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Colonial Parkway murders

Also known as: Colonial Parkway Killer

Active
1986–1989
Region
Virginia Peninsula and Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA
State
VA
Kind
Serial
Status
Identified, never tried
Victims
8

Between 1986 and 1989, four couples were killed or disappeared in eastern Virginia, three of them on or near the Colonial Parkway. In January 2024 Virginia State Police named Alan W. Wilmer Sr., a Lancaster County fisherman who died in 2017, as the man whose DNA matched evidence in the 1987 killings of David Knobling and Robin Edwards. In January 2026 FBI Norfolk said DNA showed he also killed Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski, and in September 2026 it said he was responsible for the disappearances of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey, on circumstantial evidence. He was never charged. The 1989 killings of Annamaria Phelps and Daniel Lauer remain unresolved.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. October 9, 1986
    College of William & Mary, Williamsburg (Other, approximate area)

    Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski were last seen together on October 9, 1986, at a campus computer lab.

  2. October 12, 1986
    Cheatham Annex overlook, Colonial Parkway (Recovery site, approximate area)

    Thomas and Dowski were found in Dowski's car at the Cheatham Annex overlook on the Colonial Parkway, east of Williamsburg.

  3. September 23, 1987
    Ragged Island Wildlife Management Area, Isle of Wight County (Recovery site, approximate area)

    Knobling's pickup was found in the Ragged Island parking lot, and the two were found shot on the James River shoreline on September 23, 1987.

  4. April 10, 1988
    York River Overlook, Colonial Parkway (Yorktown area) (Other, approximate area)

    Keith Call's car was found abandoned along the Colonial Parkway near the York River Overlook. He and Cassandra Hailey were never found.

  5. September 5, 1989
    I-64 westbound rest area, New Kent County (Recovery site, approximate area)

    Lauer's car was found abandoned at the westbound I-64 rest area on September 5, 1989. Hunters found the couple's remains in woods about three miles east of the rest area on October 19, 1989.

  6. 2017
    Wilmer's home area (Mollusk, Lancaster County) (Killer's residence, approximate area)

    Wilmer, a Northern Neck fisherman and tree-service operator, died at his home in Mollusk, Lancaster County, in December 2017.

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.