Going West: True Crime - The Route 29 Stalker // 438

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

In 1996, a woman vanished along Route 29 in Virginia, and dozens of others came forward to say they had been followed in their cars by a man in a dark colored truck, always telling them that there was something wrong with their vehicles and that they needed to pull over. Possibly active as recently as 2014, the list of his potential victims grew long. Some of them were eventually proven to be linked to unrelated culprits, but his identity remains unknown. Who is this mysterious highway phantom, and how many victims does he truly have? This is the story of the Route 29 Stalker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host T and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west Hello, everybody. Hope you're having a great day. Thank you so much for tuning into Going West. I'm feeling very grateful today. I was reading some of our recent reviews on Apple. Sometimes I just peek around and look in there and we've gotten some really nice reviews lately so thank you everybody who has written something nice and everybody who just loves the show and listens to it. It means so much to Heath and I and it just, it always makes us smile.

So thank you. Yeah. Thank you guys so much. We really appreciate that. But back to business, we have recently covered two cases where we briefly discussed the Route 29 stalker you guys might remember. And since then, we've gotten some emails from a few of you asking that we cover the whole case. So thank you so much to Megan, Jolee and John for emailing us. Yeah, I mean, putting this case together, we realized just how many cases that we've covered

that connect to the idea of the Route 29 stalker and how many of them happened in this vicinity, which was pretty crazy, to be honest. Yeah. And there are even more that we're gonna be discussing today. So put on your true crime caps, let's get down to business. I don't know why I just said that. I'm an idiot.

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students. With deals this good everyone wants to be a student. Join for just $4.99 a month. Savings may vary. Eligibility and member terms apply. In 1996, a woman vanished along Route 29 in Virginia, and dozens of others came forward to say that they had been followed in their cars by a man in a dark-colored truck, always telling them that there was something wrong with their vehicles and that they needed to pull over. Possibly active as recently as 2014, the list of his potential victims grew long. Some of them were eventually proven to be linked to unrelated culprits, but his identity remains unknown. So who is this mysterious highway phantom, and how many victims does he truly have? The culpability of the Route 29 stalker in the cases of the many deaths to which his

name has been connected is debatable. But the woman who is widely believed to be his first and maybe only murder victim and also the most well-known is Alicia Showalter Reynolds. Alicia was a 25 year old four-year doctoral student at John Hopkins University and lived in Baltimore Maryland with her new husband Mark Reynolds back in the mid-90s. At the time of her disappearance, she was working hard on a groundbreaking vaccine for a parasitic infection,

which was work that was very important to her. Alicia hailed from a tightly knit and deeply religious family and grew up in Harrisonburg, Virginia, which is about two hours west of Washington, D.C. She had a sister named Barbara and a twin brother named Patrick, who was also in the medical field and was pursuing his doctorate at the time as well.

Patrick described his sister as a, quote, hardworking, loving sister who nobody ever had an unkind word to say about. On Saturday, March 2nd, 1996, Alicia planned to meet her mom in Charlottesville, Virginia to shop for Patrick's upcoming wedding. So her twin brother is getting married and she's going to do some shopping for it. Now the drive of just over 150 miles or 240 kilometers should have taken her about three hours so not a terribly long travel journey but also

you know this is a little bit of a trip. Far enough yeah definitely a three hour drive is not nothing to sneeze at. Yeah pretty substantial. I don't know why I said that either. Idiot! Or is Tim making a thing. So that morning around 730 a.m. she said goodbye to her husband Mark and headed southwest to her home state of Virginia planning on meeting her mom at 1030 a.m. But 1030 came and went and her mom Sadie Showalter was left waiting for her daughter's arrival. According to her mom Sadie it was not like her punctual and responsible daughter to be late. So she called Mark to alert him and he agreed that it was pretty weird that she hadn't gotten in yet. You know, wondering if maybe the foggy

weather and the rain that morning had slowed her down. You know, it's still winter, we're on the East Coast because he was able to confirm that she did leave hours earlier. So they're they're kind of exchanging notes here. Right. But as the minutes ticked by, Alicia's parents and husband grew increasingly convinced that something had gone wrong. Mark called both the Baltimore police and the Virginia State Police to report his wife missing. And that evening around six p.m. a Virginia State Trooper found Alicia's car 50 miles or 80 kilometers northeast of her destination. So about an hour away.

Her white 1993 Mercury Tracer was found parked along the side of Route 29, about two miles or 3.2 kilometers south of the town of Culpeper. And by the way, Route 29 is pretty long. It stretches from Washington, D.C. all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico and Alabama. It's over a thousand miles long. Yeah, so it's interesting that we talk about the Route 29 stalker,

because I'm sure there was a few of them over the decades because it's really just such a long highway. Yeah, which we will discuss because, yeah, it's long. It crosses multiple states, so. Yeah, yeah, it's not like it's just, you know, one highway in one particular area. It stretches over many, many states, as you said. Sorry for repeating you.

No, but that's why it's interesting actually, because a lot, actually most of, if not all, I think all of the cases that we're gonna talk about today take place in Virginia. Right, yeah. So we don't go all the way down, and we just talk about mostly the ones in Virginia, because there are so many cases along Route 29 in Virginia.

Now, Alicia had been cruising down the portion that bisected Virginia, like we're saying, where a man in a pickup truck began terrorizing female motorists. A napkin was found placed under the windshield wiper of Alicia's car indicating car trouble and her credit card was also found discarded in Culpepper. But there was no sign of Alicia anywhere. So police launched a commendable investigation scouring the wooded area surrounding where

her car was found, but couldn't find any sign of her. So it's as if she had car trouble while driving down Route 29 to go meet her mom. She pulled over on the southbound shoulder, put a napkin on her car, and then likely went looking for help in this very quaint, by the way, little city of Culpepper, which at the time only hosted about 9,000 people, or at least so it initially seems that this is what happened. But some witness sightings will put this into question. Yeah, absolutely. Because that's really not actually what people believe happened. So, since they couldn't find any sign of her in the area, they definitely thought that something could have happened.

So, police established a traffic stop near where her car was found to ask for further information from anybody who had been, you know, passing through this area at that time of day. Because hopefully someone saw her. Now within days, they compiled multiple eyewitness accounts from people traveling on Route 29 that Saturday and claimed to have seen Alicia and even her potential abductor. Three different people came forward to say that they had spotted someone matching the description of Alicia and her car along the side of the road, and that it appeared as if she had been having car trouble.

The man with her was said to be a white man driving a dark colored pickup truck who was described as quote, clean cut. One motorist named Robert McCloud Sr. drove by Alicia between 1030 and 1045 a.m. that Saturday morning, and said that he saw a black Nissan pickup truck parked along the shoulder about 10 feet in front of Alicia's car. And remember, 1030 is the time that she is supposed to arrive to her mom's, and she's still an hour away. Exactly. So we can kind of imagine that she was maybe sitting there for a minute.

Right. And when Robert McCloud Sr. saw Alicia and her car, her car hood was up and they appeared to be inspecting it, her and this unknown man. And as Robert passed by them, he watched as the man and the woman appeared to be getting into the man's truck together, and he didn't spy a struggle here. So maybe this guy pretended to want to help and use the opportunity to get her into his car, you know, acting like he was gonna take her into town or something. Yeah, that pretty much seems like it's spot-on.

So this is an important witness sighting for sure, because the witness also said that Alicia seemed to climb into the passenger seat willingly and that the man, who Robert described as wearing dark colored work clothes, hopped into the driver's seat and then they were off. Now, obviously the witness at the time did not know that Alicia was going to disappear, so he didn't keep watching. So, after hearing this, the police hoped to hear about more sightings. So this witness testimony was released to the media and discussed on the news.

And with that, about 20 women came forward who also had been stopped, or at least targeted, by this mysterious Good Samaritan. The man in the dark pickup truck would descend on their cars and honk, tailgate, and wave at them until they pulled over to the shoulder, when he would then approach their vehicle and tell them that there was something wrong with their car, and that for some reason he was concerned that their car would catch fire. A preliminary examination would confirm that the woman shouldn't be driving the car, even just to get off of the highway, and he would then offer them a ride to the nearest mechanic, gas station, or payphone. Which is so messed up, we can assume that a lot of these women maybe didn't know about cars, and he's acting like this man, you know, oh I know, I know that your car isn't in working condition and you can't even drive it off the highway So let me help you because I know more than you and it's just a lie

Yeah It's an absolute lie and the crazy thing about this is that each of these women later discovered that there had been nothing wrong with Their vehicles obviously we know that this was just a big ruse in Some cases the man was charming In some cases the man was charming, soft-spoken, and seemed trustworthy, and he would warn them about their car and drive them to safety, where he would drop them off without incident. But on other occasions, when the women refused to pull over, he grew agitated, erratic, and even seemed violent, driving aggressively and yelling profanities at them. Yeah, in one instance, the young woman he pulled over got into his car willingly, you know, thinking again that there was something wrong with her car when there wasn't. And the two made small talk as he drove her to a drop-off location.

But as they kept driving, he pulled over three times, alleging that bright headlights and fog were making it hard to see. And I imagine that this is just another part of his ruse. Absolutely, because the third time he pulled over, he attacked this young woman. But she managed to shove him off and climb out of the car. But she did break her ankle in the fall, you know, getting out of it as his car sped off. You know, he knew he wasn't going to be able to catch her, so he just drove off trying to get away with it instead.

So luckily she did survive to give police her account. And just seven days after this happened, again in March of 1996, 25-year-old Alicia Reynolds would disappear. So it's pretty obvious to both you and I that these two cases have to be connected, right? Yeah, that this guy is driving around trying to prey on women with this, like you said, ruse. Now all of the women gave a similar description

of the man which helps connect it even further. It's not a very unique description. I feel like it's always like a brunette Caucasian man, you know? Like that means nothing. So many people look like that, but they did all say that he appeared to be between the ages of 35 and 45, about six feet tall with an average build and with kind of reddish brown hair. And again, he was Caucasian. So not a very unique description, but at least they did have a description. Yeah, I feel like the only kind of distinctive thing here

is that he had kind of reddish hair. Yeah. You know, it wasn't brown, it wasn't blonde, you know, so maybe that was one of the only identifying factors that we can really go off of here. Well, the other thing that a lot of them said was that he kept his hair longer on top, which is also a pretty common hairstyle, but that he did have a habit of pushing it back frequently

with his left hand, almost like a tick, a lot of them said he would just constantly do that. And then one woman described him as nervous and fidgety. Yeah, I bet he was because this piece of shit was getting ready to attack these women. Yeah, exactly. So from these descriptions a police sketch artist was able to form a composite which we will post on our socials for you guys to see and there is one name that is connected to this man that pulled over all these women or at least a lot of them came forward and said

that he introduced himself as Larry Breeden. But it does seem like that is a pseudonym, but it's worth noting for sure. Police have never been able to actually link a man named Larry Breeden to this case. But a lot of them said that he gave that name. So- Yeah, it's very interesting. I mean, obviously, if he had plans to attack them and he already, as you mentioned, one of his victims already got away, he's probably not gonna start introducing himself as his real name, you know?

He's gonna go by Larry Breeden, but I do think it's interesting that we have that and I just wonder where the connection is to that name. I know, like if it's, that's why it's important to mention, because if it is a family's name, maybe his uncle's last name and his best friend's first name, you know what I mean?

I don't know. Yeah. So it could be something, it could be nothing, but that is the name that this man gave multiple different women. So with all of these tips and potential leads, Virginia State Police searched for Alicia for two long months with no sign of her.

The community gathered to volunteer alongside her family and police, and detectives fielded thousands of tips. But finally, on Tuesday, May 7, 1996, two months after Alicia's disappearance. A passerby spotted what looked like decomposing remains in some brush about 15 miles or 24 kilometers southeast of Culpepper, Virginia, which was near where her car was found. A man who worked in the area noticed buzzards circling overhead for a few days in a row, and he finally decided to go investigate it further when he made this discovery. Due to the amount of decomposition, an autopsy would need to be performed, but the items

found with her body were consistent with the clothing and jewelry that Alicia was wearing that day, so they immediately thought it was her. To this day, police have declined to announce her cause of death in hopes that it will one day help them link her killer to the crime. But they were at least able to confirm that the manner of death was homicide. So they did say that she was murdered. They just won't tell us how.

And this is really smart because obviously this is decades ago, you know, at this point, and they're still not releasing that cause of death. And I think that's very important. I think it's a great thing that they're doing, keeping that close to the chest just in case they kind of, you know, somebody slips up. Yeah, they don't want any false confessions and that's the one thing that they can keep hidden. So her brother Patrick remembers that the loss was terrible for the family and at a time that was supposed to be so

joyful, you know, both he and his sister were finishing up their doctorate program soon. Alicia had recently gotten married. She was working on this important vaccine, and Patrick was also set to be married as we discussed the month after her body was found. But to the frustration of her family, her case would go cold fairly quickly and would produce way more rumors than it ever produced evidence. And soon, other women would be added to the toll being kept of the Route 29 stalkers potential victims. And this next story is just incredibly sad to me. So Anne Carolyn McDaniel was a 20 year old Virginia woman who had just moved away from

her parents for the very first time. Anne was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and a slight speech impediment as a child, and her parents questioned whether she was ready to live on her own without their care by the age of 20. But Anne felt like she was ready to live on her own, and she was really excited to do so. She moved into the President Madison Inn, which is an assisted living facility in Orange, Virginia, where she would be able to maintain her independence, but could also seek help if she needed it.

So it kind of felt like the best of both worlds here. She's able to kind of live on her own, but people are also there to support her if she needed it. Well, Anne was last seen leaving the group home on September 18, 1996, so six months after Alicia went missing, after she told fellow residents that she had a date that she was very, very excited about. But when she didn't return home that night, officials at the home reported her missing the very next day. However, according to some eyewitness accounts, she was spotted as late as 9pm on Friday,

September 20th, so two days after she left for this date. But then, just two days after this, on Sunday, September 22nd, 1996, her remains were discovered around 10am by a few sportsmen training their dogs. Unlike with Alicia's body, some information has been released regarding Anne's because we know that she had been left in the woods and then set on fire. Like Alicia, Anne had been placed about 100 feet from the road, so it was though someone had pulled off and just walked into the woods with her body for a quick disposal.

She was recovered just 10 miles, or 16 kilometers, from where Alicia was found, and about 25 miles, or 40 kilometers, from the President Madison Inn where she lived. Three days later on that Wednesday, the autopsy confirmed via dental records that the remains did belong to Anne, and the medical examiner concluded that she had been strangled and then set on fire, likely to destroy any evidence left behind on her. Now Anne visited her parents at home almost every weekend, and this weekend that she disappeared was not supposed to be any exception. And she actually spoke with them that afternoon that she disappeared, and made plans to be

picked up that Friday evening. Her dad Gary remembered that there was nothing out of the ordinary about their conversation. However, the owner of a gas station less than a block away from the assisted living facility remembered seeing Anne more frequently as of late, recalling that she would walk to the gas station multiple times a day to use the payphone to call her boyfriend, who she said lived in Culpepper. So now we have another connection to Culpepper. And the last time they spoke, she apparently did not seem very happy. It even looked as though she had been crying.

Her mom Shirley said sadly, quote, I think she was too trusting. Now Anne also was known to hitchhike, so it's possible that she had tried that night and was picked up by the Route 29 stalker, or that she was dating the Route 29 stalker. But without clear answers as to who she was dating or what she was doing leading up to her murder,

it's really hard to say for sure. And we say this a lot, but you know, if you are a part of somebody's life, if you were talking to somebody right before they went missing and you don't come forward, like, what are, of course, her boyfriend is going to hear about her disappearance. So, yeah, obviously, the fact that he never came forward to the police and said, oh, yeah, we had a date that night and this is what we did and then I didn't see her again. It kind of makes you feel like she might've been dating

the Route 29 stalker or at least the person that killed her. Right, the suspicions kind of fall on that person because they never said anything. Yeah. Well, police have not confirmed whether or not they believe there's a link between the murders of Alicia and Anne, but with the information available that we have, they believe that it's very likely. Because to this day, just like Alicia's case, Anne's murder remains unsolved.

But years later, another rash of disappearances and murders reinvigorated the investigation, as well as the fear that a serial killer was stalking the area and remained at large. Looking for a path to accelerate your career? Clear direction for next level success? In a place that is innovative and practical? A path to stay current and connected to industry, a place where you can be yourself, you will find it at York University School of Continuing Studies where we offer career programs purpose-built for you. Visit continue.yorku.ca.

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Learn more at mx.ca slash ymx, terms apply. The Route 29 stalker has also been suspected in a few more murders and disappearances, some cases that have closed with other culprits to blame, and some that remain unsolved, though these occurred much later. In 2009, so 13 years after the unsolved murders of Alicia and Anne, 20-year-old college student Morgan Harrington vanished from the area after attending a concert. And we actually discussed her case years ago in our episode on Alexis Murphy. That was episode 134. But just to recap, Morgan was attending college at Virginia Tech,

where she was a sophomore. And in October of 2009, she and three of her friends piled into the car and made the two hour drive to Charlottesville, where Metallica was playing at the John Paul Jones Arena, which is located right along Route 29. On Saturday, October 17th, 2009, Morgan and her friends headed to the arena for the show,

but before the headliner came on, you know, before Metallica took the stage, Morgan excused herself to the bathroom. When she was taking an unusually long time, her friends called her, worrying that she was going to miss too much of the show, and Morgan said that she had ducked out of the arena to have a cigarette and that the arena unfortunately had a no reentry policy. Yeah, I mean that's pretty common. If you leave, a lot of the time you can't come back in, but it just depends on the venue.

Yeah, I feel like that's a safety concern. Like if you're gonna come in and bring a weapon or I don't know, or bring in alcohol, or they don't want you going out to your car and drinking if you're underage or whatever. Exactly. So there's a bunch of reasons for that, but that was the case this evening.

And it's really sad that this was the situation because I believe that that is the reason that she was murdered. Yeah, absolutely. And it didn't really appear that Morgan was really phased by this situation of not being able to get back in. Yeah, interestingly, she kind of just told her friends to enjoy the concert and said that she would find a ride back to where they were staying and catch up with them later. So she's saying, have fun, I can't get back in. It's okay.

I'll see you guys back at the house. So the last sighting of her was on a bridge near the venue where Morgan looked as if she was trying to hitch a ride right on route 29. Her friends didn't see her again that night. And the next day she failed to show up to meet her parents who lived in the area and they they wanted to see her before she headed back to school so they had this plan to get together and and she never showed up so her parents were the ones to report her missing. Her purse, wallet, and phone, which was dead and missing its battery, were recovered from a nearby field. And a few weeks after that, the t-shirt that she had been wearing that night was found in front of an apartment building about a mile and a half or two kilometers from the

concert venue. But despite these discoveries, Morgan remained missing for months, leaving police to wonder if the Route 29 stalker was still in the area trying to abduct and harm women because, uh, Charlottesville to Culpepper, by the way, is about an hour's drive on Route 29. But then, on January 26, 2010, Morgan's body was discovered by a farmer on his own private farm called the Anchorage in Albemarle County. She was found 10 miles or 16 kilometers from the John Paul Jones Arena, raped and brutally beaten to death.

Crime stoppers put up a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, and Metallica themselves actually offered $50,000. So now there is a $150,000 total being offered for information, which is really amazing. Well, another young woman that we discussed back in the Alexis Murphy case was Hannah Graham, who was an 18-year-old Reading, England resident who was attending college at the University of Virginia Which is again right along route 29 I don't know if I said that before but we keep saying that these places are along route 29 Just like the concert venue and we are gonna say it a lot because obviously it's relevant

But get ready to hear that a lot. Yes it a lot because obviously it's relevant but get ready to hear that a lot. Yes. Well, Hannah disappeared around 1.30 a.m. on September 13th, 2014, so four years after Morgan while walking in Charlottesville, Virginia at the downtown mall, which is a massive and beautifully quaint outdoor strip of shops, bars, and restaurants in the area. She texted her friends at 1.20am that she was lost, and then she was last seen leaving with an unknown man. Now a witness noticed that this man did not look friendly, and that he had his arm around Hannah, and that he was leading her to his Chrysler Sebring, which Hannah absolutely did not want.

She apparently said, quote, "'I'm not getting in that car with you. What is it, stolen?' Yeah, and even though there were witnesses to this, nobody tried to help her. Maybe it was all happening too fast and people didn't know the situation and they didn't want to intervene.

But yeah, I mean, she was put into this car and off they went Well, sadly a month later on October 18th 2014 Hannah's remains were found in a hayfield by an abandoned property just off of route 29 in Albemarle County, Virginia now police were able to identify her killer and we are kind of rushing this segment a bit because Morgan and Hannah's killer We're determined to be a man named Jesse Leroy Matthew jr. Who was just 32 years old in 2014 and he's actually a black man So the man believed to be behind Alicia's murder since there was at least one witness to see her pulled over with him on the side

Of the highway was thought to be around 35 to 45 in 1996, making him at least 53 in 2014, and he was white with a medium build and medium brown hair. So obviously not the same people. Yeah, so although Morgan and Hannah's murders did seem to be potentially connected initially to the original Route 29 stalker cases of at least Alicia Reynolds and then potentially even Ann McDaniel, you know, because they occurred along Route 29. Police ultimately determined that their cases were not related and Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr.

was found guilty of their murders and sentenced to life in prison. I mean in a lot of ways Jesse kind of was like also a Route 29 stalker just not the same one from 1996. Exactly. Well another Route 29 stalker is a man named Randy Taylor also not believed to be connected to Alicia or Ann's cases, but a killer and a creep who was in the area and essentially working, if you will, along Route 29. And he is believed to be connected to the disappearance and believed murder of 19-year-old Samantha Clark, who went missing around 1.30 a.m. on September 13th 2010 so four years to the day before Hannah Graham yeah Randy Taylor was just one of many route 29

pieces of shit exactly so there's there's more he did as well we're gonna get into it but because this happened along route 29 we just wanted to touch on it even though it is separate, Samantha Clark was living with her mom and her younger brother in Orange, Virginia, which is right where Ann McDaniel lived. And she left in the late night hours while her mom was at work, leaving her 12 year old brother home alone. Remember, she was 19 years old. So she didn't have a car and her mom didn't

originally know that she was going anywhere. She didn't know what she was doing. She didn't know how she was getting out of the house, like who was coming to pick her up, or if she was gonna take a walk. Yeah and also because you know public transit is not gonna be flowing at this time of night. Yeah and in this very small town of Orange. So to this day, Samantha still has not been found, but the last six phone calls made to the house were from a man named Randy Taylor, who was 45 years old at that time.

No reason for Randy Taylor to be calling a 19-year-old girl. So Randy was questioned, of course, then, in connection with her disappearance and even admitted to seeing Samantha that night, the night she went missing. But he has continued to deny any involvement in her case. Her mother Barbara later said in frustration, quote, I think Randy took her. He called my house six times that night and he admits that

he was the last one to see her. How are you going to say you were the last one to see her if you don't know where my child is? Yeah, that's kind of a crazy thing that the fact that you are this 45 year old man and you're talking to a 19 year old and you probably picked her up and then you said, yeah, I was the last person to see her, but I had nothing to do with it. Come on you probably picked her up and then you said, yeah, I was the last person to see her, but I had nothing to do with it. Come on, man. Like, and then also with what we're going to talk about here in a minute. It's like, yeah, I mean, without a body, Samantha's case does remain open and Randy does remain a person of interest. But

yeah, like you're saying, he does very much seem to be involved. And because police weren't able to connect him to her disappearance, he had the chance to strike again. Because three years after Samantha went missing in 2013, another teenage girl vanished from the area. Now we're gonna say her name again. We did an episode on 17 year old Alexis Murphy back in 2021 in episode 134, who was last seen with an older man in Lovingston, Virginia just a few minutes away from her home in Shipman and

smack dab right on route 29. She was later reported missing by her family and three days later, her car was found in the parking lot of a movie theater in Albemarle County, which is where Hannah Graham was found murdered. When police circulated the photo of the man and his vehicle to the community that they had found on surveillance footage,

he was recognized actually by a local pornography shop as Randy Taylor because he visited this pornography shop that same evening that she went missing. When police searched Randy's home in Lovingston, they recovered a single black hair and a fingernail, both of which were a forensic match for Alexis Murphy. They also found a T-shirt that belonged to Randy that contained Alexis' blood, as well as fake eyelashes and a single earring that were believed to belong to Alexis as well.

And on top of all of that, her phone was actually found discarded near his home. Yeah, I mean this man is guilty, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to two life sentences So again since he was 45 in 2010 when Samantha Clark went missing This would make him around 31 when Alicia and Anne were murdered So it's definitely possible that he was connected and the fact that Samantha went missing from Orange and Ann McDaniel live there as well. You know, that doesn't automatically mean that they were killed by the same person, of course, but it is certainly interesting.

And for those wondering, Randy Taylor is a Caucasian man with short brown hair. You know, like I said earlier, that is a very, it's not a very unique description, but it does match what we know about Alicia Reynolds killer. So is it the same route 29 stalker or are there really multiple of them? Also, there are no public reports of Randy Taylor living in Culpeper where Alicia was taken from and where Anne's alleged boyfriend was from or was living. That's about an hour and a half north of where Randy lived in Lovingston, taking Route 29 the whole way, by the way, as both towns are right along it. Now, we also discussed the Route 29 stalker pretty briefly in episode 425,

just about two months ago during the Shenandoah National Park murders. So the devastating murders of Lolly Winans and Julie Williams. Because again, these murders took place just off of Route 29 as well. And then three episodes before that, episode 422 on the Spotsylvania killer. We talked about the huge piece of shit Richard Yvonnec, who is believed to be the Route 29 stalker because he would actually flag down women who were driving along this highway in Virginia. I think this is record, record piece of shit comments from you today.

I think that was number three. Well, there's just too many of them. There are. There's too many to talk about in this episode. This is a good one to really, really pump that, pump that phrase up. Yeah, like you get a piece of shit, you get a piece of shit, you get a piece of them. There's too many to talk about in this episode. It's a good one to really really pump that phrase up. Yeah, like you get a piece of shit, you get a piece of shit, you get a piece of shit. Now Richard is a Caucasian man who was 33 when Alicia Reynolds and Ann McDaniel were killed and he was actually suspected as murdering both of them by the police.

Because not only was he living in Virginia at the time, Because not only was he living in Virginia at the time, but police found handwritten directions to the spot where Alicia was buried in a footlocker in Richard's apartment. That's wild. I mean, that's way too close, you know what I mean? But for some reason, evidence in both Alicia and Anne's cases has apparently never been compared to Richard's DNA, even though police have thought of him as a person of interest in both of their cases. So let's get that going please, like we really need that DNA to be tested. Yeah, because it could definitely be him. But it does appear that there are multiple men that could terrifyingly be considered the Route 29 stalker. But as far as the original Route 29 stalker goes,

his identity remains officially unknown. Though the mysterious Route 29 stalker has only one confirmed victim, again, that's Alicia Reynolds, most of the women connected to his case are still waiting for answers. Because again, the original Route 29 stalker, the reason he's called the stalker

is because he was known to frequent this stretch of Route 29, try to pull women over, get them to pull over on the shoulder, telling them that there's something wrong with their car so that he can take them God knows where. And it seems that this is exactly what he did to Alicia Reynolds. And it truly is amazing how many women actually did survive this guy. Whether he just decided that it wasn't

the right opportunity to kill them, a lot of these women were able to get away and confirm his identity. Very true. Or at least witness his identity. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And thankfully so. So if you have any tips or information about the murder of Alicia Showalter Reynolds or any of the Route 29 stalkers possible victims,

please call the Virginia State Police at 804-674-2000. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Hopefully that DNA is going to be tested against Richard Evonis because a lot of people really do believe that he was the original Route 29 stalker. How many more times can we say Route 29 stalker? We gotta take a shot every time we say Route 29 and you'll be in the hospital. Absolutely.

It was a lot today. But thank you guys so much for showing interest in us covering this whole story. Cause like Heath said in the very beginning in the intro of this episode, we really have covered so many cases around this area, which is very eerie, you know, that there are a lot of cases in this area.

So thank you guys. There are a ton of photos associated with this episode as well, which you can find on our socials Instagram at going with podcast to what am I saying Facebook Facebook? I always want to say Twitter, but we're not on there anymore Facebook we have two groups. We have a private discussion group and then a public page You can find the photos all over those yeah, and let us know what you think about this case because

Really to me it feels like this guy is a phantom, you know? It feels like the movie The Hitcher in some ways to me. Yeah, it does. And it's crazy knowing that this guy was out there. So many women saw him. He was in a vehicle that had a license plate and still he has not been found. Like where is this guy? Yeah, it's crazy to me. So many eyewitnesses. Well anyways, thank you guys so much again for listening and we will see you guys on Friday. So, for I've, oh my gosh, I always, I always mess this up.

Every time at the end you're like, what is it again? All right guys. You got this. So for everybody out there in the world Don't be a stranger Thanks for watching!