On the evening of April 9, 1988, Richard Keith Call, a 20-year-old White male, embarked on what was to be his first date with a fellow Christopher Newport College student, 18-year-old Cassandra Hailey. Keith, a computer science major, was described by his sister as fun to be around and someone who truly enjoyed life. He picked Cassandra up from her home in Grafton, Virginia, in his red 1982 Toyota Celica. Their plans for the night included a movie and a party in the University Square area.
They were last seen leaving the party sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on April 10, with the intention of getting Cassandra home by her curfew.
The following day, concern grew when neither Keith nor Cassandra returned home. Keith's car was discovered abandoned at the York River Overlook on the Colonial Parkway. Inside the vehicle, investigators found most of the clothing Keith had been wearing, along with some of Cassandra's clothes. The keys were on the driver's seat, and a watch and eyeglasses were left on the dashboard. Notably, Keith's wallet and Cassandra's purse were missing. The initial theory from park authorities was that the couple had gone for a swim and drowned, a suggestion met with skepticism given the cold April water temperatures. An extensive search of the river and surrounding areas yielded no trace of the missing pair.
The disappearance of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey is considered one of the Colonial Parkway murders, a series of unsolved homicides that targeted young couples in Virginia between 1986 and 1989. While the bodies of other victims in the series were found, Keith and Cassandra remain missing and are presumed dead. The FBI took over the investigation, and it was treated as a likely abduction. For decades, the case remained cold, leaving the families with no graves to visit and a lingering uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.
In January 2024, a significant development emerged in the broader Colonial Parkway murders investigation. Authorities announced that a local fisherman named Alan Wade Wilmer Sr., who died in 2017, was linked by DNA evidence to at least two of the other murders in the series. Wilmer had been a suspect in the disappearance of Keith and Cassandra back in 1988. At the time, his truck was searched, and investigators found a gun and handcuffs. Despite being considered a prime suspect and admitting to being near the area on the night of their disappearance, he was freed after passing an FBI polygraph test. While Wilmer is now confirmed as the killer in other Colonial Parkway cases, his direct involvement in the deaths of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey has not been conclusively established, and no arrests have been made in their specific case.
