The Truck Stop Serial Killer, Its the summer of 1985, wham and madonna ruled
the number one spots in music, the goonies and back to the future had just
been released in the cinema. A 15 year old girl by the name of vanessa
veselka had run away from her home in new york city after having several fights and
emotional arguments with her mother. She was joined by her 21 year old boyfriend
they made it to south carolina then parted ways, her boyfriend gave her 60 dollars
to get by with . She was heading south on interstate 95 when
she stopped at a truck stop for some supplies and to look for cars in which she could
hitch hike in. At the truck stop there was just a single
truck, the driver was a 45 year old man wearing a cotton button down with the
sleeves rolled up over his biceps. She asked him Can i get a ride? she then got into the truck and they headed out onto the road
he then began to ask the regular hitchhiker questions such as
but once they got further into the trip he completely changed he became silent, started
fidgeting in his seat and had a blank expression on his face.
he then started asking her strange questions such as
He then pulled the truck into a road in the
middle of the woods. he pulled out a hunting knife out and told her
she began to panic and told him
it then went silent and he said one word
She swung the truck door open and sprinted out for dear life she run 100 yards without looking back
she then hid in the woods, she crouched on twigs and breathed into her shirt to muffle the sound
She stayed there until she saw his truck drive away she was in shock and walked back to the same
road the truck stop was on and started to hitchhike again.
but this time she made it to her destination safely. She never went to the police and didnt tell anybody
for years. The man who attempted to kill her is believed
to be serial killer robert rhoades who is currently serving life
for murdering a 14 year old girl in 1990. he also recently admitted to killing two hitchhikers
in 1990. his crimes can also be linked to a decade
of rape and torture. his truck has also been linked with 50 unsolved murders.
The Green River Killer It was november 1982 in seattle, Rebecca Garde
a telemarketer had just finished work and was heading home, it started to pour
down with rain. She walked to the bus stop and waited there
for 10 minutes, the bus was taking forever and she was tired of waiting in the
rain so she began to hitchike. She flagged down a dodge pickup, the driver
was a 33 year old man who looked very boring and dull.
Once they started driving she offered him sex for 20 dollars as she wanted to buy drugs
when she got home. He accepted the offer and At this point she
started to sense something odd about the man so she asked to see some
identification. He agreed to this and showed her it, she was
at ease at this point as she thought he may have been a police
officer. They parked by a trailer park but the man
suggested they go into the woods for some privacy.
They then drove into the woods and both got out the car, this is when the man attacked
her and try to strangle her to death from behind.
She pushed him into a tree which hurt him and she managed to run to a nearby trailer
for help. the man immediately got in his car and sped
off. Due to her lifestyle and fear of the police
she waited 2 years to go to the police. It turns out the man trying to kill her was
dubbed as the green river killer. His name was was gary ridgway and in 2003
he confessed to the murders of 48 women. he is believed to have murdered over 60 women.
The backpacker murders. The backpacker murders where a spree of killing
that occurred in new south wales, australia during the 1990's.
there is known to be 7 victims some of them hitchhikers.
The first two victims where british backpackers, caroline clarke and joanne walters,
There decaying bodys where found in a forest, joanne had been stabbed 35 times.
the third and fourth victims where deborah everist and james gibson they were also found
in a forest. the discovery of james' body puzzled police
as they found his backpack and camera 62 miles away, so he could of been
hitchhiking or even kidnapped.
the fifth victim was a german tourist by the name of simone schmidl, she was last seen
hitchhiking on 20th of january 1991 she was found with multiple stab wounds
to her upper torso.
clothing was found at the scene but it did not belong to her they was the clothes of the sixth
victim anja habschied. the bodys of her and her boyfriend where found
on november 1993 in shallow graves they had both been shot and stabbed
to death, anja was decapitated and despite a long search her head was never found. her
boyfriend was shot in the head 9 times.
The killer was a man called ivan milat, he was arrested on 22nd of may 1994 after a person
positively identified him as a man who tried to tie him up and shoot him.
50 armed officers surrounded his house and broke in his door and then arrested him.
They found several weapons in his house including the gun that was used to kill his victims they also
found victims clothing and belongings.
He is currently serving 7 life sentences plus 18 years without parole.
Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders Between 1972 and 1973 seven hitchhikers were
murdered in santa rosa california. All of the victims were young women, there
is a probable 8th victim but her body has never been located.
the murders became known as the santa rosa murders.
The first two victims were Maureen l sterling and yvonne weber both aged 12.
they vanished on february 4th 1972 at 4pm when they were on there way home from the
redwood ice skating rink in santa rosa on december 28th 1972 their skeletons were
discovered down a 60 foot embankment in sonoma county.
The killer had kept there clothes and had taken one earring from each girl.
The third victim was kim allen she was 19 and was a santa rosa junior college student.
she vanished on the 4th of march 1972 at 5pm after she left work at the larkspur health
food store and hitchhiked a ride to her home in santa rosa.
Her nude body was found in a creekbed close to enterprise road in santa rosa.
Marks around her throat showed that she had been strangled with a clothesline and she
had marks around her wrists and ankles which indicated she had been tied up
The killer also took her clothes and one of her earrings.
The fourth victim was lori kursa she was 13 and was last seen alive on november 21st 1972
in a u-save market in santa rosa. On the 12th of december 1972 they found her
body. She was completely nude and her neck had been broken.
her first and second cervical vertebrae had been dislocated.
the 5th victim was carolyn davis she was 15, on july 15th 1973 she ran away from her grandmothers
home in garberville, california and was last seen hitchhiking south.
on july 31st 1973 her body was found completely nude in the exact same spot where the first
two 12 year old victims where found.
the post mortem had found that she had been poisoned by strychnine. Strychine is a highly
toxic rat poision. the 6th victim was therese walsh she was last
seen on december 22nd 1973 hitchhiking from malibu beach to her home in
garberville california. Her body was found right near the spot where
the third victim was found. she had been tied up with a nylon rope, sexually
assaulted then strangled and thrown into a creek.
The 7th and last victim was jeannette kamahele, she was 20 years old and was also a santa
rosa junior college student. she was last seen on april 25th 1972 hitchhiking
north to santa rosa. but her body was never found. The identity of the killer or killers still
remains a mystery. people believe it might of been the zodiac
killer or ted bundy. But i guess we will never know, the killer might still
be out there today.
Highway Of Death From 1970 to 1982 a killing spree of several
hitchhikers took place on a secluded road in austraila
the road has become known as such names as the highway of death, townsvilles killing
fields and queenslands wolf creek. A serial killer dubbed as the real life hannibal
lecter has confessed to 14 of murders that happened there.
Most of the victims were women but on rare occasions some were men.
most of victims where hitchikers. the first two victims were gabriele jahnke
who was 18 and michelle riley who was 16 they where both hitchikin
between brisbane and the gold coast in 1973. Both of them where found with massive head
injuires, there cause of death where bludgeonings and there was also signs of
sexual assault. another victim was named margaret rosewarne
she was 19 and was hitchhiking a ride to a party.
The killer had ripped her denim dress off her and took her underwear.
he also beat her so badly that he broke her jaw and the only way she could be positively
identified was by using dental records.
Another alleged victim is tony jones who was a 32 year old male and disappered on the 3rd
of november 1982 while hitchhiking through queensland. his body was never found.
The killer would use a broken glass bottle to mutilate his victims.
he was known to cut of breasts and gouge eyes out.
Also on the same road a british tourist was killed in 2001 but this was by a different killer,
the 28 year old was shot dead then his girlfriend was tourtured until she managed to escape.
Some people believe that the hitchhiker murderer is still out there as some of the victims cases are
unsolved and still remain open.