Four woman are found in a drainage ditch in Atlantic City In the autumn of 2006, the discovery of four women's bodies in a drainage ditch in Egg Harbor Township, just outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey, brought to light a string of unsolved murders. Among the victims was Tracy Ann Roberts, a 23-year-old white female. Her body, along with three others, was found in a chilling, methodical arrangement that suggested the work of a serial killer. The victims were all found in a ditch behind the Golden Key Motel on the Black Horse Pike.
Tracy Ann Roberts, originally from Bear, Delaware, had a past that included dropping out of high school and later studying to be a medical assistant. After the end of a relationship, she fell into heavy cocaine use and drifted between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. In Atlantic City, she was known to be a sex worker. She was described as a 5-foot-8-inch female, weighing about 120 pounds, with a distinctive butterfly tattoo on the small of her back.
The last known address for Roberts was a room on the beach block of Tennessee Avenue in Atlantic City.
The investigation into her death revealed that she had died of asphyxia by unspecified means. The bodies of all four women, including Roberts, Kim Raffo, Barbara Breidor, and Molly Dilts, were found positioned face down, with their heads pointing east. They were clothed, but their shoes and socks had been removed. These eerie similarities in the crime scene led investigators to believe they were dealing with a single killer, who was later dubbed the 'Eastbound Strangler.'
Despite the formation of a task force that included the FBI and state and local police, no arrests have ever been made in the case. Over the years, several individuals have been questioned or looked at in connection with the murders, including a repairman who was staying at the motel near where the bodies were found, but no one has ever been officially named as a suspect. The case remains a chilling cold case, leaving the families of Tracy Ann Roberts and the other victims without answers or justice. A reward for information has gone unclaimed.
