The FBI suspects that serial killers working as long-haul truckers are responsible for the slayings of hundreds of prostitutes, hitchhikers and stranded motorists whose bodies have been dumped near highways over the last three decades.
Federal authorities first made the connection about five years ago while helping police link a trucker to a string of unsolved killings along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma and several other states. After that, the FBI launched the Highway Serial Killings Initiative to track suspicious slayings and suspect truckers.
A computer database maintained by the FBI has grown to include information on more than 500 female crime victims, most of whom were killed and their bodies discarded at truck stops, motels and other locations along popular trucking routes crisscrossing the U.S.
The database also has information on scores of truckers who’ve been charged with killings or rapes committed near highways or who are suspects in such crimes, officials said. Authorities said they do not have statistics on whether driving trucks ranks high on the list of occupations of known serial killers…
Although some local police agencies have been briefed on the program, the FBI had not publicized its existence outside law enforcement until earlier this year, when officials agreed to show The Times the inner workings of the operation and share details of some of their cases.
Since the program began, more than two dozen killings have been solved, authorities said.
I know, we all saw the plot on Criminal Minds. Art imitating life once again?
We got ourselves a convoy!
10-4
Born on a mountian, raised in a cave, truckin’ and fuckin’ is all I crave!
According to that map it looks like they need to kill some more people in California, just to balance things out.
#14 All truckers who travel more than 150 statue miles from their home terminals are required to keep a logbook of our work. What town or city we are in when we began the day, where we stopped for more than 15 minutes, where we fueled/loaded/unloaded, etc. Other than toll receipts and fuel tickets, there is not much to back up a trucker’s paper log. So for someone to create a fictional log that would be hard to disprove is not difficult. Even a truthful log would not tell you what particular route the driver traveled, other than the start and stop points.
As to getting all these paper logs from all these different companies and individuals in all the various formats transferred into a database that is useful; Good Luck. My prediction is that the serial killer/killers will die of old age before the database comes on line.
Also, keep in mind almost all long haul truckers are paid either percentage or by the mile. Either way, the driver’s best interest (as far as pay) is to massage the log book to maximize the amount of time available to drive. So I would call the log book a good representation of my day, nothing more.
#18 Well said. Strike up a conversation with a driver in truck stop or on the CB and you never know what you will get. Every now and then it will take a turn that makes you want to crawl into your truck, lock the doors and hide. There is a reason some people take employment in a profession where contact with your supervisors is almost always thru a phone or computer screen.
#3 – there’s country and western but there’s not such thing as country and western music.
Sure glad I live in Canada. Not a single murder there. Phew!
Or maybe there are some serial killers who would be happy to have law enforcement think that it’s big rig drivers who are murderers. I mean, isn’t a semi sitting in the emergency lane or off the side of the road just a tad more memorable than an old hatchback or minivan? I can hear CB Psycho now, “Dang it, a feller can hardly find a safe place to park his rig while disposing of an unsightly murder victim nowadays.”
The map looks like an image of the lymphatic system of the USA.