A missing persons report was filed, and Darlenia Johnson's case was tentatively labeled an abduction. She, however, was sent by her mother to a nearby Safeway grocery store to pick up some bread and some food for the family's three dogs: Ringo, Rex, and Romeo. In 1974, two more names were entered into the suspect fray: Edward Sellman - sometimes referred to as Edward Sullivan in reporting of the case - and Tommie Simmons. Neno's stepmother had actually just given birth, so the girl's father ended up juggling his time between being at the hospital (to be with his wife and newborn baby) and being at home (to take care of Neno). She had been sexually assaulted and strangled, her body dumped about 200 yards south of the Suitland Parkway near Interstate 295. Eventually, the FBI would enter the fray once again in 1974. Barnes's slaying, originally thought to be linked to the Freeway Phantom killings, was later solved when two former police officers, Edward L. Sellman and Tommie B. Simmons, were convicted of her killing. 43 Winn Street Burlington, MA 01803. The children knew that failure to comply would result in a severe punishment - such as being hit with a switch or a belt - but that did not deter young Carol Spinks. A search warrant was eventually obtained, and investigators dug through Askins' backyard. Shortly after leaving the store, another kid from the neighborhood saw her walking back home, with a bag of groceries in her hands. The killer has been unidentified even after nearly half a century, though the police identified several suspects who might have been the said serial killer. Despite finding these two hairs pretty early on, they were unable to make heads from tails of them - unable to confirm if either of them had come from the actual killer. These were the type of cases that her male colleagues tried to avoid. Despite more than 25 D.C. police officer being handed over to the investigative effort at one point, this sentiment is shared by at least one high-ranking police officer - who worked for the department at the time of the murders. Some leads were easily proven not to be viable, while others required substantial investigation. Even though most of the evidence had been poorly-preserved - if it was preserved at all, and wasn't just missing - Trainum hoped that advancements in DNA technology would allow for a closer look at the Freeway Phantom killer. Robert Askins would later be convicted on kidnapping and rape charges, stemming from two separate incidents - including the one that had put him on the investigators' radar. In the coming years, detectives would theorize that this implies some connection to the neighborhood Brenda Crockett lived in. Approximately six hours later, a police officer discovered her body, which had been stabbed multiple times and strangled, in a grassy area near Prince George's County Hospital, along an access ramp to Route 202 from the BaltimoreWashington Parkway. The investigation was conducted by a law enforcement task force that included Detectives from the MPDC Homicide and Sex Squads, investigators from Prince George's County and Montgomery County, Maryland, Maryland State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). and Montgomery Counties, the Maryland State Police, and the FBI itself. Diane would spent the next few hours with her boyfriend, before the time came to head home. This hints at some kind of urgency, such as the killer being rushed. Coroner reports of the Freeway Phantom's victims tell us that the victims were brutally raped with penetration up to 9 inches deep, with both anal and vaginal assaults taking place. best used midsize suv under $20 000; lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. As they spoke, her bus had come and gone, so the man offered to give her a ride home. [25][26] Authorities later determined that Barnes was not a victim of the Freeway Phantom and resumed their investigation on the murders.[12]. Join Facebook to connect with Edward Sullivan and others you may know. Like the other murder victims, Neno had been strangled to death. She had been killed in 1971 - wedged in-between the 2nd and 3rd murders - but unlike the others, she had been murdered via gunshot. Infuriated, this caller called their boss and let them know about the police inactivity. Investigators would find defensive marks on her hands and arms, indicating some kind of struggle that ensued between Brenda and the culprit. For the first few years of the investigation into the Freeway Phantom, police had linked Barnes' death to the unknown killer targeting young black girls in the D.C. region. It's really infuriating, knowing that investigators might have come so close to solving at least one of the major mysteries in this case, but it got lost in a sea of bureaucracy and legalities. Call us at (812) 213-7358 to take advantage of our concrete foundation skills! [24] Barnes, 14, was at one point thought to be a victim of the serial killings. It's a story that continues to haunt her, more than two decades after her retirement. Edward Sullivan and Tommie Simmons Sullivan and Simmons, two ex-cops, were arrested for the murder of Angela Denise Barnes. The body was recovered, and was eventually identified as Darlenia Denise Johnson - a missing 16-year old that had disappeared from the neighborhood earlier that month. Why was this case never solved? The investigations resulted in 53 individual charges of selling heroin, and 43 individual charges of selling crack cocaine, among other charges. Like the other two victims, she had been strangled. This linked it to the Carol Spinks and Brenda Crockett murders. Ed Sullivan's show, which aired on CBS from 1948 to 1971, was straight out of old vaudeville, featuring brief acts of every description, from slapstick comedy to operatic arias. Four victims had their bodies left in Prince George's County, Maryland, while another two were disposed of inside Washington D.C. Investigators believed that this might have been done intentionally, with the killer trying to muddy the waters of the investigation by overlapping jurisdictions. This did inspire plenty of tips - primarily through telephone hotlines and mail correspondence - but none of them would prove useful to investigators. He might have received some kind of psychiatric treatment to help deal with negative emotions, like depression and anger towards women. That year, a 24-year old woman was abducted at gunpoint by Robert Askins, and taken back to his home. The search for Brenda Crockett was - thankfully - not a long way. Angelas body was also wearing her shoes which did not fit the bill of the victims of the concerned serial killer. In attendance was a local resident named Glendora Thomas, who stated: "The police are committing crimes by not taking care of our children.". Unfortunately, they would be unable to link these to any particular victims. This is the story of Washington D.C.'s first known serial killer, the Freeway Phantom. [22] Members of this gang were collectively responsible for numerous Washington D.C. and surrounding Maryland vicinity rapes and abductions that occurred near the Washington Beltway. This was roughly a month after the last crime attributed to the Freeway Phantom, and Groom - who lived in Northwest Baltimore - had just been arrested for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a young woman. Unfortunately, their questions regarding her fate would be answered less than a week later. Unlike the rest of the Freeway Phantom victims, she had been shot in the head, but her case was linked to the others in the immediate aftermath. Numerous investigative tips came from the general public by a telephone hotline operated by theMetropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia(MPDC) and information also came by way of the mail. In 1971, a town hall was arranged in Congress Heights by a local antipoverty agency. Romaine Jenkins, the homicide detective I introduced in this episode's introduction, wouldn't be directly involved in this case. Through the 1960's and 1970's, more than 70% of the region's population was African American, who had had to endure an entire lifetime of racial tension and struggles. One of the few pieces of evidence that police would find, during a thorough examination of Carol Spinks' remains, were small green fibers that were found on her clothing. When Brenda left, she was wearing curlers in her hair and did not seem to be wearing shoes. of Victims This, at least, provided investigators with some kind of a lead, but finding the driver of a blue Volkswagon - in 1971 - was like finding a needle in a haystack. The cause, he said, was revenge: for him contracting a venereal disease from another sex worker earlier that year. In the case of the third victim, Brenda Crockett, the Phantom forced her to call her family twice, likely as a way to both taunt them and throw the Police of the trail, very similar to the way The Gilgo Beach Killer taunted his victim's families with phone calls. They had cataloged the evidence, and kept it all in-storage. In addition to the stab wounds, investigators considered it bizarre that the victim was found with her shoes. Read. The Freeway Phantom targeted female children and teens ranging from 12-17 years of age. It was just destroyed.". hugh o'brian estate; senior analyst job description accenture. This conviction was overturned in 1958. If the killer fit this profile, and was in his 20's or 30's, it is possible that he is still alive. They were all of a similar build - small and petite - which led investigators to believe that the killer might have mistaken all of them for being in the same age range. 7 The Alphabet Killer Photo Credit: calafellvalo / Flickr Like the case of Dr. Despite police attempting to link several other cases to the Freeway Phantom, they were unsuccessful in doing so. They were giving the Freeway Phantom credit for six murders: those of Carol Spinks, Darlenia Johnson, Brenda Crockett, Nenomoshia Yates, Brenda Woodard, and now Diane Williams (in that order). It stuck with him forever - a sentiment shared by Margaret Williams, the mother of Diane Williams, who was not the same following the 1972 murder. The 50-year anniversary of the Freeway Phantom's crime spree continues to loom large over the D.C. region, and - despite the efforts of many hardworking investigators - the case is unlikely to be solved anytime soon. Like the first four victims, Woodard had been strangled but it appeared that her end had been a much more violent one. One of the known victims didn't have green fibers, and because of the investigation's scarce reporting, I have struggled to determine who the outlier is or was. When investigators would examine this coat, they would find a handwritten note inside one of the jacket pockets. Her father had put aside education money for college. He mentioned a cooperating inmate at Lorton Prison, who had recently confessed to investigators, and was currently singing like a bird. Bryant, of Maryland, was the only victim not from the District. The other, which Detective Romaine Jenkins believes might be related, was the murder of Teara Ann Bryant, who was killed in November of 1972 - two months after the last known Freeway Phantom murder. She took it on in the mid-1980's, hoping to spark some kind of revival, but lacked the necessary resources and hours to do so. Quitman. January 19, 2023 . Despite our law enforcement agencies being given so many resources, this piece of evidence seemed to sit in a perpetual backlog, where both local and federal agencies were either unable or unwilling to test it. In another striking similarity to the other crimes, green fibers would be found on her clothing. It appeared to be in her own handwriting, written in pencil, and seemed to be written on a piece of paper that had been torn out from her notebook. The name was coined by reporters at the now-defunct tabloid, the Daily News, who noted that all of the victims had been disposed of alongside major roads and freeways. She recalls her mother's devastating sobbing, and the gloom that fell upon the entire neighborhood. Both girls went missing just blocks away from one another, and both of their bodies were found just feet away from one another - likely dumped off of a road overlooking the grassy embankment they had been found in. Angela Denise Barnes was a 14-year old that disappeared on July 12th, 1971, just days after Darlenia Johnson had gone missing. Carol was allowed to continue her small grocery run on this Sunday evening. [5], On July 8, 1971, Johnson, 16, from Congress Heights was abducted while on route to her summer job at Oxon Hill Recreation Center. 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