Okay we're back for the second installment of our blog. This time I'm going to tell you all a little bit about Colonial Parkway and our adventures upon it.
Colonial Parkway is a scenic drive along the York River that runs between Yorktown and Williamsburg. It was built sometime in the 1950's as a part of the new state park movement of the time. Although it is a beautifully, completely-concrete highway, that's not what this road is most famous for. Between 1986 and 1989, three couples were found slain in their cars along the highway. Another couple was never found but pressumed dead, and there are numerous other muders around the same time and area that were not attributed but could have been related. These murders were chalked up to a serial killer that was aptly named 'The Colonial Parkway Killer'. The legend of the CP killer has been a prominent one in folklore and campfire stories for residents of the Hampton Roads area since as long as I can remember. Because of these urban legends surrounding the murders it is sometimes hard to tell what actually happened in 1986. The concencus of the FBI and local police departments was that an individual used a police car, or something similiar, and dressed up as a member of law enforcment in order to pull the victims over or approach their parked vehicle. This conjecture stems from the fact that in all the murder cases there was very little signs of struggle and that the third couples car was found with the glove box open as if the victim was searching for their registration. Because of this it is also assumed that the killer was possibly a retired law enforcement officer, a rogue CIA agent from nearby Camp Peary, or something similar.
One urban legend that is prominent is that a couple was driving down Colonial Parkway at night when they were pulled over by a car with flashing lights, however when the officer (who it is said was wearing sunglasses at night) got to their window he began to act strange, and then without saying a word he went back to his car and departed at a fast pace. Only after their encounter did the young couple learn of the murders and put two and two together. Admittedly this story is a bit far-fetched but it's fun to hear and tell anyways.
One more bit of background information that is pretinent to our investigation. The very first couple that was slain was a lesbian couple and theirs is perhaps the most depressing stories of all the murders. On October 12, 1986, the bodies of Cathleen Thomas (27) and Rebecca Ann Dowski (21) were found inside Thomas' Civic which had been pushed down an embankment in an area of the highway that was a popular parking spot for gay couples. They were found with signs of rope burns, stangulation, and their throats were slit. I think one of the craziest things about this killer is that both victim's purses and money were found in the car still, and neither victim possessed any signs of sexual assault and were fully clothed. To me this says that the killer did it only for the enjoyment of killing, something that belongs in the plotline of any horror movie. Now what was particularly depressing about this story was the fact that Cathleen Thomas was actually a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1981. What is most notable about this is that the Class of '81 possessed only 100 females and was only the second coeducational class to graduate from the federal service academies. Even more saddening was the dedication that Thomas' family showed to finding her killer. SInce her death, her family worked non-stop with the FBI and detectives working the case. As late a 2009, her family was still pleading with the FBI to find her killer. On the 23rd anniversary of his sister's murder, Bill Thomas made a plea to the FBI to raise the reward for any information that led to the capture of her killer. Bill even went so far as to suggest that if the FBI was not willing to cover the costs to raise the reward from $10 thousand to $25 thousand then his family would take out loans to provide the rest. Also of note was that her girlfriend Rebecca Dowski was a senior Business Managment Major at the College of William and Mary.
This last Tuesday we finally ventured out on the highway. To be honest, the highway is a bit creepy in itself at night. After much debate and searching, we finally stopped he car at one of the little scenic pull-offs that litter the highway. Here we took some pictures, an unsuccessful EVP, and (don't laugh) used a ghost hunter app on one of our phones. While not much happened in the way of evidence we did experience some strange happenings around the time we used the ghost app. Right before we started it, one of our members heard what she described as a female scream that seemed to come from someone between the ages of 20 and 30. Something of note is that she was the only member of our team who heard this scream eventhough we were all standing in the same approximate area. The member of our group who heard the scream is the female of our group who is the closest in age to Cathleen Thomas and she has also had experience with relationships with women, it seems that perhaps Cathleen was communicating with the member of our group who was most similar to her in her life. Immediatly after she heard the scream, she pulled out her phone and started the ghost hunting app. What is interesting about this is that at the time we didn't know anything about the story of Cathleen Thomas or how her brother was still carrying on her memory. A few minutes after we started the app the word 'Bill' came up. When we got back and typed in the name Bill in relation to Colonial Parkway and all the information I previously mentioned came up. Needless to say we were quite shocked that the app was able to come up with something so accurate. After some research we also realized that at the time we were only about three miles from where the bodies of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Ann Dowski were found.
Sometime soon we plan to go back and in hopes of making contact with the second confirmed couple found in September of 1987, David Knobling (20) and Robin Edwards (14). We hope that if we attempt to recreate their situation by having a younger member of the group and an older member of the opposite sex alone in a car along the parkway then the spirits of David and Robin will communicate with us.
While it wasn't a whole lot of evidence, Colonial Parkway is still a very creepy place that hides its many secrets, even three decades later. In 2010, the cases were reopened and it was discovered that none of the evidence had been DNA tested yet. As of 2011 the results were still inconclusive. To do this day, there had been no concrete leads or anything other than speculation as to who the Colonial Parkway Killer was. Its possible that he still drives up and down the highway at night looking for his next victims.
Anyone with any information to call the Norfolk FBI office at (757) 455-0100 or Special Agent Crosby Brackett at (757) 435-4708.
So until next, this is Jacob, scribe and videographer/technician, representing Bobbi, Dylan, Sam, Miranda, and all other aspects of S+S Paranormal Research Group. Like us on Facebook and maybe even pitch us some ideas for our next adventure.
http://historicmysteries.com/colonial-parkway-killer
http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-colonial-plea,0,6915619.story
Predators on the Parkway by Steven Spangola
Real Stories of the Highway Patrol
-Colonial Parkway Killer: Episode #4.52
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