A few minutes later, I got up like nothing had happened. In 1994, Rhoades was convicted of the first degree murder of Regina Kay Walters and was slated to be tried for two more before charges were dropped due to the wishes of victims' families. He got over 900 matches. Recently, the New Jersey State Supreme Court handed down a statement on memory, describing it as complex and often unreliable. Upon approaching Roberts vehicle he heard screaming and discovered a naked woman in the bed of his truck. Nothing came up, but that wasn't too surprising. She later stated she did not report the incident because no one would have believed her, since there was no evidence. He was not wearing flannel. I called the office. All rights reserved. After she was rescued from Robert Ben Rhoades's vehicle, the woman told law enforcement that she had met the middle-aged husband and father at a truck stop, and he had agreed to give her a ride to her destination. She also claimed that Rhoades was bringing men into their home to act as her sex slaves. But Rhoades was cunning and highly charismatic. Your IP: Also like me, Regina became dependent upon the grace of truck drivers. He then forced her to wear heels and a black dress before taking several photos of her, strangling her with baling wire, and leaving her body to decompose in the barn. It was agent Young who recognized the small gap in Regina's teeth and noticed that a few freckles were in the same place. In 1994, Robert Ben Rhoades was convicted of the first degree murder of Regina Walters. The Daily Nonpareil reports thatRobert Ben Rhoades was set to be free on work release when Illinois police identified the body of 14-year-old Regina Walters. Then he said one word: Run. He was sentenced to life in prison. I knew in my body that it was over. I had not told him or anyone else how I felt about failing to go to the cops. Regina Walters had been seen in Chicago standing freely outside his truck in a public place. The sentence of death had been a possibility because on May 6, 1992, the State had filed a notice that it intended to seek the death penalty. The newspapers were equally silent. I have no fascination with serial killers, so I didn't realize that Rhoades was famous. Debra met Robert at a bar in Houston, Texas, in the 1980s. "There's this compartment that's hidden completely from view other than between the seats," Steve Smith, first assistant for the 112th District Attorney's office in Texas, told ABCNews.com. On my way out, I destroyed every single picture of me over the age of 12 so that there would be nothing to give to the police. I asked around until I found someone who had been there in 1985. When the Illinois state trooper who was trying to identify the body of Regina Walters, the girl Rhoades left in that barn, put her forensic description out on the national teletype, he was totally unprepared for the response. I began talking, saying the same things over and over. Griselda Blanco. I flew to Austin to meet with two retired FBI men, special agents Mark Young and Robert F. Lee, who'd both worked on the case. Girls who'd run away. I was on my own. He then tried to join the police force but was ultimately denied due to his robbery conviction. If there was any way to connect my story to Rhoades, it would be through the body of the girl in the Dumpster. Plaintiff Robert Ben Rhoades, an inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") who is currently incarcerated at Menard Correctional Center, brings this action for deprivations of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Further compounding this problem is that Rhoades did not presumably kill his victims where he met them. The Daily Nonpareil reports that these logs put Rhoades in the immediate vicinity of as many as 50 unsolved murders. If Rhoades hadn't been stopped by a patrolman on I-10 in Casa Grande, Ariz., in 1990, his crimes might never have been discovered. You didn't do it.". He attempted college but he soon decided it wasnt for him and dropped out, becoming a long-haul truck driver instead. Without any hesitation he said Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was charged with kidnapping and assault. Her thick red-blond hair had been cropped close to her head with a knife or scissors and was now growing back. Rhoades was handcuffed and placed in the back of the patrol car while Miller questioned the woman in the truck. At the time, she was out with friends when she came across Robert in a pilots uniform. The girl, he said, "wasn't one of our own. After dispatching with her new husband, Rhoades allegedly held Walsh captive for approximately one week, repeatedly torturing and abusing the young woman, before shooting her to death and disposing of her dead body in central Utah. During the 80s, Robert was heavily into the BDSM and swinger lifestyle, dubbing himself as whips and chains. He continuously tried to involve his wife in his fantasies but she wasnt interested, so Robert found other ways to satisfy his sexual urges. She was found running naked, screaming down a street in Houston with DNA all over her body, her head and pubic hair shaved, still with his chain around her neck. Maybe they would remember something the others hadn't. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. Fondoleding a fourteen year old girl. Rhoades in Bond County IL Barn. I imagined for a moment flying to Illinois. In the end, Debra was able to escape Roberts fury and worked on moving on. I didn't tell him about my recent inquiries at first; I just asked where he'd dropped me off. Anyone want to party?". It was later determined that Rhoades kept Walters alive for weeks while he subjected the young woman to an immeasurable amount of cruelty. My emotions were a planet around which I spun like a moon. Criminals. He wore a cotton button-down with the sleeves rolled neatly up over his biceps and had the cleanest cab I ever saw. Over lunch at a local sushi place, he taught me the difference between a mode of operation and a signature. Rick Barnhart, Ed Russell, Troper Mike Miller. Ricky Lee Jones body has never been found. As with Patricia Walsh, the trucker didn't murder Walters right away. He was convicted for three murders, and slated to be tried for two more before charges were dropped due to the wishes of victims' families. I remember a fuel island in the blue morning light and a driver with a white shirt that stood out like a flag, and taking the turn back east, then south, and a gray day just before a storm so pressurized my ears hurt. I'd always read that she got away because Rhoades forgot to chain her in, but I found out from Young that she'd not been shackled when she escaped. Robert Ben Rhoades Father Killed himself after being charged with 202202. Around the same time that Robert joined the military, his father was arrested for molesting a twelve-year-old girl and ultimately committed suicide while awaiting trial. And then you were still a prostitute. At the bottom of the yellow legal paper, scrawled in all caps, he wrote, "IT WASN'T ME!!!" Rhoades was born to his middle name sake, Ben and his mother, Betty Rhoades, on November 22, 1945 in Council Bluffs Iowa, and was reportedly raised by his mother for most of his childhood. Robert's first confirmed victims were in 1990. TV-14. As many he would have picked up were transients themselves, they would most likely not be reported missing for some time after he abducted them. But I thought about what she'd said"It would just be my word against his," which was clearly followed by the unvoiced thought: And who is going to believe me? Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. There were other points where she saw similarities and would say, "That sounds like Bob," but these were less emphatic, and it was hard to tell what she really thought. I ran my story past her. After that, she spoke of feeling inadequate and questioning if something was wrong with her. He raped, tortured, and killed at least six men. I parked in front of the family travel plaza, then walked back past a sign that read TRUCKS ONLY. Truck stops in the 1980s were closed worlds where what went on passed unnoticed on the outside. That first night, my boyfriend and I stayed in an abandoned barn in Maryland. Robert Ben Rhoades Is A Member Of . She's tried to put the years with Rhoades behind her but still gets letters from him sporadically. It was a ghost story. The morning I left, I asked him to take me to the closest truck stop so I could get a ride going toward California. Davis asked quietly. Investigation Discoverys Evil Lives Here: Deadly Fetish has serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades ex-wife, Debra Davis, talk about when she met Robert and how their relationship ended eventually. Eventually the locus shifted to the Houston FBI, because at some point every thread ran through Texas. In the second installment of Death on the Open Road: Highway Homicides, we cover the case of evil serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades aka The Truck Stop Killer. Why did he let me go? He grinned. This modus operandi makes it difficult for authorities to determine how many victims Robert Ben Rhoades had. One of Rhoades's signatures was shaving the head and pubic hair of his female victims. He kept Walsh alive for an undisclosed amount of time, subjecting her to the same cruel treatment that he would later dole out to Walters. I finally spoke to a woman and asked if they had a homicide record for a girl who may have been found in the Martinsburg truck stop during the summer of 1985. That first ride was a preview of how it would often go for me with truckersdodging sex and getting strandedbut I had learned one crucial lesson: When a truck slows down, you get up. He was sentenced to life without parole at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. Sometimes they're threatening, sometimes cajoling, but always manipulative. 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