In the late hours of Labor Day, September 4, 1989, Daniel Lauer, a 21-year-old white male, and his companion, Annamaria Phelps, left Amelia County, Virginia, for a trip to Virginia Beach. The two were traveling in Lauer's 1973 gold Chevrolet Nova, embarking on a journey that should have taken a couple of hours. However, they never reached their destination, and a sense of unease grew among their families when they failed to make contact the following morning.
A missing persons report was promptly filed with the Virginia State Police, initiating a search for the young couple.
A day later, on September 5th, a significant clue surfaced when Lauer's vehicle was discovered abandoned at a westbound rest area on Interstate 64 in New Kent County. The car's location was perplexing, as they had been traveling eastbound. The discovery of the empty vehicle intensified the investigation, yet the whereabouts of Daniel and Annamaria remained a mystery. For weeks, their families and law enforcement were left with a haunting silence, clinging to hope but fearing the worst as the search continued with no new leads.
The grim reality of their fate was uncovered on the morning of October 19, 1989. A group of hunters, deep in the woods approximately three miles east of where the car had been found, stumbled upon human remains. The subsequent investigation confirmed the identities of the deceased as Daniel Lauer and Annamaria Phelps. It was determined that both had been victims of homicide. Their deaths are considered part of a series of unsolved killings known as the Colonial Parkway Murders, a string of cases that has troubled investigators and the community for decades. To this day, the case remains a cold case, with no arrests having been made and no suspects publicly identified in connection with the double homicide.
