The Colonial Parkway Killer
Overview
The Colonial Parkway murders were a series of killings and disappearances involving four young couples in southeastern Virginia between 1986 and 1989. The cases became associated with the Colonial Parkway, a scenic and often isolated roadway connecting Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestown. Three of the four couples were eventually found dead, while the fourth couple vanished and has never been recovered.
For decades, the person responsible was popularly called the "Colonial Parkway Killer," although investigators were never able to prove that every one of the eight traditional Colonial Parkway victims had been attacked by the same offender. That distinction became increasingly important as modern DNA testing began producing answers. Investigators have now identified deceased Virginia fisherman Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. as the killer of four of the traditional Colonial Parkway victims and have linked him to two additional Virginia murders from the same period. The remaining Colonial Parkway cases are still under investigation.
Alan Wade Wilmer Sr.
Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. was a Virginia waterman and fisherman who lived in Lancaster County and spent considerable time around the waterways and rural areas of southeastern Virginia. He also operated a tree-service business. Wilmer was known to drive a distinctive blue 1966 Dodge Fargo pickup truck and had access to boats, isolated shorelines and rural locations throughout the region.
Wilmer was not a convicted felon, meaning his DNA had not been routinely entered into the national criminal DNA database. He died in December 2017 without ever being charged with any of the Colonial Parkway murders. Years later, advances in forensic testing allowed investigators to compare biological evidence from several old crime scenes with Wilmer's DNA.
In January 2024, Virginia State Police announced that forensic evidence identified Wilmer as the person responsible for the murders of David Knobling and Robin Edwards. The same investigation also linked him to the 1989 murder of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell in Hampton. In 2025, investigators connected him through forensic evidence to the murder of Laurie Ann Powell. A major additional breakthrough came in January 2026 when the FBI announced that Wilmer was also responsible for the 1986 murders of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski, the first pair traditionally associated with the Colonial Parkway series.
By 2026, authorities had therefore connected Wilmer to at least six murders in Virginia between 1986 and 1989. Four of those victims belonged to the original group of eight Colonial Parkway victims. The disappearances of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call and the murders of Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer remain unresolved, so it has not been conclusively established that Wilmer committed every crime traditionally attributed to the Colonial Parkway Killer.
The 1986 Murders of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski
Cathleen "Cathy" Thomas, 27, was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. Rebecca Ann Dowski, 21, was a student at the College of William & Mary. The women were last seen together on October 9, 1986. Three days later, on October 12, Thomas's white Honda Civic was discovered below an embankment near the Cheatham Annex Overlook along the Colonial Parkway near Yorktown.
Thomas and Dowski were found dead inside the vehicle. Both had suffered severe sharp-force injuries to the neck, and investigators also found evidence of strangulation and restraint. A petroleum or diesel-like substance had been poured on the victims and vehicle, but the car had not been set on fire. Money and personal property remained behind, giving investigators little reason to believe robbery was the primary motive.
The exact time of their deaths has never been publicly established with certainty. They were last known to be alive on October 9 and were discovered on October 12, 1986. For nearly four decades their murders remained one of the central mysteries of the Colonial Parkway investigation.
That changed on January 20, 2026, when the FBI announced that advances in forensic technology had established that Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. murdered both Thomas and Dowski. Federal authorities stated that the evidence would have supported prosecution if Wilmer were still alive.
The 1987 Murders of David Knobling and Robin Edwards
David Lee Knobling, 20, and Robin Margaret Edwards, 14, were last seen alive on September 19, 1987. Knobling's vehicle was subsequently discovered at the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge in Isle of Wight County. The circumstances were immediately suspicious. The vehicle had been left behind while both young people had disappeared.
On September 23, 1987, a person walking along the shoreline discovered the bodies of Knobling and Edwards at Ragged Island. Both had died from gunshot wounds. The isolated waterfront location, abandoned vehicle and killing of two people together drew comparisons with the Thomas and Dowski murders from the previous year.
The precise date on which Knobling and Edwards were killed has not been publicly established. They were last seen September 19 and their bodies were recovered September 23, 1987.
On January 8, 2024, Virginia State Police announced a historic development: forensic evidence identified Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. as the person responsible for both murders. Because Wilmer had died in 2017, he could never be arrested or tried. The finding nevertheless provided the first publicly announced identification of a killer in one of the traditional Colonial Parkway double homicides.
The Disappearance of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call
Cassandra Lee Hailey, 18, and Richard "Keith" Call, 20, were students who went out together on their first date on the night of April 9, 1988. They attended a party in the Newport News area and were last seen during the early morning hours of April 10.
At approximately 7:00 a.m. on April 10, Call's red 1982 Toyota Celica was discovered abandoned at the York River Overlook on the Colonial Parkway. The location was disturbingly close to where Thomas and Dowski's vehicle had been discovered in 1986. Personal items remained inside Call's car, including his eyeglasses and wristwatch. Clothing belonging to the couple was also left in the vehicle.
No trace of Hailey or Call was found during searches of the surrounding land and water. Neither has ever been located. Although they are presumed to have been victims of foul play and have traditionally been counted among the eight Colonial Parkway victims, there is no verified date of death because their bodies have never been recovered.
The disappearance remains one of the most important unresolved portions of the Colonial Parkway investigation. No publicly announced forensic evidence has conclusively established that Wilmer killed Hailey and Call.
The 1989 Murders of Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer
Late on September 4, 1989, Annamaria Phelps, 18, and Daniel Lauer, 21, left Amelia County for Virginia Beach. They were traveling east in Lauer's gold Chevrolet Nova. When they failed to reach their destination, their families became concerned.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on September 5, Virginia State Police found Lauer's car abandoned at the westbound Interstate 64 rest area in New Kent County. The fact that the vehicle was parked on the westbound side was particularly strange because Phelps and Lauer had been traveling east toward Virginia Beach.
For more than a month there was no sign of either traveler. On the morning of October 19, 1989, hunters discovered human remains in woods approximately three miles east of the rest area. The remains were identified as Phelps and Lauer. They had been left in an isolated wooded location and were sufficiently decomposed that determining all of the circumstances surrounding their deaths was difficult. Authorities classified both deaths as homicides, and contemporary accounts reported evidence consistent with stabbing injuries.
The exact date of death for Phelps and Lauer has not been established. They disappeared during the night of September 4-5, 1989, and their remains were recovered on October 19. Their murders remain officially unresolved, and investigators have not publicly announced forensic evidence proving that Wilmer was responsible.
Traditional Colonial Parkway Victims
- Cathleen "Cathy" Thomas, 27 - Last seen October 9, 1986; found murdered October 12, 1986, inside her vehicle near the Cheatham Annex Overlook on the Colonial Parkway near Yorktown, Virginia. The precise death date has not been publicly established. Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. was identified as her killer in 2026.
- Rebecca Ann Dowski, 21 - Last seen October 9, 1986; found murdered October 12, 1986, with Thomas near the Cheatham Annex Overlook on the Colonial Parkway. The precise death date has not been publicly established. Wilmer was identified as her killer in 2026.
- David Lee Knobling, 20 - Last seen September 19, 1987; found murdered September 23, 1987, at the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He died from gunshot wounds. The precise death date has not been publicly established. Wilmer was identified as his killer in 2024.
- Robin Margaret Edwards, 14 - Last seen September 19, 1987; found murdered September 23, 1987, at the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge in Isle of Wight County. She died from gunshot wounds. The precise death date has not been publicly established. Wilmer was identified as her killer in 2024.
- Cassandra Lee Hailey, 18 - Last seen during the early morning of April 10, 1988, after leaving a party in Newport News, Virginia. Call's vehicle was found abandoned at the York River Overlook on the Colonial Parkway. Hailey has never been found, so there is no verified date of death.
- Richard "Keith" Call, 20 - Last seen during the early morning of April 10, 1988. His Toyota Celica was discovered abandoned at the York River Overlook on the Colonial Parkway. Call has never been found, so there is no verified date of death.
- Annamaria Phelps, 18 - Disappeared September 4-5, 1989, while traveling toward Virginia Beach. Her remains were recovered October 19, 1989, in woods near Interstate 64 in New Kent County, Virginia. Her exact date of death has not been established.
- Daniel Lauer, 21 - Disappeared September 4-5, 1989, while traveling with Phelps. His remains were recovered October 19, 1989, near Interstate 64 in New Kent County. His exact date of death has not been established.
Additional Murders Confirmed to Have Been Committed by Wilmer
The identification of Wilmer has expanded the historical understanding of the case beyond the original four couples. Two women whose deaths were not originally counted among the eight traditional Colonial Parkway victims have now been forensically connected to him.
- Laurie Ann Powell, 19 - Powell disappeared in March 1988 after she was last seen walking along Route 614 toward Route 17 in Gloucester County, Virginia. Her body was recovered from the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth on April 2, 1988. She had died from a stab wound to the back of the neck. Modern forensic testing linked Wilmer to her murder, and investigators publicly announced the connection in 2025. Her exact date of death during the period between her disappearance and recovery has not been publicly established.
- Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell, 29 - Howell disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Hampton during the early morning of July 1, 1989. Her body was discovered later that same day in a wooded area in Hampton. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. DNA evidence linked Wilmer to Howell's murder as well as to the Knobling-Edwards case, and authorities announced the identification in January 2024.
A Pattern of Isolated Locations
The Colonial Parkway crimes became associated with one another because of several striking similarities. The victims were young people traveling or spending time together, their vehicles were discovered in isolated locations, and the offender appeared able to gain control of two people at the same time. Several vehicles contained valuables or personal belongings that a robber would normally have taken.
The Colonial Parkway itself provided an unsettling environment for such crimes. Long portions of the road were dark, isolated and surrounded by woods or water. There were numerous overlooks and secluded parking areas where couples could stop without immediately attracting attention. Investigators considered whether the offender might have approached victims under some kind of pretext that caused them to cooperate rather than immediately flee.
One theory discussed during the investigation was that the killer might have impersonated a police officer or another authority figure. The theory developed because controlling two victims simultaneously could have been difficult without a weapon, deception or apparent authority. No evidence has established that Wilmer was actually impersonating law enforcement during the attacks, however, and the precise method he used to approach his confirmed victims has not been publicly established.
Different Methods of Killing
One of the difficulties in proving that all of the Colonial Parkway crimes were committed by one person was the variation in the manner of death. Thomas and Dowski suffered strangulation and sharp-force injuries. Knobling and Edwards were shot. Phelps and Lauer were found badly decomposed, making the complete circumstances of their deaths more difficult to establish. Hailey and Call have never been recovered at all.
For years, these differences led investigators and outside observers to question whether the Colonial Parkway crimes represented the work of a single serial killer, multiple offenders or an offender who deliberately changed methods. The later DNA identification of Wilmer proved that at least some apparently different crimes were indeed committed by the same man. His confirmed victims include people killed by gunfire, stabbing or sharp-force injuries, and strangulation, demonstrating that he did not rely on only one method.
The Importance of DNA Evidence
The eventual identification of Wilmer illustrates how dramatically forensic science changed during the decades after the murders. Biological evidence collected in the 1980s could not initially provide investigators with the answers modern DNA analysis can produce. Evidence was preserved while generations of investigators continued reviewing the cases.
Wilmer presented an additional obstacle because he had no qualifying felony conviction that would have resulted in his DNA profile being placed in criminal databases. For years, investigators could possess an unknown offender's biological evidence without having a database profile against which it could be matched.
After Wilmer's death, investigators were eventually able to obtain and compare his genetic material with evidence from old cases. The results transformed him from a historical person of interest into a forensically identified killer. His DNA established his responsibility for Knobling and Edwards, Teresa Howell and Laurie Powell, while additional forensic work eventually allowed the FBI to identify him as the murderer of Thomas and Dowski.
An Investigation That Remains Unfinished
The identification of Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. solved major portions of a mystery that had endured for approximately four decades, but it did not close every Colonial Parkway case. Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call remain missing. The murders of Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer also remain under active investigation. Authorities continue examining whether Wilmer was responsible for those crimes or for additional unsolved killings in Virginia.
For that reason, the phrase "Colonial Parkway Killer" now carries a more complicated meaning than it once did. Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. has been conclusively identified as a serial killer responsible for multiple murders associated with the broader investigation, including four of the original eight Colonial Parkway victims. What has not yet been conclusively established is whether he was responsible for all four couples.
Legacy of the Colonial Parkway Murders
The Colonial Parkway murders became one of Virginia's most enduring criminal investigations because of the youth of the victims, the isolation of the crime scenes and the apparent disappearance of the killer after 1989. Families waited decades for answers while investigators repeatedly returned to evidence that had been collected before modern DNA technology existed.
The discoveries announced between 2024 and 2026 fundamentally changed the case. The Colonial Parkway Killer was no longer entirely unidentified. Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. could now be named as the murderer of Cathleen Thomas, Rebecca Dowski, David Knobling and Robin Edwards, as well as Laurie Ann Powell and Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell. Because he died years before those forensic breakthroughs, he will never stand trial or answer questions about the crimes.
The remaining mystery concerns how many other victims Wilmer may have had. Until investigators determine what happened to Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call and identify the person responsible for killing Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer, the complete story of the Colonial Parkway murders remains unfinished.
