Her facial expression could be described as a combination of desperation and abject fear. The Daily Nonpareil reports that these logs put Rhoades in the immediate vicinity of as many as 50 unsolved murders. Most say she's a prostitute and that it's a "transaction gone bad." I didn't tell him about my recent inquiries at first; I just asked where he'd dropped me off. His favorite book was Games People Play, wherein each social encounter is treated as a transaction or "game." In one, he relaxed on the grass in a park. Robert Ben Rhoades. A few days later, Robert kidnapped another couple. This modus operandi makes it difficult for authorities to determine how many victims Robert Ben Rhoades had. And if it happened, she could be found. In Martinsburg, West Virginia, where the truck stop should be is a massive Walmart stretching flat and endless along a parking lot the size of a lake. I watched the truck idle on the side of the road until it finally pulled off. Rhoades was dressed that night as an airline pilot, and it was months before Davis found out he wasn't one. Without fake ID, I couldn't stay in a shelter. Robert remained a free man and continued to attack and kill more victims. Robert Ben Rhoades. . Her murder happened twenty-seven years ago and was essentially pre-Internet. Robert Ben Rhoades, dubbed the Truck Stop Killer is one of America's most prolific serial killers. Regina Kay Walters 14 years old died by the hands of Robert Ben Rhoades. Rhoades kept Regina for at least two weeks. Adhering to my rule (that the only safe truck was a moving truck) meant I woke when a truck took an exit. When questioned by police, The Daily Nonpareil reports that Rhoades calmly told officers that the woman was "clearly crazy," and the officers believed him. The phrase "play, pass, run" is used twice in the letter. The officer saw that the truck's driver, 44-year-old Robert Ben Rhoades, was also in the vehicle, and he was able to handcuff the middle-aged man and place him in the back of his patrol car. On April 1, 1990, a state trooper made a shocking discovery when he stopped to investigate a semi-truck that was parked off Interstate 10 in the city of Casa Grande, Arizona. The true number of victims of Robert Ben Rhoades may never be fully known, for a variety of reasons. A few minutes later, he pulled the truck onto the shoulder of the road by some woods, took out a hunting knife, and told me to get into the back of the cab. "The hairs on my arm stand up right now talking about it.". This former trucker is believed to have killed over 20 people spanning from 1975 to 1990. After Debra Davis interviewed about life with her ex-husband, serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, Kentucky state troopers reached out, telling her that they suspected Rhoades in a 1985 cold case. "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. Robert Ben Rhoades (defendant), pursuant to negotiations with the State, on September 11, 1992, pled guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to imprisonment for natural life. After his eventual arrest for murder, this ex-spouse told the FBI that Rhoades would often organize orgies. In her weeks with Rhoades, many drivers saw her, but somehow no alarm was raised. The light in my memory is strange, too. Approximately one month after killing Patricia Walsh, Robert Ben Rhoades picked up 18-year-old Ricky Lee Jones and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Regina Kay Walters, not far from their hometown of Pasadena, Texas. Rhoades in Bond County IL Barn. I called the office. Sagittarius. "Did you ever hear of anything like that at all, in other times, any other bodies of women found along this stretch of I-70? He lived with his mother, Fay Rhoades, and several siblings in a two bedroom home at 2400 Avenue D. Robert's father, Ben Rhoades,. He was wrong. Robert Ben Rhoades "Whips and Chains" Sarah Stallard, Kelsey Lawson, Erin Laird, and Jackie Wood Department of Psychology Radford University Radford, VA 24142-6946 Date Age Life Event 11/22/1945 0 Born in Counsel Bluffs, Iowa Raised initially by his mother and then by his mother and father after the father returned from overseas. I lived among artists in the Lower East Side squats. The girl, he said, "wasn't one of our own. She was on a trip with her husband, Bob, the last she ever took in his truck. A remembrance before rape, torture and murder. I imagined for a moment flying to Illinois. As I saw it, it didn't matter if I left, because in so many ways I was already gone. You told me I owed you sex for the ride and chicken-fried steak and threatened to drop me off somewhere dangerous. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). Then he started talking about the dead girl in the Dumpster and asked me if I'd ever heard of the Laughing Death Society. Years later, Veselka read a news story about a serial killer who had been a long haul trucker named Robert Ben Rhoades. He then killed her and dumped her body in Millard County, Utah. This photograph, of 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters, was taken by Robert Ben Rhoades, a serial executioner who was later discovered driving a 18-wheeler with a torture chamber in the back. Most Popular #231965. Behind the tragic elements of Regina's story, like some kind of pentimento, I saw my own. Believing that the driver needed a hand, he climbed over the side of the rig and peered inside (via The Forensic Examiner). The trucker bought me lunch and didn't even try to have sex with me, which made him a prince in my world. I could easily imagine my own teenage voice whispering those same words. They are more like habits, he said, and can adapt to circumstances or mood. The body was found in 1990, but not identified until 1992. Between 1984 and 1987, he murdered at least six men in Kansas City, Missouri. Truck stop killer: Robert Ben Rhoades, described by authorities as a sadistic killer, was first jailed in 1990 for killing a 14-year-old runaway girl in Illinois (left), also pleaded guilty to. The picture was given to Young by Regina's mom. I only ran about a hundred yards before I turned and hid, because I didn't know if I was being chased and needed to see. They were both deeply religious, and they had intended to preach about Christianity when they reached the east coast. To keep creating The photos stayed in my head, though, and with them came questions: What if the man who pulled the knife on me really did murder the hitchhiker? Viswa Vanapalli. The source notes that Rhoades kept a "murder kit" in the cab, containing tools that he would use on anyone unlucky enough to be caught in his lair. Recently, the New Jersey State Supreme Court handed down a statement on memory, describing it as complex and often unreliable. I began talking, saying the same things over and over. Between 1975 and 1990, Robert Ben Rhoads, now 73, savagely murdered at least three victims and possibly, investigators believe, as many as 50 during his treks across North America as a professional truck driver. The paper records had been destroyed for file space, and so nothing from the 1980s remained. "You see that, Debbie," he whispered in her ear. Criminals. He would only have been 39 at the time, and I remember the trucker as an older man with light brown or graying hair. After Debra Davis interviewed about life with her ex-husband, serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, Kentucky state troopers reached out, telling her that they suspected Rhoades in a 1985 cold case. Thank you very much in advance. While we were asleep, he pulled into a small truck stop, and I woke to his hand down my shirt. Patricias remains were found in October of 1990, it would take thirteen years for her to be identified. Rhoades is considered one of the most dangerous and notorious serial sex offenders and killers in the United States. Rhoades has spent the past few years in a Texas prison, but will soon be sent back to Illinois to serve the life sentences. I was still in shock, so I walked back out to the same road and started hitching south. In the summer of 1985, the author was such a girl. "He was on the interstate everywhere.". Behind him was a shoulder-high pink plastic castle. "Don't you think that fact starts to rule him out? On the couch beside me was a large pillow with the FBI seal. Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. Everywhere I looked, evidence of these girls was disappearing. Now the whole Martinsburg truck stop had been swallowed by a Walmart Supercenter. Police looked at the photos, noting that the growth of Regina Walters' hair and the changing color of her bruises meant that she had been in Robert Ben Rhoades' clutches for several weeks (per All That's Interesting). robert ben rhoades, serial killer, torture, trucker Caught by Accident Robert Ben Rhoades. Being 16 and in college is an easier thing to talk about. But Holts, 18 years old, had been on the street since she was 12. He wore a cotton button-down with the sleeves rolled neatly up over his biceps and had the cleanest cab I ever saw. "Do you remember what he was wearing?" "Bob was fascinated by secret societies.". The idea that I might have been responsible for what happened to girls like Regina was devastating, and Lee's directness startled me. He was sentenced to life without parole at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. The glasses were the same, the curve of the cheekbone, and something about the expression, particularly the set of the mouth. Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. Being up high, warm, and looking out over the traffic was a great improvement. It is also worth mentioning that Debra has spoken at domestic violence conferences over the years and shared her story. Suspected of killing and raping 100+ women while on the road in the 1980s and early 1990s. According to her, in the summer of 1985, Rhoades was driving for a trucking company based in Georgia that has an office right on I-95. He struck a deal with prosecutors in Texas, pleading guilty to avoid the state's death penalty for the murder of both Patricia Walsh and Douglas Zyskowski. While in prison, Robert pled guilty to the murders of Patricia and Douglas. Records on her would provide a date and a place that could then be checked against Rhoades's trucking logs. Robert Ben Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is a serial killer and rapist and a native of Council Bluffs. The ruling went on to question the admissibility of eyewitness testimony. Walters and Walsh had been held captive by Rhoades while he traveled the interstate highways in his truck. Or rather, I remember what he was not wearing. ", "Oh no, not at all!" Eventually she was left unbound. A month after Robert brutally murdered Douglas and Patricia, he picked up his next victim, an eighteen-year-old transient who lived in Houston. Rhoades was identified as a suspect . Bottles of isobutyl nitrite and rotgut aphrodisiacs like Locker Room and Spanish Fly crowded the counters by the register, along with the iconic bumper sticker ASS, GAS, OR GRASSNO ONE RIDES FOR FREE. Somewhere in Arizona we had a fight in a gas station off I-10, and we each climbed into separate trucks, and that was it. But nobody had to tell me that people like Rhoades killed people like me and got away with it. Robert Ben Rhoades is suspected of raping and murdering more than 50 women over a 15-year period in the 70's and 80's as he road his semi-truck up and down the highways trolling for victims. My whole body relaxed. It was a solution that worked for both of us and looked like redemption but didn't last. Debra also talked about Robert having sex with her against her will one time, which finally pushed her to end things with him. While the first few months were great, Debra noticed that Roberts appetite for sex increased. My mother was happy to pay for school. It's supposed that Rhoades quickly killed Jones and disposed of his body (via The Telegraph). I finally got to Davis through agent Young. Sometimes, as with Shana Holts, the girl who had escaped in the brewery, the sense of not being credible was internalized. I said he could do it in a few minutes. 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. Over lunch at a local sushi place, he taught me the difference between a mode of operation and a signature. Robert Benjamin Rhoades, fdd 22 november 1945, r en amerikansk seriemrdare och vldtktsman, aktiv mellan 1989 och 1990. He talked about it frequently and applied its ideas. I don't remember much about him except that he was taller and leaner than most truckers and didn't wear jeans or T-shirts. I asked. In January 1990, Douglas Zyskowski and his wife Patricia Candace Walsh were hitchhiking to Georgia from Seattle on their honeymoon when they accepted a ride from Robert. It was just a matter of looking harder. *Some of the victims names have been changed. 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. Through these stories, I jumped from truck to truck. She also said Rhoades often left his gun at home in the beginning and could have used a knife. Inside the briefcase, officers found dildos, alligator clips, handcuffs, leashes, and whips, as well as pins which Rhoades had used to pierce the young woman's nipples and genitals. I was accepted, and that provided a thin strip of pride on which to stand while I made contact with my family. Rhoades didn't live a double life as much as a shadowed one. 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. The victim, Lisa Pennal, told Miller that Rhoades had picked her up at a coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona. As a 15-year-old, the author left home and became a hitchhiker, hopping from semi to semi on the interstate. Police photo. By her own account, she had been raped at least twenty times and had already had a baby. This spring a friend sent a news story link about a serial killer with the subject line "Is this your guy?" She knew how to survive. Piercings around the breasts, bruising, and other signs of torture were also frequently found. He shaved her head and pubic hair, pierced her with fishing hooks, dressed her up in a black dress and heels, and photographed her in moments of terror, then killed her with a garrote made of baling wire, leaving her one-hundred-pound body to decompose in a barn in Illinois off Interstate 70. ", Inside the briefcase, officers found dildos, alligator clips, handcuffs, leashes, and whips. She would be easy to dismiss. Regina Kay Walters 14 years old died by the hands of Robert Ben I kept my eyes closed, stayed still, then rolled away from him, pretending I was still asleep. Robert Ben Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. Debra met Robert at a bar in Houston, Texas, in the 1980s. It seems our profound fascination with serial killers is matched by an equally profound lack of interest in their victims. Further compounding this problem is that Rhoades did not presumably kill his victims where he met them. The couple had just recently wed and were hitchhiking to Georgia from Texas. Games People Play was a bible for Rhoades. Out of desperation I made one last attempt and swung by a smaller truck stop in Hancock, Maryland. When they found her, there was shouting. Robert Ben Rhoades, 66, is already serving a life sentence without parole for the 1990 murder of 14-year-old runaway Regina Walters in Illinois. There was going to be no more talking. He must have seemed okay or I wouldn't have gotten in the truck with him. She also had children from another marriage. That's exactly like him!" GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. He was not wearing a T-shirt. In the end, Debra was able to escape Roberts fury and worked on moving on. There was only one word for woman on the CB, and that was beaver. He'd never heard the phrase. Prosecutors believe Rhoades may have put many other women through the cycle of "kidnap, torture, and kill," but Smith said they do not know how many, since he traveled so much. I could tell you the last three songs played on the radio if you asked, but only if you asked. Eventually the locus shifted to the Houston FBI, because at some point every thread ran through Texas. In a letter to his wife on the subject of psychological games, he wrote: "I always told you there were three things you could do: play, pass, or run." Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Another prostitute had been grabbed there as well, in 2006, but was found farther down the road with her throat slit. I asked him. Sure, serial killers ~killed~ people, but what did they actually do? Ricky Lee Jones body has never been found. To her shock and horror, she realized Rhoades had converted the cab of his truck into a mobile torture chamber, equipped with chains, shackles, and handcuffs to help him restrain his victims. People don't leave home because things are going well; they leave because they feel they have to, and right or wrong, that's how I felt. She attested that she was pressured to perform acts to satisfy his masochistic fantasies. It said there had been a string of prostitute murders in truck stops in the area beginning in June of 1985, which was right on the edge of my time frame. "I just want you to know," he said, looking me squarely in the eye, "that what Rhoades did to women, he did to women. An unidentified girl, shown here in a photograph taken by Rhoades. A chipper recorded voice told me to press 1 for tas, press 2 for guns"all other callers stay on the line!" I'd never heard the word "drifter" used in earnest. Upon approaching Roberts vehicle he heard screaming and discovered a naked woman in the bed of his truck. Douglas remains were identified in 1992. Rhoades later was extradited to Texas for the murder of Jones and another victim. That ride turned out to be fine. Robert Ben Rhoades, a Houston trucker who kept a torture dungeon in the cab of his long-haul rig, accepted two life prison sentences http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-tx--serialkiller-texas,0,3734866.story Houston trucker already imprisoned in Illinois for murder avoids Texas death penalty with plea She was a prostitute. Robert Ben Rhoades, 59, was linked by DNA in 2003 to the murder of 24-year-old Patricia Candice Walsh. Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. 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