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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode contains violence
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against children that won't be suitable for all listeners it was a bombing afternoon in the United States capital
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of Washington DC on Sunday April 25 1971 Allen teen Spinks left her apartment on
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Waller place southeast in Congress Heights to visit a nun who lived on the other side of town before she left
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Allen teen warned her children they were not to leave while she was gone the 24 year old daughter Valerie lived in a
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different apartment within the same complex at around 7 p.m. she dropped in to ask if one of the older children
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could do her a favor by running out to buy some groceries from the nearby 7-eleven convenience store
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she knew their mother would disapprove but it was a trip the youngest Binx children had made many times before aunt
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Valerie trusted them to take the 7 block journey alone 13-year old Carol agreed to complete the errand tempted by the
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offer of a free soda Valerie handed her little sister a five-dollar bill and instructed her to
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purchase a loaf of bread 5 TV dinners and the drink for herself as Carol set out wearing blue gym shorts and a red
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sweater she soon ran into her mother who was returning from her day out Allen teen was not pleased that Carol
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had disobeyed her orders she told her to continue with the errand but to come straight home afterwards where she would
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then be punished caryl agreed and hurried off to the store three hours past then Carol still
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hadn't returned home concerned her family contacted friends and neighbors to see if anyone had heard from her
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they also contacted the 7-eleven and to the clerk explained that Carol had entered the store at around 7:40 p.m.
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she purchased the items her sister had requested but there had been no sightings after that Allen teen called
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The Washington Metropolitan Police and reported her daughter missing over 40 members of the local community
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joined the Sphynx family in scouring the neighborhood and surrounding areas and door-knocking homes the search continued
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for days but there were no sightings or contact from Carol six days later an approximately 2:00 p.m. on Saturday May
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1 1971 several children were playing on an embankment outside the st. Elizabeth Hospital alongside the Suitland Parkway
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a busy nine mile freeway in Southeast Washington an 11 year old boy wandered away from the group onto a grassy mound
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where he came upon the body of a young girl he waved down a passing police patrol car the body was identified as
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that of Carol Spinks who was dressed in the same clothes that she had been wearing on the day she left home - her
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shoes from the way she was positioned on her back it appeared as though Carol had
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either been thrown down the embankment from the freeway or had been dragged to the location then autopsy concluded she
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had been sexually assaulted and strangled with her death occurring two to three days before she was found
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green fibers were recovered on her body and undigested citrus fruit was found in
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her stomach Carol's family confirmed she had not consumed any citrus fruit on the day she
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went missing this detail combined with the level of decomposition indicated that her killer had likely fed and kept
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her alive for several days after her abduction [Music] news of Carol's Vince's murder received
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very little coverage in the media the police did not disclose whether they had any leads or suspects and revealed very
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little about their investigative efforts into identifying her killer on the morning of Thursday July 8 to 1971
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16 year-old Darlene eyo Johnson woke and prepared herself for the day ahead she lived on wheeler Road southeast in
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Congress Heights just a few blocks from the Spinks apartment and attended the same school as Carroll although the two
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girls didn't know one another Darlene iya had recently landed a summer job as a youth counselor at the auxin
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run recreation center which was close enough to her home that she could walk to and from work each day that day in
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addition to her regular shift she would be staying at the rec center overnight as they were holding a special sleepover
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for the kids in the neighborhood Darlene eyo dressed in a green sweater blue blouse blue shorts and a red white and
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blue striped miniskirt and reminded her mother not to expect her home that night
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she said goodbye and began her walk to work heading down the same street Carol Spinks traversed nine weeks earlier
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later that evening Darlene ia's mother Helen was informed that her daughter had failed to show up for work she
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immediately called friends and neighbors but nobody had seen Darlie Nia or had any idea where she could be
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helen spent the night sick with worry hoping Darlene er would walk through the door but when there still hadn't been
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any sign of her by the next morning Helen contacted the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and filed
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a missing person report a week later a driver on the interstate 295 Highway was having car trouble and pulled over
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stopping 15 feet from where Carroll Sphynx body had been found there within the heavy brush he noticed what looked
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like a human body and called the police there was the second call they had received - that morning about a possible
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sighting of human remains in the area a patrol car was sent out to investigate but the dispatched officers drove by the
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site without getting out of their vehicle unable to see a body they deduced it was a false sighting and left
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the scene on Monday July 19 eleven days after Darlene iya went missing one of the witnesses returned to the side of
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the highway curious to know the outcome of their grim discovery to their surprise the body was still in
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the same place it had been when they reported it days prior this time when the police were called they located the
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body exposure to the hot summer weather had left the body heavily decomposed and
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it was not possible to make an immediate identification the remains were taken to
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the County coroner's office where fingerprints and clothing were used to identify the body to be Delaney O
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Johnson the 16 year old was fully clothed in the outfit she was last seen wearing and - just the like Carol Spinks
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her shoes were also missing decomposition prevented the coroner from determining the cause of death or if she
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had been sexually assaulted once again the police conducted door knocks in the Congress Heights area
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seeking any information about the teenager's death one witness reported seeing Darlie Nia getting into an old
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black car being driven by a black male six days before Darlene ia's body was discovered a motorist - driving roughly
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25 miles south of Washington along Highway Route two to eight in Waldorf Maryland spotted a body on the side of
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the road it was 14 year old Angela Barnes who had disappeared a week earlier on Monday July 12 after leaving
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a friend's house at 11:45 p.m. to walk the 10 blocks to her home on Martin Luther King jr. Avenue in Congress
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Heights Angela was found fully clothed with a fatal gunshot wound to the back of her head connections were immediately
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drawn between her murder and to that of Karol Spinks and Darlie Nia Johnson but there were some differences while
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Carroll and Darlie Nia had both been strangled in what appeared to be a sexually motivated attack and disposed
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of Nia where they were last seen Angela showed no signs of sexual assault and had been shot then left a considerable
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distance from her last known whereabouts all three girls were fully clothed but Angela still had shoes on whereas
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Carroll and Darlie Nia did not however the similarities were also uncanny all three victims lived in the Congress
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Heights area and were of similar age race and appearance they were all abducted while walking the streets of
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their neighborhood and - their bodies had been left on the side of a highway the police were reluctant to admit that
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all three murders were carried out by the same perpetrator but couldn't ignore the similarities three young women being
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violently murdered under similar circumstances in less than a three-month period should have been major news but
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the cases were receiving very little coverage many members of the community believed it was due to the color of the
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victims skin in 1971 DC was in a state of racial turmoil three years earlier in April 1968 Nobel Peace Prize winning
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Baptist minister and civil rights activist Reverend Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated in Tennessee during a
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visit to support African American public sanitary workers as one of the leading and most influential advocates fighting
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against racial inequality Reverend King's murder triggered riots across the country particularly in DC where 70% of
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the population was african-american despite being the majority population people of color were subject to racial
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segregation injustice workplace discrimination deficient education opportunities and police brutality
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Martin Luther King Jr's death sparked four days of violent protests of fires and looting throughout DC leaving 13
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people dead and almost 1,000 businesses significantly damaged as Washington DC's
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police force was predominantly white the widespread distrust of law enforcement remained for many years that followed on
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Wednesday July 21 Congress Heights residents called a press conference outside Karol Spinks apartment building
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where a crowd of 75 people protested the lack of police and media attention over
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the three murders Calvin ro lark editor and publisher of weekly newspaper The Washington Informer
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enter president of the Washington Highland Civic Association accused the police of failing to give equal
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treatment to crimes in the southeast saying it took up to six hours for police to respond when called to their
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neighborhoods Calvin stated if they won't protect us we'll have to protect ourselves form
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vigilantes he was also critical of the media's inadequate coverage of the murders remarking if it was a blue-eyed
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white girl from Silver Spring her picture would have been all over page one a concerned citizen who had helped
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organized the search for Carroll Spinks blamed city officials for failing to install proper street lighting in
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lower-income neighborhoods stating we're sick and tired of the deaths of our girls we get no help from the police at
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all given the community felt overlooked young local men were encouraged to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious and to
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arm themselves with rocks in case they needed to help fend off an attacker dolly Nia Johnson's mother Helen said I
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thought this was a nice neighborhood we want protection out here we're a bunch of Forgotten people in response to this
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criticism law enforcement maintained that the number of vehicles and helicopters patrolling the area had been
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increased they stated that there was no physical evidence to link the three murders but announced that a
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seven-member task force had been formed to investigate the crimes less than a week later on Tuesday July
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27 10 year-old Brenda Crockett was spending the warm evening splashing in a fire hydrant on her Street 12th place in
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Northwest Washington at around 8 p.m. her mother reads they asked her to go to the store to grab a loaf of bread and
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some pet food Rita told Brenda to take a companion with her neither her 7 year old sister Berthe or a friend Brenda set
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out on the 5 block walk to the nearby Safeway market dressed in blue and white floral shorts and a matching top with
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pink rollers in her hair when her daughter failed to reappear half an hour later
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Rita realized that Brenda did not follow her instructions and had embarked on the
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errand alone she conducted a frantic search of the local streets but her child was nowhere to be seen an hour and
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20 minutes had passed since Brenda left when at approximately 9:00 20p a.m. the phone rang at the Crockett home
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seven-year-old Bertha answered hearing her older sister's voice on the other line
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clearly sobbing Brenda explained that a white man had picked her up but he was now sending her home in a cab she said
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she thought she was in Virginia a neighboring state before abruptly saying goodbye and hanging up the phone 25
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minutes later the phone rang for a second time Rita's partner Theodore answered it was Brenda again who was
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still crying Theodore asked if she knew whereabouts in Virginia she was to which Brenda
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responded a white man took me on the loan in a house with a white man theodore instructed her to put the men
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on the phone telling her he could come and pick her up Brenda then asked did my mother see me
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I'm sure what she meant Theodore repeated his request to speak to the man but Brenda explained he was outside
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Theodore then heard heavy footsteps in the background prompting Brenda to whisper quickly well
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I'll see you before the line went dead at 5:50 a.m. the following morning the police received a phone call from a
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hitchhiker who had discovered the body of a young girl lying in full view on a grassy mound alongside the John Hanson
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Highway in the Maryland town of Cheveley near an underpass West that the Kenilworth Avenue exit the body was
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confirmed to be that of Brenda Crockett the ten-year-old was nine miles from home positioned to face up with her arms
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above her head some investigators believed she had been thrown from a vehicle she had been sexually assaulted
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and strangled to death with a scarf knotted around her neck and was wearing the same outfit she had left her house
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in but was barefoot the similarities to the murders of Carol Spinks and Delaney o Johnson were clear however Brenda's
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body was found in Prince George's County some 20 miles from where the other girls
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bodies were discovered during her harrowing phone calls home Brenda stated her whereabouts are somewhere in
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Virginia investigators theorized that the killer had fed her misleading information and may have forced Brenda
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to make the calls to buy some time and to throw off police her question in the second call as to whether her mother had
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seen her led to the possibility that wreathen knew her daughter's a doctor and he was checking to see if he had
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been seen with Brenda another possibility was that Brenda spotted her mother during her captivity perhaps
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while Rita was wandering the local streets looking for her news of Brenda's murder spread causing
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the usually vibrant streets of her former neighborhood to empty as children were kept inside
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one resident remarked we usually have lots of gangs going on in the street but nobody's been acting right today I think
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everyone is disturbed on Friday October 1 a little over two months after Brenda's murder construction worker
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William Yates asked his twelve-year-old daughter Nana moja if she could go to the store
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to pick up some sugar flour and paper plates his wife Nana Moshe is stepmother had recently
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given birth and William was heading to the hospital to visit her and his newborn he trusted Nana Moshe
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wholeheartedly as the second oldest of his four children she was mature and could be relied on dressed in brown
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shorts a sweatshirt and white tennis shoes nana moshe left her family's apartment building on Benning Road
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southeast in Washington DC at approximately 7:00 p.m. and made her way towards the Safeway market store located
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at the end of her street when william returned from the hospital he noticed Nana Moshe wasn't home after calls to
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friends and neighbors failed to locate her William ran to the Safeway market where
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staff confirmed she had arrived earlier and purchased the items on her grocery list less than three hours later her
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hitchhiker was walking along Pennsylvania Avenue in Maryland less than half a mile off the freeway when
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they came across a grassy area holding the still warm body of men emoji a Yates the 12 year old was fully clothed
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except for her white tennis shoes which were missing denim oh she is house key in $2 91 in loose change was scattered
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next to her body along with a bag of sugar she had been sexually assaulted and strangled with such force that her
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esophagus had been broken there was a small scratch on her forehead and green fibers on her body a
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Safeway Market employee said that the morning after Nana Moshe had visited the store they found a bag of flour and a
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pack of paper plates outside near the front entrance police suspected Nana Moshe had likely been abducted as soon
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as she had left the store causing her to drop two of her grocery items a local resident recalled seeing the young girl
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getting into a blue Volkswagen with a Marylander license plate on the night of her disappearance police tracked down
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and seized 25 vehicles matching this description but found no evidence to suggest any of the owners had been
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involved in the crime from the outset detectives had admitted there were similarities between Nana mo she is
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death and two the other four unsolved murders and increased their task force to include 40 investigators they came
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from various divisions including the Washington Metropolitan Prince George's County and Montgomery County Police
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Department's the Maryland State Police and the FBI the crimes finally started receiving widespread media coverage with
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the press naming the unknown killer the freeway phantom 18 year old Brenda Woodard had recently moved out of the
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home she shared with her parents and five siblings on Maryland Avenue Northeast in DC after some recent
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disputes with her parents Brenda relocated to a friend's place across the courtyard the move was only
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temporary and she stayed in regular contact with her family on the night she found out about Nana moja latest murder
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Brenda called her mother to warn her to keep an extra close eye on her younger sisters on the evening of Monday
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November 15 Brenda visited her fear Emily requesting a ride to Cardozo High School where she was attending night
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classes to obtain typing and shorthand skills throughout the summer she had worked as a counselor for the
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Department of Recreation and was seeking more stable employment her father agreed
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to drop her off giving her a kiss goodbye and telling her to give him a call if she couldn't find a lift home in
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which case he or one of her youngest sisters would come and pick her up Brenda attended class and afterwards
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joined a classmate for a late dinner at a nearby restaurant Ben's Chili Bowl the
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pair decided to catch the bus home together and at 10:25 p.m. they boarded a bus on the corner of 8th and Haight
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Street northeast as it didn't travel directly to Brenda's neighborhood she had to switch buses halfway through the
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journey just before 11:00 p.m. she said goodbye to her friend and disembarked to
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wait at the nearby stop for the line that would take her back home to Maryland Avenue
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the following morning rush hour traffic along the Maryland Route 202 highway was
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at a standstill Mary wooded had been waiting over an hour for a bus to attend a doctor's appointment when a passing
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security guard told her there had been a delay his traffic was hauled up due to the discovery of a man's body off route
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202 as Mary began walking to a different bus stop she saw crowds of police press
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and onlookers gathered on the other side of the road near the shoulder of the highway a little further on she noticed
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the Weig of lying in the middle of the road and recognized that a similar to one that belonged to her eighteen year
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old daughter Brenda unable to get the week out of her mind Mary returned home from her doctor's
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appointment just before midday to find her phone ringing off the hook it turned out the body found on highway
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202 hadn't been a man after all but a young woman Mary received a call from her daughter's house May informing her
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that Brenda hadn't returned home after her classes the night before a panic-stricken Mary called the police to
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report her daughter missing and today arrived to the wooded House to present photographs of the body found on
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the grassy embankment along highway 202 it was Brenda Woodard at 5:00 a.m. earlier that morning a police officer
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was conducting his routine patrol on hospital Drive in Cheveley when he sighted Brenda's body she was fully
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clothed wearing a black and white checkered skirt a black turtleneck sweater which was inside out a pair of
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black boots and a maroon velvet coat that had been draped over her body she had been sexually assaulted strangled
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and stabbed in the chest six times the deep wound to her breastbone proving fatal a small bone in her neck was
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broken due to strangulation and defensive wounds indicated she had put up a fight two human hairs were found on
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her body one from a Caucasian person and one from an african-american person as this was before the implementation of
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DNA testing the hairs were not deemed to be vital evidence as there was no way for investigators to know whether they
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had come from the killer an officer at the scene or someone else Brenda had bumped into prior to her attack inside
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the pocket of her coat was a piece of white notebook paper with a handwritten message that read this is tantamount to
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my insensitivity to people especially women I will admit the others when you catch
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me if you can the note was signed the freeway phantom the paper had been cut from Brenda's
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school notebook and FBI handwriting experts ascertained it was penned by Brando herself it was believed the
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killer forced her to write the note as he dictated the message however as the writing was neat and showed no signs of
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fear or panic some investigators theorized that Brenda may have known her killer and he had asked her to write the
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note under the guise of being a joke before launching his attack if the killer was unknown to Brenda police had
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a no explanation for why the note was written the way it was on Wednesday November 17 the day after Brenda woods
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body was found her press conference was held wherein a special phone tip line was announced Washington Metropolitan
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Police Inspector Malin Pitts had admitted that while it was impossible to ignore the similarities between the six
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murders he was unable to confirm for certain whether they were connected he acknowledged the pattern that had
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emerged in which each of the victims had been young black females who were residents of the Washington DC area and
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had been killed in a similar manner before being left near the side of a busy highway a majority of the girls had
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also been left without their shoes although there was a significant age gap between the youngest victim 10 year-old
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Brenda Crockett and two the eldest 18 year old Brenda Woodard the latter appeared youthful and could have been
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mistaken for being younger inspector Pitts said investigators were keeping an open mind about the possibility that
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separate killers were responsible but were staging their crimes to fit the circumstances of the other cases to
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detract attention from themselves in anticipation of people coming forward to make false confessions the police
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withheld details about the note found in Brenda woods pocket ensuring only the killer would know this information he
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clarified that there were no direct links between any of the victims and that none of the girls were known to one
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another he said that the police were working hard to solve the murders but had no leads and were uncertain how many
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perpetrators were involved the police strongly believed that the victims had been either lured or forced into the
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perpetrators vehicle and that there may have been others who had escaped similar
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attempts anyone who had refused the offer of a lift or had successfully fought off someone who tried to force
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them into a car was encouraged to come forward inspector Pitts quote somewhere in this
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community is an individual who probably has a clue that will help solve this case somebody knows a sex deviant or a
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child molester somebody knows something mayor Walter Washington also made an appearance to pledge that the task force
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had the full support of the city's government resources Maryland Senator Charles Mathias made a plea to the
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parents of young girls throughout DC's metropolitan area to take extra precautions until the killer was
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apprehended after the press conference roadblocks were set up around the highway exit near where Brenda woods
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body was found peak hour traffic was stalled as police questioned motorists but little of interest was uncovered
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investigators turned to their focus to the Saint Elizabeth Hospital a federally operated mental health facility that set
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alongside the Suitland Parkway right near where the bodies of carole Spinks and Darlie Nia Johnson had been found
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in recent times more than 30 court-ordered maximum-security patients had escaped from the institution the
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backgrounds of the escapees who had been institutionalized for committing serious
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sexual offences after being found not guilty due to reasons of insanity were looked into but after tracking them down
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all were ruled out of the investigation and returned to the facility dr. Sheldon
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Freud a psychologist who worked with the Prince George's County Police Department
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noticed another detail in the freeway phantoms pattern four out of the six victims shared the same middle name
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Denise dr. Freud believed the killer was deliberately seeking out young girls associated with the name Denise and
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warned I would think that any girl with the name Denise would be particularly careful random killing is not very
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common assuming that this is one man we might suppose that he has some hostile association with the name Denise or even
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the letter D a doctor who worked in the maximum-security wing at the st. Elizabeth Hospital agreed it was
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possible that the killer had a fixation on the name yet Denise was an incredibly common name at
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the time and if it proved true it didn't explain why Brenda Crockett entered men
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emotion eights were targeted as they had no association with the name police inspector Malin Pitts dismissed the
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theory stating that the Denise connection was nothing more than sheer coincidence hundreds of calls were
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placed to the task force hotline with the team of six operators quickly doubling to 12 to deal with the influx
00:33:00
of tip offs within just four days 4,000 calls had come through from the public most were from female residents of
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Southeast DC who reported being offered rides from strange men and to witnessing
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suspicious cars cruising the area with the male drivers and passengers sometimes hurling out
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insults multiple theories arose around the identity of the killer including that he was a taxi driver or a teacher
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or employee within the public school system who had access to school records enabling him to select the victims with
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the middle name of Denis one call made to the tip line was from a young girl with a high-pitched squeaky voice who
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simply said my father is the Phantom when the operator asked for her father's name the girl disconnected the call
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during another call her voice announced I've got some information for you when you find the Phantom
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you'll be surprised because the phantom wears a policeman's uniform with no concrete evidence solid leads or prime
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suspects high-level government officials from the White House expressed for their
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concern over the unsolved murders and instructed the Justice Department to provide an extra level of support to
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wait the investigation the increase in media attention intensified fear across the city with one resident remarking I
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feel like I'm going to carry me a gun in every damn place I go and to the first one that looks at me wrong he's going to
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get the wrong end of the deal other members of the community took a more peaceful yet unconventional
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approach a religious organization called the Christian services corporation launched the radio and television
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appeals pleading to the killer to turn himself in so that they could offer him their assistance the group received
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support and guidance from dr. Sheldon Freud the psychologists behind the Denice Theory who voiced his belief that
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the killer could not control his impulses and that the atmosphere of panic created by the freeway phantom
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nickname was likely only feeding his psychosis quote this is not a horror movie we are dealing with a human being
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who probably cannot control himself he should be told that if he'll give himself up he'll get treatment instead
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of saying to the police you catch the guy people are beginning to realize the community is the first echelon the
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police come in when the community fails the change in strategy presented by the Christian services corporation led to a
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public service announcement appearing in newspapers and being broadcast on the radio written by an anonymous citizen
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the message read this is an appeal to the person or persons responsible for the deaths of the young girls please
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call this number for six to nine four one five this is a payphone and it is not taped and you'll hear my voice only
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here's why I'm asking you to call right now I'm more concerned about you you probably feel the whole world is after
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you you may be scared you may be just plain tired if you are there is someone you can turn to without fear believe to
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be the first public service announcement of its kind within one hour of its broadcast eight calls were placed to the
00:36:59
payphone three callers just breathed heavily into the receiver purposely holding up the
00:37:06
line the other five one of whom was a woman named Denise near hysterical with worry
00:37:12
simply wanted to discuss their theories about the killer the freeway phantom himself remained silent by late November
00:37:24
the freeway phantom case had reached full media saturation the national Fraternal Order of Police detectives and
00:37:32
special police association posted a fifty dollar reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of
00:37:39
the person or persons responsible a spokesperson for the group said they hoped their actions would inspire others
00:37:47
to contribute to the reward fund their appeal was successful prompting contributions to come in from
00:37:54
Washington's evening star newspaper local radio station w ust and members of the local warehouse Union soon the
00:38:03
reward pool reached the total of nine thousand dollars in early December police released the series of colored
00:38:12
photographs of a mannequin dressed in the same clothes and hairstyle Brenda Woodard was sporting on the night
00:38:18
of her abduction the mannequin also held a stack of four school books that match
00:38:24
the ones Brenda was carrying the FBI had achieved success with this technique in
00:38:30
the past crediting their last mannequin display for the arrest and conviction of
00:38:35
a criminal who kidnapped and murdered a seven-year-old child yet the effort proved fruitless in Brenda's case one of
00:38:45
the strongest leads was a late-model red Chevrolet Chevelle with chrome strips that had been seen near where Brenda's
00:38:52
body was found police appealed to the public to be on the lookout for vehicles that matched this description which
00:39:00
prompted an unlikely response from a group of Vietnam War veterans who formed an organization titled the Veterans
00:39:07
Protective League dressed in their service uniforms the men used private vehicles
00:39:14
Patrol several of Washington's major freeways 24 hours a day on the lookout for the red Chevrolet Chevelle when the
00:39:23
police found out about the vigilante group they admitted they needed all the help they could get but advised the
00:39:29
public to leave the dangerous work to the authorities the pressure was on for the task force to make an arrest but in
00:39:39
addition to the lack of evidence highlighting a suspect the freeway phantom case was just one of many
00:39:44
ongoing murder investigations plaguing the DC area in the previous 11 months 250 murders had occurred within the
00:39:54
district 36 of which remained unsolved calls to the hotline slowed and soon the phones felt completely silent
00:40:07
anticipations remained higher that the killer would strike again but the months began to pass without incident the
00:40:15
people of Washington wondered if the freeway phantoms killing spree had come to an end and deliberated over what
00:40:21
prompted him to stop Metropolitan Police Inspector Malin Pitts considered the possibilities telling the public quote
00:40:32
the suspect could have been attached to a military base and being transferred he
00:40:37
could have been arrested on some other charge and incarcerated with the ADAAA knowing it for he could have been
00:40:44
committed to an institution by September 1972 almost a year and a half had passed since the beginning of
00:40:55
the freeway phantoms crime spray it had been ten months since the body of Brenda
00:41:00
Woodard had been discovered and to the case had slipped from the headlines replaced by the political Watergate
00:41:06
scandal which diverted the FBI's attention from the unsolved murders life slowly returned to normal for the
00:41:14
residents of South East the DC seventeen-year-old Diane Williams lived with her parents and five younger
00:41:22
siblings on Halle Terrace southeast in Congress Heights just off the exit of the interstate 295 highway her summer
00:41:31
vacation was spent working for the Department of Recreation and by Tuesday September 5 the program had come to an
00:41:38
end so Diane and her siblings were preparing to return to school that morning Diane visited the recreation
00:41:47
center to collect a final paycheck and to then went shopping with her family to pick out paint colors for a staircase
00:41:53
that were redecorating the group returned home just after midday and Diane took an afternoon nap arising
00:42:01
several hours later to prepare dinner as they sat down to wait Diane's boyfriend
00:42:08
James called the house he had purchased some new records and invited by in over to listen to them together
00:42:15
her parents agreed on the condition that she returned home no later than 10:30 p.m.
00:42:22
Diane borrowed some change from her mother for the bus fare and to set out on her journey at 10:30 p.m. Diane's
00:42:33
mother Margaret informed her husband to lay on that their daughter had missed the curfew
00:42:39
Leon told her not to worry certain that Diane had just gotten caught up and would be home any minute he left for
00:42:47
work as Margaret kept dutiful watch of the clock 11:00 p.m. came and went and there was still no sign of Diane
00:42:59
Margaret called her James and was informed that Diane had since left her boyfriend's house
00:43:05
James had escorted her to the bus stop on the corner of Martin Luther King Road and Howard Avenue over an hour ago
00:43:12
waiting until she was safely on board not wanting to jump to any conclusions Margaret decided not to alert her
00:43:21
husband of the situation unfolding and instead stayed up waiting for Diane the next morning Leon was driving home from
00:43:33
work when he saw a truck pulled to the side of the interstate 295 highway with a handful of men gathered around he
00:43:41
didn't think much of it and arrived home where he learned that his daughter was still missing he called the police to
00:43:49
notify them of Dianne's disappearance describing her outfit blue jeans with a yellow blouse across the border in
00:43:59
Maryland the Prince George's County Police Department had just received reports of a body of a young woman found
00:44:05
on a grassy incline eight feet from the edge of the interstate 295 roughly 200 yards south from the Washington state
00:44:13
line the truck driver had been passing through the area when he noticed the figure and pulled over to investigate
00:44:22
finding the woman lying face down in the grass fully clothed in jeans and a yellow top but barefoot with one dollar
00:44:30
and twenty-six cents in her pocket she had been manually strangled and had a small bruise inside her left arm a
00:44:38
foreign hair was also found inside her mouth as reports of the grim discovery circulated the Washington Metropolitan
00:44:48
Police contacted the Prince George's County police believing the victim might be 17 year-old Diane Williams Leon and
00:44:59
Margaret viewed the body at the morgue positively identifying the deceased as their daughter as Diane's clothing was
00:45:08
damp the medical examiner deduced she had been left on the embankment overnight and estimated her time of death to be at
00:45:16
least nine hours before she was found if this was accurate it meant Diane was killed
00:45:23
not long after saying goodbye to her boyfriend the five other Williams children were at home watching
00:45:31
television when a news report flashed on screen detailing that Diane had been killed their neighbors heard screams and
00:45:40
allowed crushing noises as the children learned that their older sister was never coming home Margaret Williams
00:45:48
later remarked no one who has ever lost a child in such a manner as I could ever
00:45:55
know what it is like they think they know you try to live but really you were living on the surface the inside is dead
00:46:12
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zip recruiter the smartest way to hire bus driver Warren Williams had driven the same route five nights a week for
00:49:22
the past two months at approximately 11:20 1:00 p.m. on September 5 he recalled Diane Williams board his bus at
00:49:30
the Martin Luther King Avenue stop near Howard Road he distinctly remembered Diane as it was unusual for a young girl
00:49:38
to be riding the bus alone late at night at the time that were roughly twenty other passengers on the bus most of whom
00:49:46
were men he was certain that she along with at least three other passengers disembarked at the Martin Luther King
00:49:54
Avenue and South Capitol Street intersection at around 11:50 p.m. Warren took no note of the other passengers as
00:50:03
he had no reason to be suspicious if his recollections were accurate the only way
00:50:09
for Diane to reach her home a block and a half away on Halle Terrace would have been to cross through a parking lot
00:50:16
along a poorly lit Street Warren's story was bolstered by several of Diane's neighbors who heard screaming
00:50:24
at around midnight on September 5 two of Diane's sisters and two other teenage girls recalled an incident three weeks
00:50:33
earlier wherein a man in a yellow car exposed himself to the group as they were out on the street believing this
00:50:40
incident may be related the girls worked with a police sketch artist to create an
00:50:45
image of the flasher described as being of Mexican or Indian heritage three days
00:50:52
after Diane's murder a police spokesperson confirmed they were now treating the case as part of the freeway
00:50:58
phantom investigation stating that the teenager had likely been abducted after getting off the bus they had conducted
00:51:06
hundreds of interviews and were following up several leads but was still no closer to identifying a prime suspect
00:51:13
or making an arrest meanwhile the Williams family received prank phone calls at all hours of the
00:51:23
day and night some callers would ring and ask to speak to Diane before hanging up while others unleashed a string of
00:51:31
obscenities one call came through at 2:00 in the morning with the caller declaring in a sinister voice I killed
00:51:39
your daughter yet they were all so inundated with messages of support Jennifer wooded the 16 year old sister a
00:51:49
freeway phantom victim Brenda wooded reached out to the Williams family with a letter expressing her greatest
00:51:55
sympathies and mutual struggles she wrote I know that all the sympathy cards and two notes of condolence in the world
00:52:04
cannot erase away any portion of the pain that you must feel at this moment a big part of living includes accepting
00:52:11
the bad with the good but why in god's name does such a large part of it have to be bad one day and I hope very soon
00:52:21
this insane maniac will be found but until then I hope and to pray that another innocent girl will never fall
00:52:30
into the hands of such an evil and purposeless death Jennifer shared a poem which had brought
00:52:37
her some comfort at read I cannot say and I will not say that she is dead she is just the way with a cheery smile and
00:52:48
a wave of the hand she has wandered into an unknown land and to left us dreaming how very fair
00:52:55
its needs must be since she lingers there so think of her faring on his deer in the love of their as the love of here
00:53:04
think of her still as the same I say for she is not dead she's just the way with the freeway phantom now active once
00:53:18
again investigators and the media began reflecting over the similarities between
00:53:23
each known victim some remained uncertain whether 14-year old Angela Barnes had fallen prey to the freeway
00:53:31
phantom as she was the only girl to sustained a gunshot wound and did not exhibit any signs of sexual assault
00:53:38
many felt her murder was committed by another individual entirely the densely populated areas where each of the seven
00:53:48
victims had believed presented a contrasting mix of middle-class family homes and public housing projects where
00:53:55
the streets were poorly lit and - there were many rundown neglected areas the killer's hunting grounds were raised of
00:54:03
the Anacostia River far from DC's tourist hot spots where the residential enclaves were bisected with highways and
00:54:10
parks making a popular with transients most of the girls had come from well-educated middle or working-class
00:54:18
families with varying social and economic status who ever lived in homes on quiet tree-lined streets or in
00:54:26
apartment buildings each girl was similar in physical appearance indicating the killer always had a
00:54:34
specific target in mind despite their age difference all were black slim tall and well-dressed captain Robert Boyd
00:54:43
from the Washington Metropolitan Homicide Squad explained their physical description was about the same the older
00:54:52
girls looked younger and - the younger girls looked older they looked between 14 and 16
00:54:59
the theory that the killer was targeting girls with the middle name of Denis was
00:55:04
losing merit as the latest victim Diane Williams had no association with the name the locations where each body was
00:55:13
found were also similar with a remarkable lack of clues or physical evidence the killer more than likely had
00:55:21
access to a vehicle carrying out the rapes and murders elsewhere to purposefully limit any evidence left
00:55:27
behind the disposal of the bodies at night or in the early hours appeared to be a tactic that took advantage of the
00:55:35
cover of darkness while enabling the killer to easily spot the headlights of approaching cars how the freeway phantom
00:55:44
lured his victims was a point of contention with the exception of men emotion eighths and Brenda wooded no
00:55:51
other victims carried obvious defensive injuries nor were there any signs of a struggle in the area of their abduction
00:55:58
either the girls knew their killer and voluntarily entered his car or he was respectfully presented and well
00:56:05
articulated enough to convince them to accept the ride some criminal profilers believed the killer was likely a middle
00:56:13
class older black male they didn't rule out the possibility he was Caucasian but
00:56:20
with certain locals would have recalled the white man frequenting the area he could have also disguised himself as a
00:56:27
woman or had a female accomplice to earn his victims trust The Killers propensity for strangulation
00:56:35
was more commonly associated with criminals from a middle or upper class background a psychologist who worked
00:56:43
with sex offenders dr. Marie Cohen concluded that the killer likely presented himself as gentle well-meaning
00:56:50
and in control while hiding a bitter hatred he believed the murders were fueled by rage and that the sexual
00:56:59
assaults were a secondary motive providing an additional outlet for anger expression and degradation the killer
00:57:07
appeared familiar with the southeast area possibly from having lived in Washington for a long period of time
00:57:13
while working a job that required him to travel around the city he may have crossed paths or come into contact with
00:57:21
these victims in the past and this recognition allowed them to interact with him with little concern may all
00:57:29
teachers including substitute teachers within the southeast the DC area were looked into but none had toured all
00:57:36
seven of the victims there were also loose links between the fact that Diane Williams Darley Nia Johnson and Brenda
00:57:45
Woodard had summer jobs with the Department of Recreation and that nana moshe heights and carol Sphynx lived in
00:57:51
near public parks and swimming pools recreation centers and popular youth spots were looked into but this too was
00:58:00
deemed a coincidence detective Lewis Richardson from the Washington Metropolitan Homicide Squad voiced his
00:58:08
opinion that members of the community were withholding information out of fear the killer would seek retribution quote
00:58:17
we believe someone has seen something but they don't want to get involved this man has confided in a close
00:58:25
relative or friend we're seeking this person to come forward to save the next victim's life
00:58:37
although there were no major developments over the following months efforts were underway to improve
00:58:43
coordination between the different agencies working on solving the case this hinderance may have been the
00:58:50
killer's intention that abducting victims from one jurisdiction and leaving their bodies in another would
00:58:56
result in a muddled investigation if this was indeed his tactic some believed that the killer was a member of law
00:59:05
enforcement fully aware of the pitfalls of the force this correlated well with the theory that the victims voluntarily
00:59:14
accepted a riot from the killer as they would have trusted or complied with the police officer several officers were
00:59:22
investigated but none were identified as suspects leads were followed up as far away as
00:59:29
Mexico and crimes that shared similar emmos were checked for possible links allegations continued to surface that
00:59:38
the police weren't taking the investigation seriously because of the victims race prompting detective
00:59:44
Richardson to respond defensively on black and on from the ghetto and in this city a homicide is a homicide a body is
00:59:55
a body whether it's a banker or a junkie that get the same attention contrary to
01:00:03
popular opinion the freeway phantom investigation had received a large amount of police attention many who
01:00:10
worked on the case stated it was the largest the manhunt they had ever been involved with hundreds of thousands of
01:00:17
dollars and hours were poured into the case the arsons of leads were investigated and thousands of interviews
01:00:24
were conducted maintaining his belief that someone was withholding information out of fear or loyalty detective
01:00:33
Richardson said the community was just as responsible for helping uncover the truth he finished with an apology
01:00:40
quote I'm sorry we haven't caught anyone I feel we're letting the community down by
01:00:51
May 1973 the investigation had stagnated and the number of detectives assigned to
01:00:57
the case had the window too to Wilma Harper the aunt of Diane Williams was in the process of writing a book about the
01:01:06
case when she founded a support group for the victims families named the freeway phantom committee they bonded
01:01:14
over their shared losses with Brenda Crockett's mother Rita explaining people have said to me I know how you must feel
01:01:23
but they really don't know they didn't lose a child like that if mine is dead and yours is dead then we can understand
01:01:34
each other it's as simple as that the unsolved murders had a profound impact on each family Darlie Nia Johnson's
01:01:45
sister was so terrified of intruders coming into their home that her family had to move Carol sphinxes family also
01:01:53
relocated with her mother Allen teens succumbing to the weight of public scrutiny after being forced by police to
01:02:02
take a lie-detector test rumors had circulated that she was protecting her daughter's killer some siblings of the
01:02:09
victims struggled at school and were afraid to go anywhere alone they distrusted men and had a general
01:02:16
wariness of their community with some developing a bitterness towards Washington DC as a whole acknowledging
01:02:26
that the distrust of police held by the community might be preventing someone with information from coming forward the
01:02:33
committee questioned citizens themselves they also rallied together to boost the
01:02:39
reward money Carol's mother Allen Tyne Spinks quote our kids are gone now but we have to find the person responsible
01:02:48
for the sake of other children the police say they have no clues and - no suspects
01:02:55
I know someone out there knows a piece of the puzzle and money talks committee members appeared on talk shows organized
01:03:06
school safety programs and held self-defense classes to keep the case in the public consciousness the start of
01:03:17
1974 marked one year into nine months since the freeway phantom melash struck what caused the end of his killing spree
01:03:25
remained a mystery but the theories were that he had been arrested for an unrelated crime been institutionalized
01:03:32
moved away or died psychologists speculated that his crimes may have been triggered by a conflict in his life
01:03:41
which had since been resolved On February 17 an article written by John saw in The Washington Post revisited the
01:03:51
racial issue Calvin ro lark the president of the Washington Highland Civic Association
01:03:57
stated for years blacks have been at the mercy of Whiterun police departments who
01:04:04
held them at low priority as long as blacks were killing blacks and I haven't seen much change in this you will find a
01:04:12
pattern of young blacks being missing and murdered and we're never able to bring the individuals to justice but if
01:04:20
a white folks are murdered they don't stop investigating until they find out who did it
01:04:27
Washington Metropolitan Police Captain Robert Boyd disputed this V manely stating nothing could be further from
01:04:34
the truth the article supported captain Boyd's assertions through statistics which showed in 1972 the closure rate
01:04:43
for homicide cases was identical for black and white victims and in 1970 three cases involving white victims
01:04:51
actually had a higher unsolved great captain Boyd the blame to the media for the widespread misconception that his
01:05:00
department didn't take the murders of black people seriously he maintained who was really the media that showed a
01:05:07
calculated disinterest in according crimes committed in DC's black neighborhoods he did except that police
01:05:15
had a no excuse for why an arrest had not yet been made calling the killer clever and tremendously lucky for
01:05:22
carrying out his crimes without anyone witnessing the publication of John SARS article generated renewed public
01:05:32
interest and in March 1974 the police launched the new inquiry into the freeway phantom case
01:05:39
later that month they received a phone call from a woman who said the article had taken its toll on her conscience and
01:05:47
she couldn't remain silent any longer based on the undisclosed to tip-off she provided on Saturday April 6 it was
01:05:56
announced that arrests had been made for the 1971 murder of 14-year old Angela Barnes Deadwood Solman and Tommy Simmons
01:06:06
met in 1970 while undergoing training at the Washington Metropolitan Police Academy during their first two-year
01:06:14
probation in early 1971 they reported having their police issued 38 caliber firearm stolen from Simmons
01:06:22
home in Temple Hills as there were no signs of forced entry and - no other valuables were missing major doubts were
01:06:30
raised about their story an internal inquiry was launched and when faced with the possibility of disciplinary action
01:06:38
but Solman and Simmons resigned from the force when questioned about Angela Barnes's murder
01:06:47
Simmons confessed to the crime saying that in the late hours of July 12th 1971 he and Sulman were driving his
01:06:55
Volkswagen down will of Road southeast when they spotted Angela walking alone they made a u-turn and forced her into
01:07:03
their vehicle at gunpoint with the intention to quote take sexual advantage of her when Angela tried to escape
01:07:13
Sulman held the gun to her head and ordered her to hold still a struggle ensued during which he
01:07:20
claimed the gun accidentally went off killing her instantly panicked they drove out to Waldorf where they disposed
01:07:28
of her body before driving back to Washington to clean blood from the vehicle Sulman denied any involvement
01:07:37
saying he had been at home that night with his wife playing Monopoly when Simmons knocked on his door
01:07:43
distressed saying he had killed a girl and needed help disposing of the body but his now ex-wife debunked his alibi
01:07:51
and eventually testified against him saying she had witnessed Sulman destroy his gun in the days following the murder
01:08:01
two days after Simmons and Salman's arrest a police spokesperson announced that both men had been ruled out of the
01:08:08
freeway phantom investigation and were not suspects in the remaining six unsolved murders the pair were found to
01:08:16
guilty for the kidnapping and murder of Angela Barnes and sentenced to a minimum
01:08:21
of 20 years to life in prison members of the freeway phantom committee were relieved as it gave them hope that
01:08:30
they too would receive closure in the future however they were aware that the community's distrust in law enforcement
01:08:38
would only increase as the convicted men were former officers Diane Williams art
01:08:44
Wilmer Harper quote most of the telephone calls we get criticized the police the fact that these suspects were
01:08:54
policemen saddens us we know how the public feels toward the police and this will make it harder for them
01:09:06
on June 5 1974 it was announced that new and credible information had been obtained in relation to the freeway
01:09:15
phantom case the year prior three men had been convicted for committing a string of violent kidnappings and sexual
01:09:23
assaults against seven young women in the DC area the attacks dated back to 1969 and
01:09:30
shared the same MO the men would have lure a woman into their car before driving to an abandoned building where
01:09:38
they proceeded to rape her before dropping her off in the city given that the people used there was a green
01:09:45
Chevrolet Vega investigators named the gang the green Vega rapists in October 1973 three men aged in their 20s were
01:09:56
convicted for the crimes as they served their time additional charges were laid against them as more victims came
01:10:04
forward it was soon determined that at least five men had been involved and that the gang may have been responsible
01:10:12
for up to 1,000 rapes committed between 1969 and to 1973 as the new charges were
01:10:21
piling up one of the convicted men Morris Warren attempted to secure a plea deal with the prosecution alleging that
01:10:29
he had information about the freeway phantom he proceeded to identify several of the freeway phantom victims as green
01:10:37
Vega targets taking police to the crime scenes and providing details about how the girls were killed Warren was
01:10:46
convinced that other members of the gang was striking similar deals with the prosecution and wanted to be the first
01:10:52
one to talk to ensure he secured the best possible bargain however the others were all remaining silent and when the
01:11:01
prosecution refused the Warrens offer of total immunity he retracted his statements and admitted everything he
01:11:08
said about the green Vega rapists involvement with the freeway phantom case had been an elaborate lie
01:11:16
this came as little surprised to some investigators as Warren only provided details that had been widely circulated
01:11:24
in the media he failed to mention any undisclosed information like the handwritten note left in Brenda woods
01:11:32
pocket hairs found on the bodies of some of the victims were tested against Breen
01:11:38
Vega gang members with zero match despite this some investigators were convinced the Warren was telling the
01:11:45
truth the full police probe was conducted into the possible connection but there was no evidence or witnesses
01:11:54
to link the two cases together and with Warren's statements now retracted in 1976 a grand jury decided there was not
01:12:03
enough evidence to wish you an indictment four members of the gang were sentenced to life in prison for their
01:12:10
involvement with the green Vega attacks each of whom denied any involvement with
01:12:16
the freeway phantom case in March 1977 58 year-old computer technician Robert askins was arrested in DC for the
01:12:29
kidnapping and rape of a 24 year old woman askins had previously spent several years in the st. elizabeth
01:12:37
hospital after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity for the 1938 murder of a sex worker named Ruth McDonald who
01:12:46
he had poisoned to death using cyanide laced whiskey his sentence was later overturned on a legal technicality and
01:12:55
he was released from the psychiatric facility in 1958 after his latest rape charge the police
01:13:04
conducted a search of Aspen's property where homicide detective Lloyd Davis came across the appellate court decision
01:13:11
relating to his release from st. Elizabeth's something in the documents caught his eye the word tantamount the
01:13:21
same word featured in the note from the freeway phantom found in Brenda woods coat pocket as it wasn't a word he heard
01:13:29
often had stuck out to detective Davis and he wondered whether oskins could have been responsible for the crimes
01:13:37
detective Davis questioned askins former colleagues who confirmed he often used the word tantamount when expressing
01:13:45
important matters a search of askins home uncovered photos of young girls soiled woman's scarves and a knife that
01:13:54
was linked to another unsolved crime a gold earring and two buttons were found in his vehicle but no fibers were found
01:14:03
that matched to those on the bodies of several freeway phantom victims Askins was questioned at length regarding the
01:14:11
freeway phantom murders but he denied involvement saying he wasn't depraved enough to commit such crimes he was
01:14:20
convicted for the kidnapping and rape of the 24 year old woman and another victim
01:14:24
and was sentenced to life in prison although there was no physical evidence to link him to the freeway phantom
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murders he was considered by some to be the prime suspect in 1987 former Washington Metropolitan homicide
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detective romaine Jenkins was reassigned to the US Attorney's Office Jenkins had
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worked on the freeway phantom investigation since the beginning becoming invested from the moment she
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canvassed homes in Carroll sphinxes neighborhood with the resources of the US Attorney's Office now at her disposal
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Jenkins formally reopened the case shiri interviewed witnesses questioned friends and relatives of the victims and
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visited two key locations while jenkins believed robert oskins was capable of committing such crimes she was not
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convinced that he was the killer she thought the person responsible was more likely a transient a member of the
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military a Vietnam War veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or someone who felt they had a score to
01:15:36
settle with the police as a black woman herself jenkins agreed that the race of the victims had played a part in the
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initial mishandling of the investigation but also blamed the general disorganization of the police
01:15:51
departments involved for not being able to solve the crime given the significant advancements in
01:15:58
forensic technology that had emerged since the 1970s she requested the physical evidence found on the victims
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bodies including the note from Brenda Woods pocket be tested for traces of DNA however most of the physical evidence
01:16:15
today they'd been lost destroyed or preserved so poorly that nothing was in a condition to yield any conclusive
01:16:22
results jenkins retired in 1994 and remained haunted by the unsolved case reflecting on it daily and often
01:16:32
rereading her notes to see if there was any small detail she may have overlooked
01:16:37
in an interview with The Washington Post she declared that she will keep searching for answers until the day she
01:16:44
dies quote what happens when people like me and to the families are gone this will be forgotten in 2004 the case was
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reopened once again by Washington Metropolitan Police Department detective James Traynham by this time many of the
01:17:06
original police files had been lost and the ones he was able to recover from the
01:17:12
FBI and Prince George's County were missing multiple pages and essential information
01:17:19
detective Traynham thought it was important to look at the case from a fresh angle and employed the help of a
01:17:25
former Canadian police officer turned criminology professor dr. kim ross mode from texas state university Roz mo had
01:17:34
developed a computer program that used the geographic areas of a crime to help determine where the suspect may work or
01:17:42
live known as their anchor point the system concluded that the freeway phantom likely had an anchor point in
01:17:49
DC's Congress Heights district somewhere on the south side of the st. Elizabeth Hospital this aligned with detective
01:17:58
trainings belief that the killer lived in the same neighborhood as the first two victims Carol Spinks and Darlene iya
01:18:04
Johnson before he expanded elsewhere in an effort to detract attention from himself in a revived plea for
01:18:13
information it was announced that a 150,000 dollar reward was now available for anyone with a tip that led to an
01:18:21
arrest in 2009 the human hair found in Diane Williams mouth were submitted to the FBI for advanced DNA testing but the
01:18:33
authorities remained tight-lipped about the results like detective Jenkins before him detective Traynham was not
01:18:41
convinced that Robert Hoskins was the killer telling the Washington Post that the police tried their best to make him
01:18:48
fit the profile but it simply wasn't working on Friday April 30 2010 Robert Askins died in prison
01:18:57
aged 91 years detective Traynham retired without ever getting the answers he so desperately sought for almost 50 years
01:19:10
the families of Carroll Spinks Darlene iya Johnson Brenda Crockett Nana Moshe a Yates Brenda wooded and Diane Williams
01:19:18
have awaited justice in a 2018 interview with the journalist Cheryl Thompson for
01:19:25
the Washington Post Bertha Crockett said she still beats herself up for not going to the store
01:19:31
with Brenda on the day she was abducted her trauma manifested in a rebellious streak in her youth quote if Brenda was
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living I would have done things differently I wish I would have grown up with her we could have encouraged each
01:19:49
other to be better women Patricia Williams entire world changed on the day she found out her sister Diane had been
01:19:58
murdered the search for the truth motivated her to become an officer with the Washington Metropolitan Police
01:20:05
Department with the ultimate goal to catch the freeway phantom Patricia has since retired from the police department
01:20:13
and she hasn't had any contact from law enforcement for years she has no idea if
01:20:20
the case is still being reviewed and if so who is in charge or which department has what files that remain scattered
01:20:27
over the three jurisdictions DC Prince George's County into Maryland Patricia told The Washington Post quote
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he never forget there is no closure whoever did it has gotten away they may be living somewhere else doing it again
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it's not too late to say something you have a whole generation of family members who would like to see someone
01:20:57
brought to justice as of 2019 the freeway phantom remains unknown the 150,000 dollar reward is still available
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and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Washington police department or the FBI
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[Music] you