All rights reserved. The hunters discovered the bodies on a logging road about a quarter-of-a-mile from Courthouse Road, a location about a mile from the Interstate 64 New Kent rest stop where Lauer's car was found. Even without that complication, Singer explained to NPR, the success rate depends heavily on how well the evidence has been preserved over the years. The Kalitzke/Bogle case is one of the oldest criminal cases that has been solved using forensic genealogy, and authorities are hopeful that they'll be able to use this ever-advancing technology to solve cold cases dating back even further although new state legislation restricting forensic genealogy could complicate matters. His daughter basically said: You never know. Traci Rosenbaum/USA Today Network via Reuters Co. 'Murder scenes have the sense of an aura.' Psychic Pam Coronado felt that the killings were all related but that the locations of the cars were not where the actual violence occurred. Kate nails sporty chic in 600 Mountain Equipment jacket, 110 jeans and 175 walking Time flies! ET. Their hands were bound, their mouths were gagged, and their throats were slit. LA County Criminal Prosecutor Loni Coombs and former FBI Special Agent Maureen OConnell are seen here speaking with Bill Thomas. So it wasnt like Cathy and Becky could live their lives in any kind of open fashion. The Atlanta Lover's Lane Murders were a series of unsolved shooting attacks on three different couples in Atlanta, Georgia from January to March 1977. Her death certificate stated unknown for date and place of injury. The lovers lane murders just wouldnt be solved. The four episodes were to feature former FBI profiler Jim Clemente, as well as investigators including former FBI Agent Maureen O'Connell and former prosecutor Loni Coombs, together with crime scene reconstruction expert Dr. Laura Pettler. She was one of several family members to pursue the Navy. Investigators have never been able to locate their bodies, but they're presumed dead. Lovers' Lane was the scene of four brutal double murders between 1986 and 1990. [28], On July 30, 2019, The Washington Post ran a story on the search for answers in the Colonial Parkway murders and other cases titled Victims, Families and America's Thirst for True-Crime Stories [29], On September 17, 2020, the publication Forensic Genomics published an article by family member Bill Thomas covering the Colonial Parkway murders entitled "The Family Perspective. His expensive camera had not been taken. 7 miles north of the murder scene, at the bottom of a steep embankment, the most merciless and brutal Ive ever seen, Great Falls police Detective John Cameron wrote a book, death certificates, newspaper clippings, and other public records, Theirs is believed to be the oldest case ever solved with forensic genealogy. Julianne and Laura were last seen alive on May 24 in the park. The cases are now the subject of a new four-part true-crime docu-series on Oxygen titled "Lovers Lane Murders." Weiss had been shot in the head, while Hajek had been stabbed seven times in her upper torso. "Lovers' Lane Murders," Oxygen's new two-night special event airing February 11 . During Kalitzke's autopsy in 1956, coroners had taken a vaginal swab, which had been preserved on a microscopic slide in the years since, according to the Great Falls Tribune report. They drove west of Great Falls to an area now known as Wadsworth Park, along the Sun River: a notorious lovers lane. "I cant emphasize this enough, but there was a tremendous amount of resistance for those women joining the academy," Thomas explained. It was the first high-profile case to be cracked with genetic genealogy. "If there's new technology and we are able to potentially solve something, we want to keep working at it, because ultimately we're trying to do it for the family," he said. On Saturday April 2, 1988, Lauries body was spotted floating in the James River off Craney Island near Ragged Island. A few hours later, police located both their abandoned car and their bodies, brutalized and discarded near the local lovers' lane. She was last seen by him at 23:30 p.m. walking on the dark and deserted Route 614 towards Route 17 in the White Marsh area in Portsmouth, Virginia in Gloucester County. Knobling had taken Edwards out with his younger brother and cousin that day. "Yes, this is a tragedy, but hope never dies," he shares. Police dogs tracked the two students scent to the York River shoreline. Known as the "Lover's Lane Murders", the brutal killing of 22-year-old Cheryl Henry and 21-year-old Andy Atkinson in August 1990 shocked the Houston, Texas area and is considered one of Houston's most brutal slayings. [7], Both victims had been stabbed and their throats slit. Their killings went unsolved until this week when investigators announced they had cracked what is believed to be the oldest case solved with DNA and forensic genealogy. Sergeant Kadner said the crucial piece of evidence was a DNA sample from a sperm cell that had been collected from Ms. Kalitzkes body during her autopsy. "And it saddens me that Cathy Thomas would have been one of those women. All rights reserved. "It felt great because for the first time in 65 years we finally had a direction and a place to take the investigation," Kadner told NPR. On September 5, 1989, just after Labor Day weekend, Annamaria Phelps, 18, and Daniel Lauer, 21, vanished while en route to Virginia Beach. On June 1, their bodies were found at a remote campsite in the park about a quarter-mile from Skyline Drive off the Appalachian Trail. Their murders remain unsolved. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Now Peter's sons learned that key pieces of evidence have gone. Then he shot her, like her boyfriend, on her knees. On Tuesday, the Cascade County Sheriffs Office announced that it had cracked the case. Each had been shot in the head. Rebeccas body was found in the backseat of the car, while Cathys was found stuffed into the hatchback. The brutal crimes claimed the lives of eight young people, including one couple who've never been found. In 2019, with the help of Bode Technology, a Virginia company that specializes in DNA analysis, another DNA profile was extracted from the sample, which enabled investigators to build a family tree that led them to Mr. Gould, Sergeant Kadner said. Are Anti-Assault Gadgets Actually Effective For Protecting Against Sexual Assault? An autopsy found rope burns on their necks and wrists, signs of strangulation, their throats had been slashed so deeply that they were nearly decapitated, and the killer had covered the bodies and vehicle with gasoline, but not actually lit them on fire. The FBI investigated whether Julianne and Laura's murders were related to the 1986 Colonial Parkway murders of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Ann Dowski. Cathy Thomas (left) andRebecca Ann Dowski were dating at the time of their murders. "Lovers' lanes" are typically found in cultures built around the automobilelovers often make out in a car or van for privacy. So if I was asked is this great modern technology a great thing, I would say, on balance, yes, for my generation, a generation once removed. Theyre excited, but at the same time, it has brought up a lot of memories, Kadner said. It was a bittersweet revelation: They were grateful for answers, but for many of the older people in the family, it was a struggle to have those wounds reopened. JONBENET RAMSEY'S HALF BROTHER STILL WANTS TO FIND HER KILLER: 'THIS CASE CAN BE SOLVED' Part 1 and 2 of Oxygen's 'Lovers Lane Murders' airs Thursday night. Market data provided by Factset. ET on Oxygen. Ms. Kalitzke was a junior at Great Falls High School. "Two popular kids who were essentially gunned down in a Lover's Lane situation," said Kadner. Kadner was able to reach out to Kalitzkes and Bogles surviving relatives to deliver the news. Watch S1 E1 Home Watch News Latest Episodes 43:49 S1 - E4 A Portrait Of Evil 43:49 S1 - E3 Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Anyone can read what you share. Thomas said the families were devastated by the sudden, brutal deaths. Despite her drive and determination, Cathy left the Navy just before her death. "I hope people will understand that the loss that weve suffered has not prevented us as families from continuing to focus on seeing some degree of justice done," Thomas, who serves as one of the shows producers, told Fox News. At first, Thomas said his family suspected Cathy and Dowski were victims of a hate crime. It appears that Thomas may have struggled with her attacker as a clump of hair was later found between her fingers. Andy's body was discovered tied to a nearby tree. "So people knew you could go there and basically be left alone, especially at night. Plot. The screen for King Charles' coronation anointing is revealed, Devastating tornado picks up car and hurls it through air in Florida, Braverman: People crossing Channel are 'at odds with British values', Women's rights activists and pro-trans campaigners separated, Hundreds of Household Division members rehearse for coronation, Moment large saltwater crocodile snatches pet dog off beach in QLD, Ukraine drone strike hits major fuel depot in port Sevastopol, 'You motherf***ers don't understand': Bam Margera details 'turmoil', Australian tourist allegedly spits in the face of a Java Imam, Biden jokes about key political figures at WH Correspondence Dinner, Monstrous tornado seen bearing down on Palm Beach, Doctor slams Laurence Fox for 'spewing out biased views'. "It was such a big case," Cascade County. CNN After 65 years, a grisly double murder case of two teenagers in Great Falls, Montana, was solved with DNA evidence, according to investigators. The Colonial Parkway is a 22-mile long thoroughfare that cuts through the Colonial National Historical Park and connects Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Both women were fully clothed and there was no evidence of sexual assault. EXCLUSIVE: Peter Thurgood and his lover Lindy Benstead were blasted at point-blank range in Rake, West Sussex, in April 1986. They first bound Bogles hand behind his back with his own belt. It features LA County Criminal Prosecutor Loni Coombs and former FBI Special Agent Maureen OConnell whoconductedinterviews with law enforcement and families, as well as tracked down new leads. At night its dark and isolated,making it an ideal spot for couples to be romantic discreetly. The bodies of Julianne Marie Julie Williams, 24, and Laura Salisbury Lollie Winans, 26, were found by Park Rangers at the Shenandoah National Park on June 1, 1996, after Lollies golden retriever dog - Taj - was located wandering near the Whiteoak Canyon Trail and turned over to Rangers. She had been shot in the head, just as Bogle had been, but she had also been sexually assaulted. She had been shot in the head and had injuries that were consistent with a struggle or a sexual assault, Sergeant Kadner said. [31], On February 4, 2021, in advance of their Lover's Lane Murders television series, the Oxygen Network released a series of videos including "Why Would Law Enforcement Not Release All Records On a Case Like the Colonial Parkway Murders? Lovers' Lane Murders will examine both, and it's all kicking off Thursday, Feb. 11 with a two-night special premiere. "In those first classes at the service academies, they were subject to such levels of hatred and harassment. "She had martial arts training from the Naval Academy and she was incredibly athletic. The canvas top of the jeep had been rolled up and pinned back even though it had rained over the weekend. She'd been sexually assaulted and murdered. But when you put everything together, theres no doubt in my mind that hes the suspect.. Go outdoors: TV presenter Gethin Jones reveals the one lesson he's learned from life. ", EMILIE MORRIS, THE FORMER STUDENT WHO DIED AFTER ACCUSING HER COACH OF ABUSE, BECOMES FOCUS OF TRUE-CRIME DOC. Nothing appeared to have been disturbed: the keys were on the driver's seat, and a watch and eyeglasses were on the dashboard. The autopsy showed that Pettinger had blunt force blows to the back of the head. "It was difficult," Thomas admitted. The second night airs Friday at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Authorities immediately linked the double-murder of Knobling and Edwards to the murders of Dowski and Thomas eleven months previously because although their deaths did not occur on the Colonial Parkway, police connected the cases due to the fact that both sets of victims were couples who had been killed at or around lovers' lane areas, and the two locations were only about a thirty minute drive apart. It's been almost 35 years since a series of double homicides dubbed the Colonial Parkway murders began, and despite decades of investigations into the crimes that shocked and rocked Virginia, the killer, or possibly killers, still have not been identified. Its like it just happened yesterday, Ms. McCarthy said. The Case Was Just Solved. Then in April 1988, Keith Call, 20, and Cassandra Hailey, 18, disappeared after a college party, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Two popular kids . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Kalitzke died approximately an hour after Bogle. During a walk near the Sun River, they found 18-year-old Lloyd Duane Bogle, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. He never returned to Montana, even to visit his family, Sergeant Kadner said. Tall, beautiful, blonde Patti Kalitzke, known as Ski, to her friends, had just crew-cut her hair like a character straight from a Dick Tracy comic book. On Sunday morning, October 12, 1986, Columbus Day weekend, a pedestrian jogger saw a car down an embankment at the Cheatham Annex Overlook on the Colonial Parkway seven miles east of Williamsburg, Virginia and a mile from the Cheatham Annex Naval Base where it was obscured from the view of the road. A year later in September 1989, the outlet reported Annamarie Phelps, 18, and Daniel Lauer, 21, vanishedfrom a rest stop in New Kent County. It was the first time that Sergeant Kadner, who is 40 and grew up in small-town Iowa, had heard of Duane Bogle and Patricia Kalitzke, teenage sweethearts who had been fatally shot in January 1956, more than two decades before he was born, presumably after they drove to an area in Great Falls, Mont., known as a lovers lane. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Camerons book alleged that Edwards had also killed JonBenet Ramsey and Jimmy Hoffa. Newspaper headlines described the teenagers as lovers lane slaying victims and recalled a wide search for a brutal killer.. Still, he hopes that it can be used to help law enforcement improve public safety and "[prevent] tomorrow's victim.". Foul play is suspected. (Oxygen). When they didnt come home that night, their families assumed they had eloped, Sergeant Kadner said. ', Break down: Former FBI profiler Jim Clemente suggested the killer may have posed as law enforcement and reenacted what that would have looked like, Loss: Nearly a year after the first double homicide, David Knobling, 20, (L) and Robin Edwards, 14, (R) were found shot in the head along the bank of the James River in September 1987, 'Statistically, a lot of the personal attacks that we have on victims close to their faces are someone they knew,' she says. And in these 34 years, she would have done amazing things.". Speaking Russian was very important because they were, at the time, probably our top adversary in the world.". "It's really fantastic technology and it's going to solve a lot of cold cases," Singer said. He was forced to kneel in the dirt next to his car, then shot, execution-style, in the back of the head. The series was published again by the paper in 2010. Sign up for Scary Mommy's daily newsletter for more stories from the trenches. According to the synopsis of 'Lovers' Lane Murders', "In the premiere episode, after US Naval Academy graduate Cathy Thomas and her girlfriend Becky Dowski are murdered in a . Jon Kadner, who was assigned the case in 2012 his first cold case, he said during an interview with NPR. Three days later, the two bodies were discovered by Knobling's father and a search party along the water's edge of the James River. Three days later, over Columbus Day weekend, their bodies were found bound with rope inside Thomas's white 1980 Honda Civic, which had been pushed down an embankment off of the Colonial Parkwayin Williamsburg. After forensic genealogy was used to finally nab the Golden State Killer the year prior, law enforcement officials were becoming increasingly aware of the potential to use that technology to solve cold cases even decades-old cases like Kalitzke and Bogle's. The team of experts has reenacted the crime scene down to Thomas's wallet being found open and face down on the floorboard of the driver's side. Investigating the terrible murders along lovers' lanes like this one in the beautiful Tuscan countryside, police uncovered a subculture that many Florentines found disturbing: these hills were. at 2:00 a.m. on August 18, only hours after they were last seen. CallLess's wallet and Hailey's purse were found inside the car along with most of their clothing. "In 1986, DNA was barely out of the lab and it wasnt really used commonly in law enforcement applications. Entertainment Television presented a full-length documentary, THS Investigates Serial Killers on the Loose, which features a segment on the Colonial Parkway murders. Mentions of the deaths have even found their way into some TripAdvisor reviews. Her body was found nude, no bindings, and with multiple stab wounds to her back. 'As a forensic criminologist, we take everything we know and we reconstruct the scene, each piece of evidence, breaking it apart, analyzing everyone individually, and then reassembling them into the mosaic that is the crime,' Pettler explains. No worries now, although I wouldnt go there at night.'. Mike also had defensive wounds and a comparatively lower dosage of Demerol in his system. From the November 1991 issue of Cosmopolitan, see how real-life psychic Annette Martin used her abilities to help a retiring California detective solve a cold case that had haunted him for decades.. And a lot of fantastic work has gone into the Colonial Parkway murders. His hands had been tied behind his back with his own belt. In preview clips for the Lovers' Lane Murders special, forensic criminologistLaura Pettler andformer FBI profiler Jim Clemente are among the team of experts who are tearing apart the cases, looking for clues. Both victims had been shot; Robin in the back of the head execution-style, and David twice, once in the head and once in the shoulder like he had been running from the killer. They had been strangled and their throats were slashed, though there was no evidence of sexual assault. There was only one problem: Gould had died on May 31, 2007. Over the years, persons of interest came and went. ", "Was The Colonial Parkway Killer Pretending To Be Law Enforcement? The lead investigator in the case believed that Pettinger had likely been hog-tied. A DNA profile of a suspect in 2001 was developed using forensic evidence preserved from Kalitzke . 18 year-old Lloyd Duane Bogle, from Waco, Texas, was a Christmas guest at the Kalitzke home, and had stayed over the new year. Mr. Gould, who was 29 in 1956, lived just over a mile from Ms. Kalitzkes house and kept horses about 600 yards from the house where she had grown up, Sergeant Kadner said. Bogles killer didnt bother to steal his valuables or money or even turn off his car, which was found with its ignition engaged, its headlights lit, and its emergency brake on. Obviously, I cant put the gun in his hand, Sergeant Kadner said. A new documentary is exploring a string of unsolved double homicides that occurred at a 'lovers' lane' in Virginia more than three decades ago, as experts try to figure out if the murders were the work of a serial killer or just a gruesome coincidence. Princess' abseiling trip to Wales with Prince William echoes a heartwarming childhood A new Coronation do? They used gamma-ray technology to locate six bullets and sent them to the FBI for analysis. Even though the cause of death could not be determined, there were what appeared to be stab marks on Annamarias bones and to her abdomen, suggesting that she had been stabbed to death. Ski and Lloyd waited sixty years for justice: a time they could have spent building a whole lifetime together. The hope is that they'll be able to provide more families with the answers they deserve and, in many cases, have spent years waiting for. Neither of them has been seen again. Kenneth Gould, who has been identified as the suspect in the 1956 killings of two teenagers in Great Falls, Mont., died in 2007. In 2001, it had been sent to the state crime lab for analysis, but did not lead to any matches in a national criminal database. Why Urban Legends Surround Lovers' Lanes In 1986, a 23-mile scenic road run by the National Park Service in Virginia became indelibly linked with a series of double homicides that came to be called the Colonial Parkway murders. 'That would give the offender the opportunity to actually get them out of the car, lean them against the car, maybe handcuff them. But now, a team of former FBI agents aim to bring the monster to justice.

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