Cold Case: Freeway Phantom - Part 1

Carol Spinks vanished from Wheeler Road after leaving the 7-Eleven, a half-mile from home.

So began the longest, unsolved serial murder case in the history of Washington, DC - young black girls, ages 10 to 18. No one saw who grabbed them, who raped them, or who strangled them. No one saw their bodies dumped along the highway.

The news media called the killer "The Freeway Phantom."

Evander Spinks, Carol's older sister, says she can't forget her sister, "I think about her all the time. I talk to her ... I just say that I hope she's okay ... I'm sure she is."

Two months after Carol Spinks body was found, the body of 16 year-old Darlenia Johnson was dumped in the same location along I-295.

DC Police Detective James Trainum says that was the killer's territory: "He felt safe there, he felt he could do his dirt and get away with it."

Detective Trainum now works the Cold Case that exploded in the summer of '71. He drives the same streets the killer did. A killer who, Trainum says, likely fantasized about his crimes until "one day, he just happened to see one little girl walking down the street and he took the opportunity."

The monster was unleashed. Parents warned their children in Southeast so the killer went to 14th and U Streets, Northeast to grab 10 year old Brenda Crockett. Nenomoshia Yates was taken from Benning Road, Northeast. Brenda Woodward vanished after leaving a bus stop on M Street, Northeast. Five girls in six months.

Evander Spinks also dreams of, one day, being able to tell sister Carol, "Now we know who it is ... it's settled."

If you have any information regarding this case please call DC Police at 202-727-5037 or the Cold Case Tip Line at 202-895-5750.

Or you can send an email to: unsolved.murder@dc.gov.

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