On a summer day in Wilmington, Delaware, August 22, 1988, a 27-year-old Caucasian woman named Margaret Lynn Finner vanished. She was last seen along Route 13, a known thoroughfare for sex workers, getting into a distinctive blue Ford panel van with no side windows and round headlights, driven by a white male. Her stepfather reported her missing that same day, and concern grew when a friend of Margaret's called him the following day with information about her last known whereabouts.
For
three months, her fate remained a mystery, a period of agonizing uncertainty for her family. The grim discovery was made on November 12, 1988, when a hunter stumbled upon skeletal remains near the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Dental records would later confirm the remains belonged to Margaret Lynn Finner. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, the medical examiner was unable to determine an exact cause of death, but signs of torture were reportedly visible on her remains. Her death was part of a series of brutal killings that had been terrorizing the women of New Castle County.
The investigation into Margaret's disappearance and death was part of a larger task force effort to catch a serial killer dubbed the "Route 40 Killer." The description of the blue Ford van seen with Margaret was a crucial piece of evidence, linking her case to others. The investigation ultimately zeroed in on Steven Brian Pennell, a married father and electrician who drove a similar van. A female undercover officer had a chilling encounter with Pennell when he stopped for her on Route 40, and she noted his van's interior was covered in the same type of blue carpet fibers found on another victim.
Following a search of his van which uncovered a so-called "torture kit" with items like pliers, handcuffs, a whip, and knives, Pennell was arrested on November 29, 1988. While he was charged and convicted for the murders of other women, he was never formally charged with Margaret Finner's murder due to the lack of evidence stemming from the condition of her body. However, authorities and Margaret’s family remained convinced of his guilt in her death. Pennell would later plead no contest to the deaths of Margaret and another victim, Michele Gordon. He was ultimately sentenced to death for the other murders and was executed, taking the full story of what happened to Margaret Lynn Finner with him.
