Barbara Ann Wilcox, a 19-year-old white woman, was last seen in Mississippi in 1973 while hitchhiking to Florida's east coast with her friend Colette Goodenough. The two teenagers from Iowa vanished without a trace until four years later, when a hog hunter stumbled upon their remains near the C-24 Canal in western Port St. Lucie, Florida. Their bones and teeth were found scattered around a large tree, which investigators noted showed signs that one or both of the girls had been hung from it.
The gruesome discovery painted a horrifying picture of their final moments.
Authorities linked the murders of Barbara Ann Wilcox and Colette Goodenough to Gerard Schaefer, a former Martin County Sheriff's Office deputy who had already been convicted of killing two teenage girls, Georgia Jessup and Susan Place. Schaefer was known for his sadistic crimes, having been implicated in up to 30 murders across the country. His modus operandi involved picking up hitchhikers, restraining them, and subjecting them to brutal torture before ultimately killing them. Evidence recovered from Schaefer's home included personal belongings of multiple missing women, including identification documents belonging to Barbara Ann Wilcox and Colette Goodenough.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, Schaefer maintained his innocence, claiming he had been framed by his defense attorney and overzealous prosecutors. However, his writings, sketches, and possession of victims' items painted a damning picture of his involvement in the murders. Schaefer was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes but met a violent end himself when he was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate in 2005 at Florida State Prison. The deaths of Barbara Ann Wilcox and Colette Goodenough remain among the many tragic cases attributed to Schaefer's reign of terror, marking one of the most gruesome murder sprees in Florida's history.
