In addition, Allenteen - a single mother of eight - would organize a neighborhood search for the missing teenager that evening, but the volunteers (primarily friends and family members) would be unable to find any trace of Carol Spinks. One witness reported having seen Johnson in an old black car, driven by an African-American male, shortly after her abduction. An autopsy of the victim's body showed that she had been sexually assaulted before her death; in a grisly detail, police also learned that she had been sodomized. FRee-wAy PhanTom[13], Based on handwriting samples, authorities surmised that the note, written on paper cut from the victim's school notebook, had been dictated to and handwritten by Woodard. Investigation revealed that the minor girl was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The body was too severely decomposed by the time officials got to it, and medical examiners would be unable to determine if the victim had been sexually assaulted before her death. Not only did Askins seem to commit a similar crime in the vicinity of the abductions, but he lived and worked in the region. On July 8th, 1971, Darlenia said goodbye to her mother, and began walking to work. In 1971, a town hall was arranged in Congress Heights by a local antipoverty agency. The next morning police found the 17-year-old's lifeless body in blue jeans and a gold sweater. You see, not only was he a current employee of St. Elizabeth's Hospital - a psychiatric facility that focused on mental health. THOMAS SIMMONS OBITUARY. In March, 1977, a 58-year-old computer technician, Robert Elwood Askins, was charged with abducting and raping a 24-year-old woman inside his Washington, D.C. home. Homicide detective Lloyd Davis proceeded to question Askins and learned that he had been charged with murder on several previous occasions. For close to six months - stretching from April to November - the Freeway Phantom had struck almost regularly. There, she was sexually assaulted and beaten, before being freed by her kidnapper. Because of this decomposition, authorities had to remove the victim's fingers for fingerprinting to determine her identity. West Point. Five months after being released in April 1952, Askins strangled 42-year-old Laura Cook to death. The remains of this young victim were brought in for an evaluation and autopsy. He claimed at least one specific gang member in the murders, and began giving details of specific dates, times, and locations. In addition, he owned many photos of unknown girls and young women, and police even found a knife that had been used in another crime. Bertha recalls her sister crying on the other end of the phone, and sounding somewhat distracted. The investigations resulted in 53 individual charges of selling heroin, and 43 individual charges of selling crack cocaine, among other charges. It's very possible that he had nothing to do with the Freeway Phantom crimes, but his name is one I haven't seen mentioned before, and thought it worth bringing up. Morbidly, the body of Brenda Woodard had been disposed off of another busy road, near a bus-stop that Brenda's mother used almost every single day. FRee-wAy PhanTom. Ph: (781) 272-0050 The Freeway Phantom targeted female children and teens ranging from 12-17 years of age. Investigators eventually obtained a search warrant for Askins' home, and a search revealed many tantalizing clues about the man. Brenda's 7-year old sister, Bertha, had remained at-home while the rest of her family was out scouring the neighborhood. As of this episode's recording, the storeis of Carol Spinks, Darlenia Johnson, Brenda Crockett, Nenomoshia Yates, Brenda Woodard, and Diane Williams remain unresolved. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! 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. No. Investigation revealed that the minor girl was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. 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). Twenty of those appearances were included on a DVD titled Muppets Magic from the Ed Sullivan Show in 2003. The Phantom also stabbed his fourth victim and left a taunting note in her coat pocket. Quitman. I will admit the others when you catch me if you can! As you can guess, this early nickname would stick and soon, the killer himself seemed to embrace it. And, over the next several years, it seemed to the community that the police weren't taking it seriously. The Phantom after abducting his victims is assumed to have taken them to abandoned houses where he proceeded to rape the victims multiple times before killing them. [5], On July 8, 1971, Johnson, 16, from Congress Heights was abducted while on route to her summer job at Oxon Hill Recreation Center. This is tantamount to my insensitivity to people, especially women. The cause-of-death, though, appeared to be strangulation. best used midsize suv under $20 000; lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. She had been sent to buy sugar, flour, and paper plates, and all indications would point to her having done so. Most unusually, investigators would discover that Askins loved to use the word "tantamount." edward sullivan and tommie simmons; edward sullivan and tommie simmons. Touted as Washington, D.C.s first serial killer, this yet-to-be-identified murderer was responsible for killing at least six minor girls in Washington, D.C., from April 1971 to September 1972. Various conspiracy lovers later alleged that some of the sympathetic police officers had covered up the evidence; no proof of it was ever recovered. Despite police attempting to link several other cases to the Freeway Phantom, they were unsuccessful in doing so. These were the type of cases that her male colleagues tried to avoid. Many theorize that the Maryland State Police have since lost the evidence, but are unwilling to admit it providing an already-aggravating story the most unfortunate ending possible. Bryant, of Maryland, was the only victim not from the District. [25][26] Authorities later determined that Barnes was not a victim of the Freeway Phantom and resumed their investigation on the murders.[12]. Brenda said, "Well, I'll see you," and the call came to a sudden end. To this day, many believe that police did not give the investigation the necessary resources or manpower. This boogeyman would become known as the D.C. region's "first profiled serial killer," and their crimes continue to haunt investigators and loved ones close to half-a-century later Call us at (812) 213-7358 to take advantage of our concrete foundation skills! The serial killer dubbed the "Freeway Phantom" had strangled and stabbed five young black girls over the span of six months, before disappearing for the better part of a year. He didn't want to be left in the dust, but agreed to speak to investigators only if they kept his name out of it. He would probably be masked and not want to show his victims his face. Some had been sexually assaulted, and some of whom were found with very little evidence for investigators to chew over. He also could've complained about how society was wronging him, and probably tried contacting a person of power by some means; however, said person presumably refused to listen to him, further fueling his anger and leading to the murders. Darlenia Denise Johnson was a 16-year old girl that lived in Congress Heights - the same neighborhood that Carol Spinks and her family had been living in. Eventually, the FBI would enter the fray once again in 1974. A reward exists for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of people or persons responsible, totaling $150,000 as of this year. Which, as you can guess, has played a major role in the reporting of this story over the years. A store clerk would later recognize the girl from photographs, and state she had purchased the items that evening, just after 7:00 PM. However, as I already hinted at, the FBI cooperation had quickly evaporated, when it became clear that the Watergate scandal wasn't going away anytime soon. This hints at some kind of urgency, such as the killer being rushed. Like any kid would, she answered it only to hear her sister on the other end of the line. 13-year-oldCarol Denise Spinks body was discovered by the authorities six days later from the day she was reported missing on April 25, 1971. Allenteen spotted her defiant 13-year old daughter, and let her know that her punishment would be waiting for her at home. Despite being just seven years old at the time, she continues to describe the day she learned of Brenda's death as the "most devastating" day of her life. [6] Eleven days later, her body was located only 15 feet (4.6 meters) from where Spinks had been found[4] even though police had been notified of the location of the corpse nearly a week earlier by an anonymous caller who had details only her killer could have known. . They believe that the Freeway Phantom was a young black man in his 20's or 30's, and agree with the FBI profile. He owned many scarves which belonged to women, which were described as "soiled." While the Freeway Phantom was never directly mentioned or referenced, he appears to have been an inspiration for the following unsubs: Criminal Minds Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Unfortunately, their questions regarding her fate would be answered less than a week later. Members of this gang were collectively responsible for numerous Washington D.C. and surrounding Maryland vicinity rapes and abductions that occurred near theWashington Beltway. "These were probably the first serial cases in the District of Columbia that one can recall," said Romaine Jenkins, a retired D.C. police homicide detective who helped investigate the killings. However, he traces the killer's origins to the neighborhood of Congress Heights, where, as Trainum states: "He felt safe there, he felt he could do his dirt and get away with it.". A second call would be received at the family's home a short time later, at around 10:00 PM. 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