Post by vrextar on Feb 12, 2020 2:00:46 GMT
So I searched a bit and couldn't find any threads about this case, so here's some info in case you're not familiar with it. If a thread has already been posted, let me know and I can delete this one.
Case Background/Info
So who is/was the Route 29 Stalker? We just don't know yet. I'm sure the family/friends/loved ones of Alicia Showalter Reynolds sure would like to know and see her killer brought to justice. On March 2nd, 1996, Ms. Reynolds was driving to Charlottesville, VA from Baltimore, MD to visit her mother as the two were planning to go shopping. Unfortunately, she never arrived. Her car would be found later that day, hours after she was supposed to arrive on a highway near Culpeper, VA. According to the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, a napkin was left on her windshield, signifying that she had had car trouble. The car was inspected and there wasn't anything wrong with it that would've necessitated her to pull off the road.
Police set up a road block in the area the next day to try to talk to witnesses who may have seen her or what happened to her. They said she talked to a man with a blue or black pickup truck at the side of the road. Later on, it was discovered that a man had tried to convince around 20 different women to pull over, honking his horn, flashing his lights, and telling them there was something wrong with their vehicle. If they pulled over, he would take them to a nearby pay phone (presumably to call a tow truck, as this was before everyone had cell phones) and that was that. Other times they refused to pull over or ignored him and he was said to get angry about this and leave.
About a week before Alicia disappeared, a woman (I believe her name was Carmelita Shomo) said she was driving home and was approached by a man who said there were problems with her car and he offered her a ride. She said yes and then shortly into the ride, the man attacked her with a screwdriver and attempted to sexually assault her. Fortunately for her sake, she survived the encounter, although she broke her ankle during her escape from the vehicle. It's thought that this man is the same man who killed Alicia.
On May 7th, 1996, Alicia's remains were found in Lignum, VA, a town which had a logging area off State Route 3. Her cause of death was not stated at the time. Police think the man may have also done similar things in other areas. The man was described as being between 35-40 years old (in 1996, so a DOB of 1956-1961) and around 5'10" to 6'0" tall. He was said to have reddish brown hair and a medium build. He had told some of the women that his name was Larry Breeden. Several men with that name were questioned, but they have all been ruled out.
Suspects
Richard Marc Edward Evonitz - Evonitz also was never charged with any of these crimes either, however he committed similar crimes elsewhere (especially in northern central VA). In January 1987 he exposed himself and performed a sexual act in front of a 15-year-old girl in Orange Park, FL. At the time he was serving in the Navy. He was arrested a month later when his ship had returned to port. He pleaded no contest and received a sentence of three years probation. On September 9, 1996, he abducted and murdered 16-year-old Sofia Silva in Spotsylvania County, VA. Her remains were found about a month later in a creek near State Route 3 (Alicia was also found on SR3, though Lignum is in Culpeper County) in King George County. He also abducted and murdered Kristin and Kati Lisk (who were sisters and ages 15 and 12 respectively) near Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA on May 1, 1997. They were found deceased 5 days later in the South Anna River, which was near Old Ridge Road in Hanover County, VA.
My Thoughts
I don't think any of these suspects are the Route 29 Stalker. Why? Well, they don't look very much like the sketch IMO (yes, sketches can be unreliable, but still). Rice kind of does, but he could also be out because of his age. According to stardem.com, Rice was 39 years old in 2007, which places his DOB in 1968. Alicia was killed in 1996, which, if Rice were her killer, he would've been 27-28-years-old when she was killed. Witnesses and prior victims in the R29S incidents seemed to indicate that the R29S was between the ages of 35-40 (27-28 being a just few years outside of the low end of the witness age range guess), which Rice was not at that time. Although given his photo and has hairline, it's possible he could've been thought to be older than he actually was (though he probably looked different in 1996 than he does now). I wonder if any of Rice's relatives were questioned?
Maps
This maps shows an approximate map and time it would take to get from Baltimore, MD to Charlottesville, VA, assuming you take the most direct route.
Blue Star - Baltimore, MD, where Alicia was from
Red Star - Culpeper, VA, a town near Route 29 where her car was found abandoned due to "mechanical problems"
Yellow Star - Charlottesville, VA, the city where she was traveling to to go shopping with her mother
Green Star - Shenandoah National Park, the location of the attempted kidnapping Rice was convicted of and the unsolved 1996 murders of Julianne "Julie" Marie Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans for which he was charged, but charges were later dropped
![]()
This one shows a closer look at the relevant areas in Alicia's case. As you can see in this map, if you were taking the most direct route, you would indeed need to travel along Route 29 to get to Charlottesville from Baltimore.
Red Star - Culpeper, VA, a town near Route 29 where her car was found abandoned due to "mechanical problems"
Yellow Star - Charlottesville, VA, the city where she was traveling to to go shopping with her mother
Purple Star - Lignum, VA, a town where Alicia's remains were found in a wooded area about 2 months after her disappearance
Green Star - Shenandoah National Park, the location of the attempted kidnapping Rice was convicted of and the unsolved 1996 murders of Julianne "Julie" Marie Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans for which he was charged, but charges were later dropped
Morgan Harrington
Samantha Clarke
Sage Smith (AKA Dashad and Unique)
Alexis Murphy
Hannah Graham
Thelma Scroggins
Darrell David Rice
Richard Marc Edward Evonitz
Randy Allen Taylor
Ralph Leon Jackson
Rex Heuermann
A good friend of mine lives near Charlottesville and I have traveled along portions of Route 29 several times over the past 10 or so years. Parts of it are quite lively (near Charlottesville), while other parts are heavily wooded with hilly to mountainous terrain. If you've ever been to Monticello (in Charlottesville, VA), you may have seen signs for Route 29 exits off Interstate 64.
I don't think I've ever been up to the Culpeper area before, so I'm not that familiar with that portion. I drove through Culpeper and visited Lignum briefly a few years ago. See this post.
Sources
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki - unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Route_29_Stalker, unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Alicia_Showalter_Reynolds, unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Julianne_Marie_Williams_and_Laura_Winans
Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Evonitz & en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_persons_cases_along_U.S._Route_29_in_Virginia
stardem.com - www.stardem.com/news/concerns-raised-about-ex-con-living-on-kent-island/article_5f2e2ce6-4b9b-557c-8e12-dbfc8635b218.html
Joseph Giacalone
Case Background/Info
So who is/was the Route 29 Stalker? We just don't know yet. I'm sure the family/friends/loved ones of Alicia Showalter Reynolds sure would like to know and see her killer brought to justice. On March 2nd, 1996, Ms. Reynolds was driving to Charlottesville, VA from Baltimore, MD to visit her mother as the two were planning to go shopping. Unfortunately, she never arrived. Her car would be found later that day, hours after she was supposed to arrive on a highway near Culpeper, VA. According to the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, a napkin was left on her windshield, signifying that she had had car trouble. The car was inspected and there wasn't anything wrong with it that would've necessitated her to pull off the road.
Police set up a road block in the area the next day to try to talk to witnesses who may have seen her or what happened to her. They said she talked to a man with a blue or black pickup truck at the side of the road. Later on, it was discovered that a man had tried to convince around 20 different women to pull over, honking his horn, flashing his lights, and telling them there was something wrong with their vehicle. If they pulled over, he would take them to a nearby pay phone (presumably to call a tow truck, as this was before everyone had cell phones) and that was that. Other times they refused to pull over or ignored him and he was said to get angry about this and leave.
About a week before Alicia disappeared, a woman (I believe her name was Carmelita Shomo) said she was driving home and was approached by a man who said there were problems with her car and he offered her a ride. She said yes and then shortly into the ride, the man attacked her with a screwdriver and attempted to sexually assault her. Fortunately for her sake, she survived the encounter, although she broke her ankle during her escape from the vehicle. It's thought that this man is the same man who killed Alicia.
On May 7th, 1996, Alicia's remains were found in Lignum, VA, a town which had a logging area off State Route 3. Her cause of death was not stated at the time. Police think the man may have also done similar things in other areas. The man was described as being between 35-40 years old (in 1996, so a DOB of 1956-1961) and around 5'10" to 6'0" tall. He was said to have reddish brown hair and a medium build. He had told some of the women that his name was Larry Breeden. Several men with that name were questioned, but they have all been ruled out.
In Alicia's case, the police have fingerprints and hair they think belong to the killer, but there haven't been any matches thus far according to the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki.
Suspects
Darrell David Rice - Rice has never been charged with Alicia's murder or any of the possibly related Route 29 Stalker crimes. However, he is a person of interest. He had been arrested in 1997 for the attempted kidnapping of a woman who was biking around the same time frame in Shenandoah National Park. His father also lived in the area and had a truck similar to what was described by the R29S's victims.
In the case of Ms. Shomo, she identified Rice as her attacker and he received 11 months in jail in a plea deal. He was also a suspect in the murders of Julianne "Julie" Marie Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans, which occurred just a few weeks after Alicia's remains were discovered. He was thought to have been in Shenandoah National Park around the time of these murders. He was charged with Julie & Lollie's murders in 2002, but the charges were dropped in 2004 due to a lack of evidence. He was released from prison (from his prior attempted kidnapping conviction I assume), in 2011.
He was cleared by police in the murders of Julie & Lollie when Walter Leo Jackson was identified as their killer.
Rice, who was 56 years old, died on July 5th, 2024 after being struck by a vehicle while riding a bicycle. - cvillerightnow.com/news/208802-weeks-after-dna-exoneration-darrell-rice-has-died/
Richard Marc Edward Evonitz - Evonitz also was never charged with any of these crimes either, however he committed similar crimes elsewhere (especially in northern central VA). In January 1987 he exposed himself and performed a sexual act in front of a 15-year-old girl in Orange Park, FL. At the time he was serving in the Navy. He was arrested a month later when his ship had returned to port. He pleaded no contest and received a sentence of three years probation. On September 9, 1996, he abducted and murdered 16-year-old Sofia Silva in Spotsylvania County, VA. Her remains were found about a month later in a creek near State Route 3 (Alicia was also found on SR3, though Lignum is in Culpeper County) in King George County. He also abducted and murdered Kristin and Kati Lisk (who were sisters and ages 15 and 12 respectively) near Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA on May 1, 1997. They were found deceased 5 days later in the South Anna River, which was near Old Ridge Road in Hanover County, VA.
On June 24, 2002, Evonitz abducted and raped another 15-year-old girl, Kara Robinson. This occurred in Columbia, SC (he had moved from VA by this point). Given his previous victims, it's likely that he probably would've killed her as well. Fortunately, she was able to escape when he was asleep that night. She identified him as her attacker and subsequently Evonitz fled to Sarasota, FL. Unfortunately he never faced the justice system as he killed himself after police had closed in on him.
Randy Allen Taylor - Taylor was convicted in on May 8, 2014 in the disappearance and murder of 17 year old Alexis Murphy. Taylor tried to pin this crime on, Jesse Matthew, who was convicted for the murders of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington. He is also suspected in the disappearance and possible murder of Samantha Clarke. Alexis had disappeared from a gas station on/around August 3, 2013. Her remains were found on December 3, 2020on private property in Lovingston and positively identified as Alexis on February 5, 2021 and announced publicly on February 17, 2021.
Ralph Leon Jackson - Jackson plead guilty to the shooting/assault of Christina Shay Floyd with the intent to commit murder, one count of using and discharging a firearm, during and in relation to a crime of violence, one count of the premeditated murder of Timothy Phillip Davis by shooting him with a firearm, and one count of using and discharging a firearm, a Harrington & Richardson 20 gauge shotgun, during and in relation to the murder of Mr. Davis. He had agreed to plead guilty to the murder of Davis in exchange for a life sentence and was given 35 additional years for the gun charges along with 10 years for the assault of Floyd. This occurred at a scenic overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway on April 5, 2010.
Rex Heuermann - The alleged Long Island Serial Killer (LISK) is now being considered a possible suspect in this case by some of the family of Alicia. Her twin brother and younger sister, Dr. Patrick Showalter and Barbara Josenhans, respectively, have indicated that they think Heuermann looks like the sketch. Additionally, Heuermann's mother lives about an hour south of where Alicia was last seen.
Adjacent Cases
Julianne Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans - 24 and 26 years old respectively; murdered while camping in Shenandoah National Park in May 1996. Rice was suspected and charged but charges were dropped when his DNA didn't match. Remains unsolved.
***UPDATE - 6/20/2024!***
The 28 year old cold case of who killed Julianne Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans has announced as being solved by the FBI. Their killer has been identified through a CODIS DNA match to a deceased Ohio painter named Walter "Leo" Jackson Sr. He was a convicted rapist originally from the Cleveland, Ohio, area. Jackson Sr. died in prison in 2018.
Anne Carolyn McDaniel - 20 year old who was last seen leaving a group home in the town of Orange on September 18, 1996. Her burned remains were found 4 days later within 10 miles of where Alicia Showalter Reynolds's remains were found. Remains unsolved.
Morgan Harrington - 20 year old Virginia Tech student disappeared from a Metallica concert on October 17, 2009. Her body was found at Anchorage Farm in Albemarle County on January 26, 2010. On September 15, 2015, Jesse Matthew was formally charged with first degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in the murder of Morgan Harrington.
Samantha Clarke - 19 year old Clarke was last seen in Orange shortly after midnight on September 13, 2010. On January 15, 2021, the Town of Orange Police Department reclassified her disappearance as a murder. As mentioned above, Randy Taylor is a suspect/POI in Clarke's case. Remains unsolved.
Sage Smith (AKA Dashad and Unique) - 19 year old transgender woman who went missing on November 20, 2012. She was last seen waiting for a date near downtown Charlottesville, about 3.5 miles south of the location where Alexis Murphy's abandoned car was found in August 2013. Erik McFadden is a POI in this case and is also missing. Remains unsolved.
Alexis Murphy - 17 year old who went missing after leaving her home in Shipman was supposedly traveling to Lynchburg on August 3, 2013. Last seen on security footage at a gas station in Lovingston, Virginia and her car was later found outside a theater off US Route 29 just north of Charlottesville. Randy Taylor was convicted of her murder and remains in custody (see more above).
Hannah Graham - 18 year old University of Virginia student who was last seen at the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville on the early morning of September 13, 2014. On September 24, 2014, Jesse Matthew was arrested in Galveston County, Texas, while being wanted for the abduction and abduction with intent to defile Graham. On October 18, 2014, Graham's remains were found at an abandoned property in Albemarle County, Virginia. Jesse Matthew plead guilty to Graham's murder as well as Harrington's murder on March 2, 2016 and was sentenced to 4 terms of life. Matthew entered an Alford plea on June 10, 2015 and was convicted on charges of attempted murder, object sexual penetration, and abduction with intent to defile from an incident that occurred in September 2005 in Fairfax, Virginia. He was sentenced to 3 life terms in this case. As of May 21, 2019 he was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and was transferred from the Red Onion State Prison in Wise County, VA to Sussex I State Prison in Waverly, VA for cancer treatment.
Thelma Scroggins - 74 year old church organist and retired mail carrier, was shot four times in the head on the evening of July 13, 1996, in her Lignum, Virginia home. The only DNA found at the scene was Scroggins’. Five fingerprints were recovered, but no match was ever made. Eric Weakley was convicted of second-degree murder in 2001 for the shooting death of Thelma Scroggins, and charged alongside Michael Hash and Jason Kloby, together known as the Culpeper Three. Weakley, who was 15 when the crime took place in Culpeper, Virginia, in 1996, falsely confessed to the murder, implicating Hash and Kloby, who were 16 and 19 at the time of the crime. Weakley spent almost six years behind bars before being released in 2006. The conviction, however, remained on his record. Kloby was tried and acquitted and Hash was convicted and sentenced to life with the testimony of a jailhouse informant. With the help of the UVA’s Innocence Project Clinic, Weakley signed an affidavit in 2011 recanting his confession and testimony against Hash. In February of the following year, a federal judge overturned Hash’s conviction. Weakley was pardoned by former VA governor Ralph Northam in January 2022. The case remains unsolved.
I don't think any of these suspects are the Route 29 Stalker. Why? Well, they don't look very much like the sketch IMO (yes, sketches can be unreliable, but still). Rice kind of does, but he could also be out because of his age. According to stardem.com, Rice was 39 years old in 2007, which places his DOB in 1968. Alicia was killed in 1996, which, if Rice were her killer, he would've been 27-28-years-old when she was killed. Witnesses and prior victims in the R29S incidents seemed to indicate that the R29S was between the ages of 35-40 (27-28 being a just few years outside of the low end of the witness age range guess), which Rice was not at that time. Although given his photo and has hairline, it's possible he could've been thought to be older than he actually was (though he probably looked different in 1996 than he does now). I wonder if any of Rice's relatives were questioned?
Evonitz was born in 1963, so he's also outside the age range, but just barely. But I think he should be ruled out in this case because the R29S victims were older and outside his preferred age range and because the MO didn't match. He abducted victims from yards, not tell them they have car problems and offer them a ride. Granted killers can change MOs, but this seems unlikely in this case IMO. Though according to new information I learned from Mind Over Murder's coverage of the R29S, Evonitz apparently confessed to numerous other unnamed crimes to his sister before his death. Who knows what those crimes could've been?
In the case of Taylor & Jackson, it doesn't seem like the R29S MO fits with their crimes. Between the 2 of them maybe a bit more in Taylor's case, but for Jackson it seems different. Additionally, Taylor was apparently already in prison when Alicia was killed.
I personally believe R29S is someone who has never been named as a possible suspect and has escaped detection. In years past it was thought that serial offenders were unable to stop their crimes until caught or dead, but that has since been proven false as in the case of the namesake of this website, the EAR/ONS/GSK. I think R29S probably felt like there was too much going on in the area with all the disappearances which he may have had nothing to do with and thus stopped his crimes for fear of being caught/identified. Either that or he moved to somewhere else where he could continue.
Maps
Map 1
This maps shows an approximate map and time it would take to get from Baltimore, MD to Charlottesville, VA, assuming you take the most direct route.
Blue Star - Baltimore, MD, where Alicia was from
Red Star - Culpeper, VA, a town near Route 29 where her car was found abandoned due to "mechanical problems"
Yellow Star - Charlottesville, VA, the city where she was traveling to to go shopping with her mother
Green Star - Shenandoah National Park, the location of the attempted kidnapping Rice was convicted of and the unsolved 1996 murders of Julianne "Julie" Marie Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans for which he was charged, but charges were later dropped
Map 2
This one shows a closer look at the relevant areas in Alicia's case. As you can see in this map, if you were taking the most direct route, you would indeed need to travel along Route 29 to get to Charlottesville from Baltimore.
Red Star - Culpeper, VA, a town near Route 29 where her car was found abandoned due to "mechanical problems"
Yellow Star - Charlottesville, VA, the city where she was traveling to to go shopping with her mother
Purple Star - Lignum, VA, a town where Alicia's remains were found in a wooded area about 2 months after her disappearance
Green Star - Shenandoah National Park, the location of the attempted kidnapping Rice was convicted of and the unsolved 1996 murders of Julianne "Julie" Marie Williams and Laura "Lollie" Winans for which he was charged, but charges were later dropped
Images
Alicia Showalter Reynolds
Carmelita Shomo
Lollie Winans & Julianne Williams
Anne Carolyn McDaniel
Morgan Harrington
Samantha Clarke
Sage Smith (AKA Dashad and Unique)
Alexis Murphy
Hannah Graham
Thelma Scroggins
Route 29 Stalker Sketches
Route 29 Stalker's Truck (not the actual truck, similar to this, photos from screen caps of Unsolved Mysteries' episode on the case and State Police)
Unsolved Mysteries Episode on the Route 29 Stalker (R29S portion starts around 12:55 and lasts until ~22:01)
State Police Similar Truck Photo
Darrell David Rice
Richard Marc Edward Evonitz
Randy Allen Taylor
Ralph Leon Jackson
Rex Heuermann
Personal Notes
A good friend of mine lives near Charlottesville and I have traveled along portions of Route 29 several times over the past 10 or so years. Parts of it are quite lively (near Charlottesville), while other parts are heavily wooded with hilly to mountainous terrain. If you've ever been to Monticello (in Charlottesville, VA), you may have seen signs for Route 29 exits off Interstate 64.
Sources
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki - unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Route_29_Stalker, unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Alicia_Showalter_Reynolds, unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Julianne_Marie_Williams_and_Laura_Winans
Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Evonitz & en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_persons_cases_along_U.S._Route_29_in_Virginia
stardem.com - www.stardem.com/news/concerns-raised-about-ex-con-living-on-kent-island/article_5f2e2ce6-4b9b-557c-8e12-dbfc8635b218.html
fredericksburg.com - www.fredericksburg.com/local/hypnosis-on-trial-in-route-stalker-case/article_a80eda4a-cff5-53dc-9ff7-fa6de13d393c.html
R29S & AR Images - Various sites via Google Images Search & tosh's post later in the tread
PIX11 - pix11.com/news/suspect-sketch-in-1996-virginia-murder-looks-like-accused-gilgo-killer-victims-family-says/
Podcasts
Grove Street FM - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/route-29-stalker/id1434986551
Media Squatch - open.spotify.com/show/6gNQw3J6PJEmlsSwXKvTc2
True Crime All The Time Unsolved - www.podcastone.com/episode/The-Route-29-Stalker
Articles
Washington Post - www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/11/13/fatal-fantasy-police-profile-rte-29-killer/ae148c92-0004-4503-b126-95d044662f68/
WUSA9 - www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/police-still-hunting-rt-29-stalker-after-21-years/65-418785268
WGTC - wegotthiscovered.com/true-crime/who-is-the-route-29-stalker-and-is-there-a-connection-to-the-gilgo-beach-murders/
12 On Your Side - www.12onyourside.com/2019/03/05/police-seeking-information-death-related-route-stalker/
Crime and Coffee Couple - crimeandcoffeecouple.com/2023/03/12/alicia-showalter-reynolds-the-route-29-stalker/
Videos
Joseph Giacalone
Jay is 4 Justice
ABC 7 News WJLA
AZ Crime
Grizzly True Crime
The Inquisitor
True Crime with Nathan Adams
