 1986, their bodies were found in a white Honda Civic parked at one of the many scenic overlooks which dot the Colonial Parkway. They had met at an arcade earlier that day, and Robin had snuck out later that night to meet up with David. On their return trip to Virginia Beach they encountered their killer(s). And. I can only hope these murders, like other recent cases from decades back, can still be solved and the victims loved ones can get some answers (especially the Call and Hailey families, who dont even have the remains). As investigators descended upon the apartment, one of them picked up a camera and photographed the scene. Cathy Thomas and Rebecca Dowski After Atwell spoke to NewsChannel 3, we called the FBI. Further, not all experts believe these final victims were connected to others, due to timing and other factors.