Freeway Phantom - The Epidemic

Episode Date: July 12, 2023

The Freeway Phantom case is but one example of a wider epidemic of missing black girls in DC who don't get the attention they need. How can we fix this? And how can we finally bring the Phantom to justice?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The True Crime Podcast, Sacred Scandal, returns for a second season to investigate a led sexual abuse at Mexico's La Luz del Mundo Mega Church. Journalist Robert Garza explores survivor stories of pure evil experiences at the hands of a self-proclaimed apostle who is now behind bars. I remember as a little girl being groomed to be his concubine, that's how I was raised. It is not wrong if you take your clothes off for the Apostle. Listen to Sacred Scandal on the IHR radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 911 what's your emergency? It's a nightmare we could never have imagined. An Achiller?

Who is still on the loose? In the 1980s we're in high school losing friends, teachers, and community members. We weren't safe anywhere. Would we be next? It was getting harder and harder to live in Mompine. Listen to the Murder Years on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Freeway Phantom is available each week on Wednesdays to hear each episode add free and one

week early. Check out 10terfootplus at 10terfootplus.com. You'll listen to Freeway Phantom, a production of I Heart Radio, 10terfoot TV and Black Barbermitzvah. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast and do not represent those of IHR media, Tinderfoot TV, Black Bar Mitzvah or their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter that may not be suitable for everyone.

Listener discretion is advised. In 1984, when I decided to reopen the cases, I was really concerned because in talking to some other detectives, other people around, they were found in the impression that the cases were closed. And I knew better. I knew that there had been a massive investigation of the beam vagadise, but the evidence eventually shows that there was a scar that they didn't have anything to do with it. So I decided I was going to take up the banner of these cases because they should have been closed. There wasn't a real emotional toll on me. When I went to homicide not primary reasons for going to homicide was

the handle all the instant deaths the child deaths in the city the abortion cases and so seeing young people dead you don't ever get used to it but you know that's part of your job and once you break down and cry and so forth then you're not serving the public because your personal feelings get in the way of what you're trying to accomplish. You know, after you work so hard on the case and you talk to so many people, you kind of get a feeling of what types of young ladies they were. And the fact that the youngest one was 10 years of age, you can imagine how they felt that somebody had abducted them off the street and there was nobody to stop it.

And this, the abduction sites were heavily populated places but nobody saw anything and it's just so hard to believe. And so, I nobody saw anything, and it's just so hard to believe. And so, you know, I felt that, hey, if I can bring resolution to these cases, I will do it. I'm going to try my best to do it. But I'm also going to try to make sure, should I not be able to get a resolution in these cases. And I'm going to see that everything that was humanly possible was done to solve these cases.

I saw I was back to the family and I was back to the girl. The homicide detectives termed the cases the little girl cases. This child was laying down the side of the road. I wouldn't go, no way. I would come out of the road. Ah, but you go, no way. I would come out how. Those first five murders should have been a huge warning bell for the police.

We just want to know what happened. This person must have saw that they was thinking that maybe it's just one person. He says, oh, they need to know. This is me. I thought that they would catch him. I thought it was just a matter of time. I'm Celeste Headley, and this is Freeway Phantom.

The murders of eight young black girls, six of whom were confirmed Freeway Phantom victims, were undeniably tragic. But their cases were just the beginning. In the decades since their murder, the plight of missing and murdered black girls in DC has only intensified. Today, it just looks a little different. But the issue of these cases not getting the proper media coverage or police attention they deserve is still too prominent. Each year there are over 600,000 people reported missing in the United States and close

to 40% of persons of color and that number is about 270,000 a year. That's reported missing. There's so many more individuals that are not reported missing to law enforcement, or they're not added to the national crime database. These families are not speaking up, so we believe that the numbers are much larger. This is Natalie Wilson, one of the co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation. The inspiration behind the Black and Missing Foundation is that in 2004, to meet the Houston banished from Spartanburg, South Carolina, and that's the hometown of my sister, La Derricka. And we learned how her family struggled to get media coverage, particularly national media coverage around her disappearance. So Derek and I decided to do some research. We weren't sure if this was an issue affecting the minority community, particularly black, African Americans. And they made up 30% of all persons missing

and attracted almost no media coverage at all, especially nationally. So, you know, it weighed really heavy on our hearts, and Derek and I decided, why not us? Why don't we do something about it? Because I'm in public relations or media relations, and Derek has a law enforcement and those are the two critical professions needed to bring awareness to our missing and that's how the organization the Black and

missing foundation was created. We said you know we can just bring one person home or provide closure for one family we have done our job and now we're motivated to keep going because 40% of all persons missing are of color and these families rely on us we are their last resort by the time they get to us they're desperate they don't know what to do and many times they're not getting the assistance from law enforcement or the media to help find their missing loved one. Natalie says one of their core objectives is getting the media involved whenever there's a new missing person's case. Media coverage is very important especially especially in tents early media coverage.

It ensures that the community is looking for that missing individual and it increases the chance of their recovery. And for us throughout the years, because we started this organization in 2008, I've been able to build media partnerships with Black Press, so that, again, they're using their platforms with millions or hundreds of thousands of followers to help us get the word out about a missing individual. So it's vital, and we believe that media coverage should be equal across the board. We asked Natalie why, historically, the media is so hesitant to report on these cases. Well, there are a number of reasons

for the lack of media coverage. One is we're realizing that when a child is reported missing, often found law enforcement, they classify the child as a runaway, so they do not receive any type of immediate coverage, or especially the amber alert at all. And that is not necessarily the case. We have so many cases of missing children, where law enforcement classified them as a runaway, and they did not leave voluntarily. So we need to stay away from that phrase as runaway, because ultimately, even if the child left home voluntarily, what are they leaving from?

And ultimately, what are they running to? We know that children who leave home voluntarily, they're on the street, within 24 to 48 hours, they're a proposition for sex, because they have to find a way to survive. And they have to find a way for, you know, housing, food, security, and these predators, you know, they get them into a lifestyle that they

cannot get out of. We also need to change the narrative that missing black and brown individuals are most likely involved with some type of criminal activity and they're represented as such in the news cycle. You know, we have to realize that these missing individuals, they have names and they are an important part of our society, our community, their mothers, their fathers, their sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, their grandparents. And we need to make sure that we represent them in the best light. Natalie says the issue has become much more complex than it was during the time of the freeway phantom. But she says there are things we can do now.

You know, many of our cases, it highlights the significant racial injustices, you know, not just in policing, but media. So we need to make sure that we vote and that there are laws to protect our children. You know, Maryland has a safe harbor law where if an underage child has been arrested for prostitution, that they are not thrown into jail. They are then taken to a safe house where they're given the resources to be rehabilitated. So we need to see laws like this that protect our community. And there also needs to be laws where there's a sense of urgency and a sense of fairness when a person is reported missing.

So again, there's a loophole with, you know, the amber alert. So if you're classified as a runaway, you do not receive the amber alert or any type of media coverage. How do we close that gap? We need to really take a look at it to ensure that the individual who did not voluntarily leave home gets the right classification when they're reported missing. Natalie told us about one case that highlights the problems evident in the current system. It was a story of a girl named Rolisha Rudd who went missing in 2014.

She and her family were evicted from their apartment in DC and they moved to the DC General's Homeless Shelter and Rolisha was one of 600 children living at the shelter. And we became involved with Alicia's case as one of our then board members. And she was the assistant chief of police, Diane Grooms, shared the news release issued by MPD on March the 20th about Alicia's disappearance. Relisha was last spotted on a hotel security camera, accompanied by a man named Khalil

Tadam, a friend of Relesha's mother. A few weeks later, Tadam's wife was found shot dead in a hotel. And after that, Tadam's body was found in a shed dead from an apparent suicide. Relesha was never found. We were very alarmed, but we were very determined to find Relisha. And there are so many unanswered questions about this case. And the most disheartening is that no one was really keeping up with Relisha's whereabouts. You know, not her family, not the shelter, not the school. not her family, not the shelter, not the school. So there is enough blame to go around for everyone.

And we believe that African-American and Hispanic children, they deserve the same innocence as other children. So it's definitely a case that weighs heavy on our hearts. And when someone finds out that I'm one of the co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation in the DC area, the first case they always ask us about is relish what happened to her. We believe that she was a victim of sex trafficking

and the janitor whom her mother gave supervision over her was grooming her for sex trafficking. It's just so heartbreaking, but we will never stop searching for a relation. We hold on to hope that she's alive and that she can be reunited. So much love in the DC area for her. One of the people working in the Relisha Rud case all these years is Henderson Long, who we met last episode. Henderson is the CEO of DC's Missing Voice.

He essentially acts as a go-between for DC's Metropolitan Police and the Black community. Henderson says that in many cases of missing and murdered children, someone in the community knows something. So you have to get out there and talk to folks. Coyons, Jones, you know the two, two months old. And I know you all know about the homicide. And this is a kid who's been waiting from Saturday.

Henderson invited us to one outreach event at a 7-Eleven in Southeast DC. He was there handing out flyers with missing persons information about Relisha Rudd. The goal today is to create greater awareness about the tragic circumstances of all our children in the district of Columbia. Relisha Rudd, per day being a platform. I was going to read the proclamation and show you

the proclamation of the mere sign regarding Lissia Rug Day. Like the Freeway Phantom victims, Lissia's case did not receive sufficient media coverage. For the first three weeks that she was missing, there was no mainstream media outlet covering the story at all. This was also due to the fact that no one, including police, considered her a missing person. But after she was officially reported missing, people like Henderson Long were able to get the media involved.

Well, you know, Angela, there was a big media push. You know, everybody's not on social media. You know, Angela, I laugh and that was the big media push. You know, everybody's not on social media. So my goal was to take religious rest, to play in all the play of all our children and missing persons to the street. Because you never know what you're gonna run into. We may run into some information that's usable. They help us close the case.

They bring some closures to some families and make the district a little safer, you know, as our part, I approach this work with the understanding that the police can't do it alone, that we both need each other. And the community is a tremendous asset to the police department when they can get these tips in. I heard chief Conti yesterday begging people to call me, I'm sending the rest in pieces up.

I need phone calls, I need people to call in. I'm sending the rest in pieces up. I need phone calls. I need people to call in and give me some tips. I now appreciate the flowers, the cards, this, that, the other, but we need calls. We need people to call in. We need information in the community. They know who's committing these crimes. These crimes, anything that involve criminal malice,

they know who's doing it. And we need to police the handle that type of stuff. It's not anything of criminal nature. You need them to be involved. Henderson says there are certain invaluable pieces of info you need when investigating one of these cases. You need an up-to-date photo, a complete physical description, and if possible, fingerprints.

Being a prince is heavy in terms of identification. complete physical description and if possible, fingerprints. Fingerprints is heavy in terms of identification. You're in the possibility of these somebody who it is because sometimes you will find someone you'll locate someone, somebody will come upon them. They may be incapacitated. They may be deceased. We can roll those fingerprints and if they had any prior run-ins, you know, y'all know the deal. You pull them right up up so fingerprints are invaluable. Henderson says the biggest goal of these outreach events is to build relationships between the community and the police. That's why there were a handful of officers

there unarmed handing out flyers. We try to educate people on what MPD and within their general orders What kind of what they expect because some people come to the thing with the wrong Exploitation so we get out into the elementary schools. We get out into daycare centers We fingerprint children we educate the parents on what to do a lot of parents don't know to The call of police and then you know you got the street code out there too. Don't deal with the police. So we try to deal with some of that

by fostering relations with the police, showing people, hey, look, the police are not all what you think it is. 98% of them are good people. And they aren't here. They're trying to do their job. So Henderson says the case of Relisha Rud Red is a prime example of what can happen when communities like this remain relatively closed off.

Over the last nine years, there's been little movement on the case, but Henderson is convinced someone knows something. By reminding people about Relisha, he says he's hoping to prevent cases like hers in the future. This is an age progression photo of what Valisha wrote but look like today. That's her age progression photo. This is what they think she would look like I think at age 15. And as I said when I talk to the media, a murder, suicide and deception attached to a child, eight year old child's name, that's totally unacceptable.

Murder, lies and suicide, that's the worst you can get for a child. Even in real life, they're totally dependent on us. They're totally dependent on people around her. Kids are totally dependent on us. They have no other choice but to trust the people that they under their care. Sacred Skandal, one of the best new podcasts of 2022, is back with a closer look at the darkness surrounding Megaturge La Luz del Mundo and its leader, Nasson Joaquin Garcia.

They believe that he was Jesus Christ on Earth. It wasn't even so much that he liked sex. He wanted something to pray. It's the largest cult in the world that no one has ever heard of. For three generations, the Luz del Mundo had an incredible control on his community that began in Mexico and then grew across the United States, until one day. A day of reckoning for the man whose millions of followers called him the Apostle. Their leader was arrested and survivors began to speak out about the sexual abuse, the murder,

and corruption. This is just a business and their product are people. They want to know that they will kill you. Listen to all episodes now on the iHeartReadyUp Apple Podcasts or whatever you get your podcasts. 911 what's your emergency? You shot her! Oh my God! It's a nightmare we could never have imagined.

And a killer who is still on the loose. My small town rocked by murder. There are certain murders I'm scared to discuss. In the 1980s, we're in high school losing friends, teachers, and community members. One after another, after another for a decade. We weren't safe anywhere. We're teenagers terrified to leave our own homes.

Would we be next? Who is killing all the kids? And why? In that moment, I saw rage. And why do you some want the town's secrets to stay dead and buried forever? I'm not sure why you're digging up all this old stuff again, but I'd be careful. And why do you some want the town secrets to stay dead and buried forever? I'm not sure why you're digging up all this old stuff again, but I'd be careful. Don't say I didn't warn you, Nancy.

Listen to the Murder Years on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. One of the people we met at the Outreach event for Relisharud was MPD Commander Pamela Wheeler Taylor. She was there helping Henderson hand out flyers. And after the event, we had a number of questions about how her unit investigates these types of cases. Commander Wheeler Taylor agreed to sit down with us. Hello, everyone. I am Commander Pamela Wheeler Taylor of the DC Metropolitan Police Department.

I'm the Commander of the Youth and Family Services Division. I've been a member of the Metropolitan Police Department for approximately 31 years. And my experience runs the gamut from patrol to internal affairs, to human resources. And now, like I said, I actually happen to have been appointed to the rank of commander in January of 2021. So obviously the case that we're focusing on was 50 years ago, and we were surprised at how sort of blase law enforcement was when these children were missing. So I wondered if you would first walk us through today, what happens? If I call you and say, my child is, was supposed to be home at three, she's not home, what happens? Typically, what happens? And in cases such as that, the response of the very first responding officers of utmost importance.

That's where you gather the most critical information, things that are set and the heat of the moment are things that have to be memorialized because they could actually, you know, bring about successful closure at the end. Little things that you feel might not be important. Something as simple as my kid said they were going to visit their friend and I told him that they couldn't go. Or something as simple as maybe you've taken the kid to a location. The kid may say, you know, I want to visit that again. You may not think because it's in your mind that you've never taken the kid to that place or you're not going to take the kid again, but it's something you have to listen to things that are spontaneously uttered, you know, they have valuable evidence. At what point then do you know does the case become more serious? What

point sort of as an officer feel that there is a need to, that it's no longer become of where could this kid have gone as opposed to maybe something untoward happened to this kid. Okay, so generally what happens, and let me back up a bit and maybe just explain to you what a missing person definition is in the District of Columbia. A missing person is anyone, an adult or child, that is missing from their lawful place of a bold within the District of Columbia, and they're missing as unusual. Highly unusual or for their patterns or things that they normally, their routine, things of that nature.

Or, the missing person could be missing from another jurisdiction close to the district, but there's reasonable, credible knowledge that the individual was lasting in the district of Columbia. So again, the reporting person, this will respond or are critical in determining the circumstances surrounding the missing person's disappearance. The first step, again, is to interview the reporting person, try to gather as much information as you possibly can, as far as demographics, available friends, a clothing description. What is definitely invaluable to us is a recent photo.

If you have a recent photo of the individual, it's very valuable in the issuance of a Misson Persons flyer, which we distribute in every case. So I mean, obviously you were not around in the 19th, well, you were a police officer in the 19th. Not a police officer. What's your career spans three decades?

Yes, it does. So this is another thing that keeps coming up to us is how differently, even based on our very small knowledge of police procedure, how differently cases were handled back then as to now. And I'm wondering if you could give us a concept of how, not just technology but resources have changed even since when you first started.

How much better equipped are officers to do this kind of work? Absolutely. Absolutely. And just like anything in life, of course technology brings about improvements in thing. We have the ability to be able to now actually track cell phones. These cell phones are invaluable and you'll see that every juvenile has a cell phone in his or her hand. Once the missing person's detectives get on the scene,

first thing we're able to do is be able to track that cell phone. And like I said, how quickly can that happen? Very quickly. Very quickly. It's a matter of us forwarding an emergency disclosure request. Social media. Also, we can develop an IP address for where that phone is actually pinging. That has proven invaluable and that's something that we definitely did not have.

It gives us a leg up on a possible location of the individual. If we're lucky enough to have a case where a cell phone is involved. So definitely technology, even with fingerprinting, even with, you know, like I said, just being able to transmit a photo, transmit a photo through a cell phone, the expediency of the information that we receive gives us a leg up on our search for the individual. And there's more cameras around.

Definitely CCTV cameras, again, like I said, just social media in and of itself, just invaluable. What about the importance of just community members who live in that neighborhood who see these kids, perhaps every day, how important are they in the whole investigation of a child's disappearance? Very valuable. And that's one of the first things as the first responding unit, we go around and we call it door knocks, old good old fashioned boots on the ground responding unit, we go around and we call it door knocks. Oh, good old fashioned boots on the ground door knocks.

You're knocking on the neighbor's doors. And a lot of times the neighbors have information, well yes, I saw a little Johnny hit that way. Or yes, little Johnny hangs with my friend, you know, and they hang at the park up the street. The community is at the root of the missing persons investigations. Getting their collaboration and cooperation with us is invaluable.

They are actually paramount in solving cases. Which requires that they trust the police. Trust is, it absolutely is something that we cannot do our job without. You have to have to trust the community. I mean, I think people maybe underestimate this particular piece because we were out getting gathering tape in a couple of neighborhoods yesterday.

And people had their eyes on us. They were over a dozen people watching us, especially. Yeah, because people know what's specific to their area, to their neighborhood. And people are, you know, cultish of their neighborhood. I know. So don't believe just because things are not said, don't believe that you're not viewed it.

Like you said, a prime example is of them being aware of their surroundings in their neighborhoods. So when we're talking about the requiring the trust of communities and how important that can be in locating, especially a missing child, does that mean it's maybe harder right now when trust of the police is in many areas,

is that a low? You know, I have not found that to be a deterrent. When you're talking about a missing kid, folks have a tendency to be able to look on the other side of things. They'll see that we're there for the good. So I have not, and my personal experience have not, and I've never heard of any of my officers

complaining about the neighborhood, not talking. I have a tendency, again, I don't know whether it's part of the code, you know, They have a tendency, again, I don't know whether it's part of the code, you know, but anytime a senior or juvenile is involved, I have not experienced any type of not wanting to get involved in the process. And I'm sure you're aware and we keep hearing it over and over. This impression that black communities are a lower priority for law enforcement than white communities are a lower priority for law enforcement than white communities are. And so what is your response to say black residents who believe that their their

crises, their children are of lower priority? I'd have to stand on the laurels of police chief Robert J. Conti in that we investigate all of our cases the same. We have a standardized procedure. There's no one case that is given a higher priority than another case. Now in the media you may see that which we don't have control over. But we investigate every last one of our cases the same. No one case has any priority over the other. So I would consistently tell the residents, I would explain to them being transparent. This is what we do in every case. And I would give them a highlight of each

investigative step that we've taken. So what advice do you give to somebody? Let's say that my son is expected home at 4 p.m. and it's 5.30 and I'm worried. What recommendation do you have for me? Short of that. Given in the District of Columbia, and that's a common misconception as well, you'll hear folks say, well, he has to be missing for 24 hours. Or there's a certain time period. There is no time period for you to be able to report

your loved one missing. It's based more on what is unusual for that person's situation. If your kid is missing 15 minutes and you know that that's unusual for your kid, you immediately pick up the phone and call the police. What we're seeing now is that that gap in time from disappearance to reporting actually puts us, you know, behind,

especially in cases of elderly folks and with juveniles, maybe under the age of 12. It actually puts us behind. So there's no time limit. As soon as you feel that something is unusual about your kids' disappearance, call the police. Back at the outreach event for a Relisha Rudd, a prayer was delivered by Shantiss Cotton. We all have a purpose, and you just have to let the Lord continue to work in you. All of the gifts and talents that he's placed on the inside of you for his glory.

That you can get anywhere you can be, anywhere you can do anything that you have been allowed to do. Because it's got a purpose and a reason for you to be on this earth. And so I just encourage people just to know that God has a reason for them and that He has allowed the gifts and talents that He's placed on the inside of them to come and to fruition and to manifestation, to use them wherever they are and to give them whatever they need to be in life. So they can make it. Yes, they can make it.

Yes, they can. Thank you. Thank you. to give them whatever they need to be in life. So they can make it. Yes, they can make it. Yes, they can. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mm. Mm. Sacred Skandal, one of best new podcasts of 2022.

He's back with a closer look at the darkness surrounding Megaturge La Luz del Mundo and its leader, Nasson Joaquin Garcia. They believe that he was Jesus Christ on Earth. It wasn't even so much that he liked sex. He wanted something to pray. It's the largest cult in the world that no one has ever heard of. For three generations, La Luz del Mundo had an incredible control on his community that began in Mexico and then grew across the United States, until one day.

A day of reckoning for the man whose millions of followers called him the Apostle. Their leader was arrested and survivors began to speak out about the sexual abuse, the murder, and corruption. This is just a business and their product are people. They want to know that they will kill you. Listen to all episodes now on the I Heart Ready Up, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts. 911, what's your emergency?

You shot her! Oh my God! It's a nightmare we could never have imagined. And a killer who is still on the loose. My small town rocked by murder. There are certain murders I'm scared to discuss. In the 1980s, we're in high school losing friends, teachers, and community members. One after another, after another, for a decade.

We weren't safe anywhere. We're teenagers terrified to leave our own homes. Would we be next? Who is killing all the kids? And why? In that moment, I saw rage. And why do you some want the town secrets to stay dead and buried forever? I'm not sure why you're digging up all this old stuff again,

but I'd be careful. Don't say I didn't warn you, Nancy. Listen to the murder years on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. In learning about the cases that Henderson long works on today, it was striking to me how many of the same barriers exist now that existed 50 years ago. Young black girls are still at a higher risk of victimization and their disappearances get little or no attention. Commander Wheeler Taylor says all cases are investigated the same and she doesn't find a lack of trust in

law enforcement to impact cases of missing youth but she says Henderson helps break down the barrier between law enforcement and the black community. Today, we have so many resources for solving these kinds of cases, better technology, social media, a much better understanding of DNA and forensic evidence. We've also got people like Henderson long working in the community to try and make a difference. But the fact that Henderson's work is still so needed in 2023 is a sign of failure on one level at least. There's a problem that has been with us since the 1970s and it's that police have still not earned the trust of black communities in many of these neighborhoods.

And as we've learned, painfully, that piece, it's just crucial when you want to solve these cases. painfully. That piece, it's just crucial when you want to solve these cases. It's very likely that somebody in the community knows what happened, or knows something significant, and for the freeway phantom cases, their testimony may be all that we have left. I think when it comes to the physical evidence, what was left has been exhausted. So we probably will not be able to do anything with DNA, not for the physical evidence. This is retired MPD detective, Romaine Jenkins. What I'm hoping is that I keep invocations in the public's view that maybe somebody, you know, jogs somebody's a memory that, you know, something that they never told anybody. It came across an typing somebody, you know, jarg somebody's a memory that, you know, something that they never told anybody.

They came across some typing books, you know, that they share when it cleaned out an apartment or one of their younger cousins wrote some typing books or some property that didn't belong to them, some property that had the name Grindelwooded on it. And this is what I'm hosting that somebody's memory will be job.

Remain says that's why the work of Henderson Long is so important. But you always need someone who trust the police. If you're going to be an investigator and you don't have someone who will give you information or what's going on in the community,

then you're wasting your time. If you always have to pay for information, I think one time in my whole career that I ever pay for any information. You give me the information because you want to be a good citizen. You give me the information because you know I'm not going to divulge your name to anybody and I don't. And so you have got to have that trust. I asked Remain how we can get people to come forward with information about the freeway phantom. What you have to do is keep these cases in front of the public. A lot of people don't know about these cases and there are a lot of people

who lived here years ago when these cases happened. They are aware of them, but they thought they were closed. So you have to constantly remind the public that these cases are open. The person who did it was never apprehended. So we don't know what else that person could have done. Remain says that with the emergence of the internet and social media, there just might be new avenues for people to investigate the freeway Phantom case further. You know, now that everything is computerized, I think if somebody does have some information, they should really put it on the internet.

If they don't want to be involved in it for a save, that's them. We just didn't have the only thing we had with the newspaper and the TV and the newspaper, which was at the time the biggest circulating one, I think, was Washington Post. Now, we have more and there's so many different sites and it takes longer to investigate things now because I think back then they had over 1,000 people who were suspects in the case. They investigated every last one of them but they could not come to a favorable conclusion. Remain also says law enforcement is much more capable in today's world than they might

have been 50 years ago. If you talk to the FBI, they said at one time they thought there was more than a hundred serial killers operating within the United States. I think what's happening today, it's been highlighted more. These cases were happening back in the early 70s, but there was so much else going on. They were not equipped. They didn't even use the term serial murder cases back in the early 70s. We called them pattern cases, we gave them a name that was the outstanding thing that the suspect is. Because of the fact that nowadays you can put a foot its name in a computer and God knows you can find out everything all about

his family tree and everything so everything is is there but it's important that the police recognize that whoever did a particular case is going to do it again it's not a one-time thing that's why why the name freeway phantom came in because somebody asked to impress a person. Somebody on the Metropolitan Police Department, do you think it's more than one person involved in the person said, well, we think it's probably more than one person. When the word is case happened, that's when the note is sound. And the note let you know it was

just one person. It was clear to us during our investigation of the freeway phantom that police response at the time was impacted to at least some degree by racial bias. I asked Remaine how much she worries about that when it comes to similar cases today. It might still be a problem somewhat, but it can't be hidden nowadays, because everybody is looking at the police. Everybody has a camera. They have a microphone. They're paying attention to what is going on.

And so you really don't have, and not that all the prejudice and racism has dissipated. It's still there, but it's not highlighted. And back then, what you saw a lot of the times, officers brought their personal grievances and opinions to the office when they investigated the case. I mean, you know, I read reports in these cases where some officer wrote up that these young girls were tight shorts. You know, one of these girls had on a pair of tight shorts, and if she did, what does that have to do with anything? And that really upset me because they blame these girls for their own

abductions and ratements, strangulations, you know? But this is how they felt. This is a memo that they put out there, you know? That they were tight jeans. Remain still hopes that the freeway phantom cases can be solved, but she says more people need to know about these cases and somebody needs to step up. If I had the power, I would love to see that these cases were resolved either by someone telling the police or calling the police, calling the newspapers. In fact, get on the internet and say that everybody has information on the internet.

But, you know, at least in part the information that you have that might be crucial. And maybe you might think it didn't mean anything. But, you know, if you keep it to yourself, we'll never know. Also, that these cases are always kept alive in some manner, with PG County police and with the Metropolitan Police Department. And with that FBI, that the files and evidence not be destroyed, that it be kept forever and ever? And maybe you can't do anything with the evidence, but maybe somebody who's in their 70s, I think it's a fan who were alive today, he probably did his late conscience of what he has done. You don't know.

And also, always keep in touch with distant families. Because a lot of times people impart information to them. And they said, well, the police don't really care. So I'm not going to tell. You know, even in the fancy cases, we have people who were interviewed the night the cases happened. And two years later, they gave up their relations that they didn't and this and we gave.

Which was good information. It's a matter of always communicating with people. We're also doing our part in this fight. As a reminder, Tenderfoot TV and I Heart Media are matching the $150,000 reward offered by the Metropolitan Police Department. This brings the total reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for these murders to $300,000. If you have information that may lead to the identification of the freeway phantom, it's time to speak up. Tips can be provided to MPD or

Tenderfoot TV at tipsatenderfoot.tv For the family members of these victims, any hope of discovering the truth is complicated, because it's hard to say how they might feel about new details that could emerge. Closure doesn't come easily when you've had a loved one taken away by violence. Here again is a Vander Spinks older sister of Carol Spinks. I mean, for the most part, my family is still together, but it's still put a wedge in our family amongst us. Like me, I hold guilt because I felt like I didn't do what I supposed to do, and I'm sure my older sister does.

Even to this day, I know I know my life more strong than they are. My young siblings, I knew more and I learned more because I wanted to know more. And I wanted to understand it and I've always been trying to figure out a way to get the hurt off of me. So it made me for me. So it made me stronger and more tougher and a harder person because I wanted to know. And you can't be a chicken and you can't be timid if you want to know something. Because you're going to have to take some hard knocks to get that information. And that's what this is. These are hard knocks. I told yeah, yeah, today that she came to me overnight, two nights ago. And it wasn't in spirit, it wasn't in body form. And it's like out the peripheral view.

I could see her in her coffin, but not in her coffin dead, but maybe just laying there and people were talking about her. And as if she wasn't in a room or, how can I explain this? They were talking about her as if she wasn't in a room, but talking to her. And I was responding because I remember saying this one thing,

wait a minute, I want to interject on that right there. I said no, she wasn't like that at all. She was quiet and the kind of was looking at her out my side. And she was baby, Carol. She was just there. And it's just happened a couple days ago. And I was saying how I was telling, yeah, yeah, how good I felt that I always called to

the visit. When my family visited me, I always say, I had a visit. Here's what Bertha Crockett, sister of Brenda Crockett, told us about how she thinks about her sister's murder. There are other family members that lost their sisters and they became officers and detectives

because they wanted to put the cops on the man that killed their family member, but we've had no closure, no resolution. So, I mean, I've done so many podcasts and live TV. So, it's just, I don't know, the gentleman that could have done this has to be old, old, now or even deceased in that said, but I don't know. You know, vengeance is mine. I would repay said to Lord. So that's all you have to live by when you really can't see judgment.

After all these years, I don't know if it's important anymore. I just know that if you do wrong, wrong will come back on you. It's God's choice and chance and time. So, you know, if you think you're doing something and getting away with it, you're not. It's not, if I don't ever see what occurred as a resolution or, you know, as closure, I know that God has me and there anything around me. So when people do stuff, they have to recognize that you're not going to get away with it. So if you think you have, I think God has had something in store for them or whatever the case may be in their future or their present, their past. So if I don't see, I've never seen closure in 50 years.

So I can't say, you know, I have to worry about it. Now, I just hope that what's deserved is deserved because I don't want to sound bad, but I feel like if you take a life, you shouldn't have a life. If you do wrong, wrong, should not be granted for you to be, I'll hear doing wrong forever. And it's not that, you know, somebody has to come back and take it out or you purposely, stuff just happens by circumstance. So you just have to be good in everything you do. So now I'm not sitting here worrying about whoever that person is still around or whatever

I just know that God has helped me and I'm just grateful that I'm still here. After Diane Williams was killed, her sister Patricia Williams went on to become a police officer. Her sister Patricia Williams went on to become a police officer. I did not become a police officer because of my sister's death. I became a police officer because I was taking a class in investigations. And it was during one of those classes that the professor put up that the Metropolitan Police Department would be having a test at Balloucine High School. That's the high school that I went to. I decided to go and take the test. And almost the rest is history.

I'd wind up joining the police department. After romaine Jenkins retired, there was another detective, Jim Treino, that I was in a training academy with. And he had gotten, or was starting to pick up with the freeway Phantom investigations from where Roman Jenkins had left off. One day we just so happened to see each other.

Years after we got another training academy and he mentioned that to me. and so we started talking about the Free Path and he was telling me what he's going to do and they had gotten a grant. He was able to get someone to assist him with reenacting every single case and I was fortunate enough to write with them on one of the reenactments that they were doing. It felt like I was back in 1970. I felt like I was there at the time that it happened

and it really touched me just to be a part of that and to kind of like see what happened and what these girls may have felt like or felt when this was going on. It put me in a whole new different light as to this whole investigation because I was sort of like a part of it. All the other times I was not a part of the investigation. I remember Roman Jenkins telling me, I don't want to show you anything involving your sister. It's too hard to look at. You can't unsee this.

And I respected that. So even though we would talk about it, I never saw any reports on investigations, any photographs involving the investigations, any of that, it was always just dialogue talking back and forth about this, and then they would always guard me against telling me or letting me see anything that would upset me. There is no closure. I have, of course, my lot older. There's some things that I don't even remember. I don't know if that's selective amnesia or what but they'll never be any closure, but I have I have also

accepted that Diane and the other true way Phantom victims murder were never be found. I've already accepted it and I believe in God and I believe that this individual has to or individuals have an accounting and maybe not in this life but they will and I pretty much left that now and their hands God's hands excuse me to deal with them because I don't believe we will ever know. And I can't live a life of hating somebody or spending all my time worrying about, when are they gonna catch somebody?

What are they doing? Because in the dying's case, I honestly believe that everything has been done. They can be done with the exception of our confession. And even if somebody confessed to do it, they'd have to prove it because it's been so long. You'd have to, they would have to have some kind of evidence to prove that they did it.

After 50 years on filling that individual's no longer with us either. Throughout this podcast, there were a number of goals we were trying to accomplish. First and foremost, we just wanted to tell the stories of these young girls and make their names heard. And again, the six confirmed victims are Carol Spinks,

Darlinia Johnson, Brenda Crockett, Nina Mosha Yates, Brenda Woodard, and Diane Williams. There was also Tara Bryant, a seventh unconfirmed victim, and Angela Barnes, who was briefly on the official list of victims. What cannot get lost here is that these young girls were innocent beloved members of their families and their community, and the impact their murders had on their loved ones was severe,

it was tragic, and in some cases, insurmountable. It is our hope that they do find some manner of peace. It's also our mission that they someday receive the justice they deserve. And that brings us to the next goal of this podcast. We hope to discover the identity of the freeway phantom and we truly believe it's possible, but we cannot do that alone. What we've done here is lay out the facts,

give you as much information as we could find. And now we need the community to step up and share whatever tips they might have. That may be the only way that this 50-year-old case gets resolved, and it just might be the only way that these young girls finally receive justice. Our last goal with this podcast has been to raise awareness of an even bigger, more persistent issue, not just in Washington, DC, but all throughout this country. Missing children from black and marginalized communities rarely get the attention they

need. It's past time that we prioritize cases like Relisha Rudd, both in terms of media attention and police resources. Only then can we start to save these lives and ensure that what happened to Carol, Darlinia, Brenda, Nina Mosha, Brenda Woodard, Diane, and Tara never happens again. I'm Celeste Headley. This has been Freeway Phantom.

Freeway Phantom is a production of I Heart Radio, Tinderfoot TV and Black Bar Mitzvah. Our host is Celeste Hiddley. The show is written by Trevor Young, Jamie Arbrite and Celeste Hiddley. The show is written by Trevor Young, Jamie Arbright, and Celeste Hiddley. Executive producers on behalf of IHAR Radio include Matt Fredrick and Alex Williams with supervising producer Trevor Young. Executive producers on behalf of Tinderfoot TV include Donald Arbright and Payng Lindsay with producers Jamie Arbright and Tracy Kaplan. Executive producers on behalf of Black Bar Mitzvah include myself Jay Ellis and Aaron Bergman with producer Sidney Fooves. Lead researcher is Jamie Allbright, artwork by Mr. Sold 216, original music by

makeup and vanity set, special thanks to a team at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing and the North Group. Tinder for TV and I Heart, as well as Black Bar Mitzvah, have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for their freeway phantom murders. The previous reward of up to $150,000 offered by the Metropolitan Police Department

has been matched. A new total reward of up to $300,000 is now being offered. If you have any information relating to these unsolved crimes, contact the Metropolitan Police Department at area code 202-727-9099. For more information, please visit freeway-fanom.com. For more podcasts from our radio and Tinder for TV, visit the IHR radio app, Crime Podcast, Sacred Scandal, returns for a second season to investigate alleged sexual abuse at Mexico's La Luz del Mundo Mega Church. Journalist Robert Garza explores survivor stories of pure evil experiences at the hands of a self-proclaimed apostle who is now behind bars. I remember as a little girl being groomed to be his concubine, that's how I was raised. It is not wrong if you take your clothes off for the apostle. Listen to Sacred Scandal on the IHR radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

911, what's your emergency? It's a nightmare we could never have imagined. And a killer who is still on the loose. In the 1980s, we were in high school losing friends, teachers and community members. We weren't safe anywhere. Would we be next? It was getting harder and harder to live in Mompine. community members. We weren't safe anywhere. Would we be next? It was getting harder and harder to live in Mount Pine.

Listen to the Murder Years on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.