In the summer of 1975, the city of Detroit was gripped by fear as a serial killer, later dubbed the 'Bigfoot Killer' and 'The Cass Ripper,' preyed on women in the Cass Corridor neighborhood. Among the victims was Eoria Char Dick, a 22-year-old Caucasian woman. Her body was discovered on June 13, 1975, behind the J.L. Hudson Co. warehouse. The cause of her brutal death was multiple stab wounds.
An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed nine times in the right side of her chest and thirteen times in the left, with the wounds puncturing her lungs and heart. The coroner also noted that the nature of the wounds to her chest and abdomen suggested she had been tortured.
Eoria Dick was one of at least seven women who fell victim to this unidentified assailant between February and October of that year. The killer's targets were often women involved in prostitution and living in poverty. The perpetrator was described by survivors of his attacks as a tall, muscular African-American man with an afro and facial hair, who drove a beige Oldsmobile. His moniker, 'Bigfoot,' stemmed from witness accounts of his large hands and feet, leading police to speculate he may have had a condition called acromegaly.
In January 1976, a man named Carl Mayweather Jr. was arrested during an attempted rape and was considered a prime suspect in the 'Bigfoot' slayings. He matched the physical description of the killer and wore a large shoe size. Mayweather was investigated for the murders of Eoria Dick and two other victims. However, he was eventually cleared as a suspect in at least four of the murders due to having a solid alibi.
Despite the investigation and the brief focus on a person of interest, no one was ever charged with the murder of Eoria Dick. Her case, along with the others attributed to the 'Bigfoot Killer,' remains unsolved. The serial killer who terrorized Detroit's Cass Corridor in 1975 was never apprehended, leaving a trail of unanswered questions and unresolved grief for the families of his victims.
