Lawton Serial Killer

Serial Killer

The Lawton Serial Killer: Oklahoma's Unsolved Cache Road Murders

Overview

The "Lawton Serial Killer" is the unofficial name given to an unidentified person suspected of killing several women in and around Lawton, Oklahoma, between 1999 and 2003. The five cases most often linked by investigators involved Jane Marie Chafton, Cassandra Lee Ramsey, Mandy Ann Raite, Janice Marie Buono and Pamela Woodring. All five women were found unclothed in or near water, and each had connections to Lawton's Cache Road corridor, an area then associated with inexpensive motels, drug activity and street-level prostitution. No person has been convicted of these deaths, and authorities have never publicly established that every case was the work of one offender. Nevertheless, the victims' circumstances, the disposal of their bodies and their connections to the same relatively small area led investigators and residents to fear that a serial predator was targeting vulnerable women. Other disappearances and killings have also been examined as possible parts of the series, although those connections remain uncertain.

The Cache Road Connection

Cache Road runs through a busy commercial section of Lawton near Fort Sill. During the period in which the women disappeared, the corridor contained numerous motels and businesses where people could come and go without attracting much attention. Several victims stayed in motels along or near Cache Road, worked in the surrounding area or associated with people who frequented it. The unknown offender may have selected women whose disappearances were less likely to receive immediate attention. Some of the victims struggled with substance dependence, unstable housing or prostitution. These circumstances could have made them easier to approach, particularly if the killer appeared trustworthy, offered transportation or was already familiar to them. A recurring theory is that the perpetrator had access to a vehicle and knew the rural roads surrounding Lawton. The bodies were not left in the busiest portions of the city. Instead, they were taken to creeks, ponds, drainage areas or isolated locations in neighboring counties. This suggests that the person responsible may have understood where a body could be concealed and how to travel through the region without appearing out of place. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Jane Marie Chafton Age: (28), Date of Death: 1999-08-13

Lawton serial killer case remains unsolved 20 years later - KOCO