WEBVTT - Did My Mother See Me? [3] 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.680 You're listening to the Freeway Fanom, a production of iHeartRadio, 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.960 Tenderfoot TV, and Black bar Mitzvah. The views and opinions 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:11.520 expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:15.080 author or individuals participating in the podcast, and do not 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:19.799 represent those of iHeartMedia, Tenderfoot TV, Black bar Mitzvah, or 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:24.040 their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter that may 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.640 not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.560 Well, you never know what to expect, to expect the unexpected, 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.560 I guess. I mean, you never know what time you're 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:42.800 going to be called out for an assignment. It could 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:44.400 be during the day, it could be in the middle 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.080 of the night. Typically, if you're working day shift or 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.720 second shift, you would just go ahead and work whatever's 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.840 on your caseload. But I remember getting a call. It 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:58.360 was towards morning. It came over as what we call 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:03.080 the signal seven eighty one that was a death. It 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.840 was a warm morning and it was pretty dry. When 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:09.679 I got there, I guess there was a crowd starting 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.160 to come out arriving on a scene. I was directed 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.319 to where this child was laying on the side of 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.840 the road and just making more observations whatever I could 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.640 detect at the scene, which wasn't very much at the time. 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.160 It appeared that she was probably either dragged out of 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.600 the car or thrown out of the car, and I 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.000 just called our ID section and they responded and did 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:38.160 what they do typically taking pictures and if there's anything 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:41.560 else at this area. I mean, there was no fingerprints 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.600 to be taken or anything like that, look for tire tracks, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.200 so there was really nothing to look for except the 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:53.200 deceased person. Everything happened so quick and just the type 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.520 of crime it was, in the place where it happened 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.280 and everything. I'm sure this happened at someplace house, but 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:03.840 she was merely dumped in that area another one hundred 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:05.800 feet it probably would have been in DC, and I 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:12.519 wouldn't add any involvement at all. 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.919 The homicide detectives termed the cases the little girl case. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.000 This child was laying on the side of the road. 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.680 I wouldn't go no way, I would call up my house. 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:27.680 Those first five murderers should have been a huge warning 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:28.640 bell for the police. 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:30.760 We just want to know what happened. 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:32.680 This person must have saw that. 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:35.000 They were thinking that maybe it's just one person and 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.760 he says, they need to know this is me. 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:41.600 I thought that they would catch him. I thought it 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:42.840 was just a matter of time. 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:51.960 I'm Celeste Headley, and this is Freeway Phantom. The Freeway 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:56.480 Phantom had already claimed two victims, Carol Spinks and Derlinia Johnson. 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.480 Although Carolyn Darlinia's bodies were dumped fifteen feet from each 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.040 other and were killed the same way, law enforcements still 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.919 hadn't linked the two murders. They'd asked a potential suspect 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.600 in Darlinia's death if he knew Carol Spinks. He didn't, 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.440 so the two murders were still being treated as individual cases. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:19.640 But on July twenty seventh, nineteen seventy one, eight days 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:23.960 after Darlinia's decomposed body was found, the Freeway Phantom's third 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:25.440 victim would be discovered. 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:30.160 I remember how she was clad. I remember how she 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:35.200 was dressed. I remember she had some pink rollers in 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.320 her hair, and she had just a little outfit on 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:40.760 a little top. But it was it seems to me 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:44.640 it was a matching outfit. There wasn't really that much 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:48.120 to see there far as she was concerned. I just 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.560 wrapped her hands in baggies and called for a corner 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.520 to go ahead and transport her or was an ambulance. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.520 I should say this is. 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.680 A retired detective Hillary Zuklowski, who we heard from at 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:02.880 the top of this episode. He was one of the 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:04.720 first to arrive at the crime scene. 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.320 We weren't there very long because there really wasn't much 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:12.880 evidence together, maybe an hour. I don't think they shut 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:16.120 down the roads or anything like that because the manner 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:17.720 of the way she was dumped on the side of 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:18.160 the road. 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.440 Brenda Crockett was four and a half feet tall and 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.760 weighed only seventy five pounds. She was the youngest victim 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.520 of the Freeway Phantom, and like Carol Spinks and de 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:33.120 Linia Johnson, she was discovered right off a busy highway. 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.919 She was a child of God. She loved church. She 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.359 was going to refrigerate it eat raw bacon, but you know, 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:46.479 the pigs were better back then. She had a dimple 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.800 up here in her cheek. She loved bacon and she 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.120 loved the Lord at ten years old, but I do 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.280 remember that I looked up to her that as she 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:03.040 was cute. My name is Berta Crockett and I am 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:08.760 the youngest sibling of my family. Brenda was my oldest sister. 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.560 She was four years older. I have a twin brother 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.320 who is deceased now, and we had an older brother. 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.839 We lived on to ours place. It was a beautiful 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:25.440 community to be honest. As a child, we did everything. 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.000 We had the fire hydrants out in the summertime. We 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:32.400 had arts and craft. We had a lot going on. 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:36.800 Because one of the gentlemen that lived in the area, 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.080 he worked for the Department of Rets, so he bought 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.520 all of this activity to our street and we were 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:43.920 like like a one way street. 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.840 Brenda lived with her family in Northwest Washington, d C. 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.919 Which was a crosstown from the first two murders. Like 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.200 the neighborhoods where Carol Spinks and Delinia Johnson lived, it 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.560 was tight knit. I briefly visited her neighborhood and found 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:02.039 where Brenda's house used to be. So we're standing in 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.840 front of the house where Brenda Crockett lived. She would 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:09.920 have stepped down this step uh to leave her house 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.800 for the last time. We see again this quiet I 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:19.359 would call it a sweet residential street. And she walked 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.680 just a few blocks. The blocks it's five blocks, but 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.279 The blocks here are quite small. This is not a 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.080 New York block. And she walked just a short way 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.839 to the Safeway and bought what she needed to buy 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.880 and never came home again. How someone can snatch a 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.240 little girl off the street like that, I mean, this 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:40.599 is not like where Carol Spinks and Derlinia we're living. 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.280 We do not see aunties on the porch. But that 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.240 could also be because the the Gude neighborhood is obviously 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:52.240 flipped over. This is not a majority black neighborhood anymore. Still, 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.880 leading up to Brenda's murder, fear hadn't infiltrated this community. 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.159 It could be that Carolyn Delini's murders hadn't been connected, 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.840 or that they happened too far away for anyone here 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.120 to notice. Whatever the reason, people here had yet to 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.560 realize that there was a killer targeting young girls. If 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:19.680 they had, things might have gone differently. It was neighborhood 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.640 movie night on Main Street when Brenda headed to the store. 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.640 All the kids in the neighborhood could watch movies on 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.960 the screen. So in the summertime, you remember, it was 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:35.160 daylight until about nine o'clock PM. So my mom, my sister, 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:39.560 being older the store that she went to was literally 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.640 two blocks around the corner and two blocks down the street, 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:45.680 and because she didn't come back by the time it 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.560 was turning dark, my mom went looking for her because 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.640 we were getting ready to watch the movies on the 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:52.240 big screen. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.480 Brenda wore a white and blue plaid halter top with 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.000 matching shorts and had pink rollers in her freshly pressed hair. 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.920 A witness said Brenda had been barefoot. She was headed 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.960 to buy food for Ringo, Rex and Romeo, the family's 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.760 three dogs, along with bread and typing paper. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.680 When my sister didn't return from the grocery store, my 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:17.040 mom didn't realize that no one had went with her, 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.720 and so after she didn't come back, because it should 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.080 have been literally a half hour forty five minutes, my 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:30.080 mom went looking for her and she didn't find her. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:31.600 My sister didn't return. 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.720 Here's what Reetha Crockett, Brenda's mother, told the police about 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:40.240 the night Brenda went missing, as read by a voice actor. 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:43.880 I sent my daughter to People's drug store to get 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.360 type in paper, also to the Safeway store located at 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.360 fourteenth and U Street's northwest to get some dog food. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.480 This was about eight o'clock. After a while, she didn't return, 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:56.560 so I looked at the door for her. I thought 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:58.120 she went to the store with her brother and sister 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.800 and a friend, like she always does. I went outside 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.120 and it was starting to get dark. I found my 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.400 other two children, Benjamin and Bertha, and asked them if 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.120 they had seen Brendan, and they said no. All three 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.520 of us watched the corner of thirteenth in w streets 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.200 to look for I told Benjamin to return to the 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:14.920 house to lock the door, and when he didn't return, 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:17.520 I sent Bertha to get him. She came back and 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.319 said he was going to stay and watch the street movie. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:22.320 She said he don't want to go. Mamma, Can I 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.640 stay too? So I said yes. I walked down the 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:27.839 safeway and it was closed and there were some boys 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.680 sitting outside, and went back home to see you she there, 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.560 but she wasn't. I then asked my neighbor, missed A. Bundy, 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:36.320 if he had seen her, and he said no. I 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.440 walked back to fourteenth Street, where I seen a police 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.000 car and asked him what to do when your daughter 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:42.680 goes missing. They told me to stand on the corner 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.520 that they were out at their area. And that they 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.280 would have another policeman come and take a missing person report. 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.480 I was stand there, I see mister Bundy walking out 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:53.800 Seventh Street, so I ran across the street, thinking she 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.559 had come home. Mister Buddy said she was not home, 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:57.840 but she called. 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:02.240 At around nine twenty that night, the phone at Brenda's 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.440 house rang, and Bertha answered. 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.679 I'm in Virginia in a white man's house. 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.439 The witness came a car and cured me. 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.800 To his house. My mother see me. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.080 I'm seven years old. I remember it like it was yesterday. 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.719 So my sister was ten years old. She was old 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.280 enough and wise enough to remember our home number at 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.920 that time. She called home and she said that somebody 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.400 had picked her up and took her to Virginia. They 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.320 were going to send her home in a cab. And 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.800 I answered the phone the first time. I'm too young 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:44.440 to even understand what's really going on. So that call 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.840 went out, and then the next call came in. My 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.120 mom's fiance at the time, who became my mom's husband, 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:53.960 answered the next call and he said, well, Brenda, if 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:55.600 you tell me where you are, come and get you. 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.240 She says, I'm in Virginia. This man picked me up 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:01.400 and took me to He's going to put me in 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.840 a cab and send me home. She's ten years old. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.120 At the same time, my mom went looking for her, 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:12.600 and she was asking my stepfather me or whoever at 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.160 that time did my mom see me? Which led us 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.960 to believe that whoever captured her had her in a 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:24.079 vehicle or some sort and saw my mom looking for her. 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:27.440 I thought it was that Mama is out looking for you. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:31.920 Where are you? That's my thought, Dan, even now to 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:35.920 this day, I look at the scenario of where from 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.640 DC from where we grew up to Maryland to Virginia, 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:44.800 because like, we grew up at twelfth Street Northwest, and 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:48.240 then I work at twelfth Street Southwest and then right 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.440 around the corner, you just hit that bridge and you're 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:54.880 at Virginia. So I'm like, was she really familiar with 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.120 where she was going? Did she see a sign that 0:11:57.600 --> 0:11:59.560 says she was going to Virginia? You know, It's like 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.760 all of the questions in my head. I got the 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.440 impression that she was a little frightened, that she was 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.440 like just thinking as whoever it was was gonna put 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.560 her in a cab and send her back home. She 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.200 said I'm in Virginia and he's gonna put me in 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:15.720 a cabin send me back home. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.280 This was new. This was a complete change from the 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.880 Freeway Phantom's mo Although there had been reports of him 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.520 calling the families of the first two victims, this is 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.640 the only confirmed contact. What makes this even more strange 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.480 is that Brenda didn't call once, but twice. Theodore Caldwell 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.800 was raythist fiance. In his statement, Caldwell said he met 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:42.040 Bertha coming up the street. This was right after Brenda 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:45.440 had called the first time, so Caldwell was aware Brenda 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.360 had said a white man took her to Virginia. When 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:52.120 Brenda called again around nine forty five, Caldwell picked up 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:55.640 the receiver. This is a voice actor reading his statement. 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.240 Brenda said, mister Ted, I say, yes, Brenda, are you 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.520 at She said, I'm in Virginia and a white man's house. 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.880 I asked how she got over there. She said the 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:08.640 white man put her in the car and carried her 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.439 over to his house. I asked her, is there anyone 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.960 there besides you and the man? She said no. I 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.280 told her tell him to come to the phone and 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.800 tell me where you're at, and I'll come pick you up, 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.480 and she said, did my mother see me? I said no, 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:28.480 how could she see you when you're in Virginia asked 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.440 her again, tell the man to come to the phone. 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.240 I heard someone walk in Heaven. She said, really low, 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:37.320 I'll see you, and someone just cut the phone. 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:41.520 There's no definite reason why Brenda went to the store 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:44.320 alone that night. Eartha thinks it could be because it 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:46.400 was only two blocks from where they lived at the time, 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.720 and the fact it didn't get dark until nine pm. 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.679 But there was another person to see Brenda before she disappeared. 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.559 Here's how one investigator described their interview with a witness 0:13:57.600 --> 0:13:58.960 named Paulette Johnson. 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.000 Missus Johnson was asked if she could recall the night 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.760 of July twenty eighth, nineteen seventy one, and the incident 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:12.640 involving Brenda Faye Crockett. Missus Johnson stated she was well 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.320 aware of that evening and the night, and that she 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.920 had become acquainted with the victim, Brenda Crockett, prior to 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:23.040 her abduction on that night. Missus Johnson stated that at 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.400 approximately eight forty five to nine pm on the night 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:30.000 of July twenty eighth, nineteen seventy one, She was walking 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.960 from the quarner of Fourteenth and U Street northwest, heading 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.920 south on the east side of fourteenth Street, near the 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.440 Safeway store. Just as she approached the Safeway store, Brenda 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:45.360 Crockett walked around beside her and passed just in front 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.440 of her, heading toward the door of the Safeway store. 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.080 Missus Johnson stated she knew Brenda Crockett by sight because 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.240 the Crockett Girl's father works for one of her boyfriends, 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.120 and she recalled that Brenda had been to her daughter's 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.960 birthday party a few days before this incident. Missus Johnson 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:07.000 stated that it was her opinion that Brenda Crockett could 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.440 not have been taken from in front of the Safeway 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:14.400 store by force without someone seeing and observing the incident. 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.480 She stated that as she turned the corner on Wallick Place, 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.840 she lost sight of the Crockett girl, and shortly thereafter 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.880 when she returned, she did not see her in front 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.320 of the store. She stated that the time elapsing after 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.440 she last saw the Crockett girl and when she returned 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.560 to in front of the Safeway store was approximately five minutes. 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.680 If missus Johnson's timing was accurate, this means Brenda was 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:44.960 kidnapped within a five minute window. This means missus Johnson 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.880 could possibly be the last person to see Brenda alive 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.920 other than the killer. Police questioned Raytha about the abduction. 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.440 Has your daughter ever told or advised you that men 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:57.520 were trying to entice her into a vehicle? 0:15:58.080 --> 0:15:58.160 No? 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:00.840 Did she often go to the door alone? 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.040 Just the star around the corna, not the safety buzz self. 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:06.280 Is there anyone you suspect? 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:07.240 No? 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.240 Is there anything else you can add to the statement? 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:11.040 No? 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.440 As we heard before the break, Brenda called home not once, 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:41.000 but twice. Brenda had said that a white man abducted 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.280 her and that she was in Virginia. This information seemed 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.160 suspicious and it raised a lot of questions. Was the 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.840 killer feeding Brenda lies to tell her family and. 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:55.280 Why he was doing a lot of things to deliberately 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:56.920 mislead the authorities. 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:00.800 This is writer Blaine Pardo, who co wrote a book 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.960 about the Freeway Phantom. He says it didn't make sense 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.280 that a white man would have abducted Brenda as she 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.200 claimed over the phone. When we talked with members of 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.400 the local community, they agreed that a white man would 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.240 have stood out in the congress Heights neighborhood, since the 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.639 area has always been predominantly black. 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.400 Anything he had her say, you have to put under 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.359 a microscope and go Is he trying to throw the 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:26.160 trail off? 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:27.080 In this case? 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.720 I definitely think he was in terms of Virginia. I 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:34.840 don't know for sure on his race, though, very creepy 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.919 and if he was, imagine her knowing that she's lying 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.840 to her family about this. That had to ratchet up 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:43.879 her terror level. 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:44.840 Yeah. 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:46.840 It's one thing. If somebody's holding you and they said 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.520 you could tell him we're in Virginia and you're in Virginia, 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.479 you tell him I'm white because I'm white. But if 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.560 they're telling you things that you know aren't true, you 0:17:55.680 --> 0:18:00.000 got to be more scared. That just ugh scares me 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:01.080 to think about that. 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.199 Having Brenda call home was a new mo for the 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.480 Freeway Phantom, and it showed that he was starting to escalate. 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.560 In fact, it was only eight hours or so after 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:16.040 that phone call that Brenda's body was discovered. In the 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.120 early morning hours of July twenty eighth, nineteen seventy one, 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.439 Donald Ray Carter began to head home from work. He 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.639 worked at the Safeway Bakery in Landover, Maryland, but lived 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.160 in Alexandria, Virginia. While he was trying to hitch a ride, 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:32.919 he spotted Brenda's body in Chevley, Maryland. Carter had the 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.120 cab that had stopped for him take him to Joy 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:38.080 Donut Shop to call law enforcement and let them know 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:41.280 about the body. After law officials were on the scene, 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.400 the medical examiner declared Brenda's time of death at six 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.439 fifty five am. Brenda was killed and disposed of in 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:50.360 less than eight hours. 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.639 It was really sad when we saw the pictures of her. 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.280 I was deeply moved because she's laid on her back 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:01.680 and her eyes are open, looking up and it's on 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.640 the curve of a cloverleaf exit. 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:09.000 Blaine tells us he spoke with Carter, you know. 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:10.920 He said it was the saddest thing because he said, 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.000 she's just laying there, and he said, I just thought 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.080 maybe she's asleep, maybe she's not feeling well, something along 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:19.919 those lines, And it turns out that's not the case. 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:25.919 What's interesting, too, is you see a trend with this. 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.400 Her shoes are missing and the killer has taken shoes 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:33.840 off several of the victims. That's usually a control mechanism. 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.040 You know, if you take someone's shoes, it's harder for 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:39.919 them to get away or flee or whatever, and he 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.800 may be keeping those things as souvenirs. Also missing from 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:47.480 her were some pink hair curlers that she had. We 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.520 know it was a fairly narrow window of time, so 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.399 narrow in fact, that it almost rules out when you 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.280 know the geography of dc DC being kind of wedged 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:00.439 between Virginia and Maryland, the time that her her body 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.960 is found versus the phone calls, etc. And when she disappeared, 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.560 it would have been very difficult for someone to go 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.760 anywhere but other than right across the border into Virginia. 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:15.160 If indeed the killer was there, the thinking that most 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:18.240 law enforcement have had is that he had fed her 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:23.040 that information to deliberately mislead the authorities. We just don't 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:25.600 know for sure, but you know, the concept of a 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.040 killer taking his victim back and then letting her call 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:34.080 home twice is very disturbing. It's just incredibly creepy. 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.760 The killer placed Brenda's body along the Prince George's County, 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:42.440 Maryland line. Here's how the police report describes the scene. 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:47.159 The body was viewed by this detective and it was 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.200 observed that she was clad in a blue and white halter, 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:55.720 matching shorts, white cotton underpats, and around her neck was 0:20:55.760 --> 0:21:00.439 an orchid colored silk scarf knotted and a greenish colored 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:04.520 quarter inch cord attached to which was a silver house key. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.960 The body was rigor and no visible trauma was present. 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:14.120 The deceased was laying approximately five feet six inches from 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:18.160 the curb side, flat on her back with her arms outstretched. 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:21.959 After the body was removed, it was noted that the 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:27.000 ground was extremely dry under the deceased, however, around the 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:28.520 body was wet. 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:33.000 The orchid scarf was new, Brenda hadn't been wearing it 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:36.000 when she left for Safeway, and this further added to 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:40.000 the theory that the Freeway phantom was redressing the girls. 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:43.480 Brenda's body was taken to the Morgue at Prince George's 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.320 County Hospital. This is her autopsy report. 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:50.880 Cause of death was ruled to be ligature and manual strangulation. 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:54.600 She had been vaginally raped and there were ring like 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:58.880 contusions around her nipples, suggesting they had been bitten. There 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:01.280 was a small contusion in the left temple region of 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:04.639 her scalp she was fully clothed, with the exception of 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:08.440 her shoes. It was noted no soil on her feet. 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:12.159 On her head were pink plastic hair curlers, several of 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:15.879 which were missing. A few small hairs of negroid origin 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:18.200 were found on the palm of her right hand, but 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:22.200 were too small for any sort of comparison. Synthetic black 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:26.680 textile fibers were recovered from her scarf. Green synthetic fibers 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:30.840 were also recovered from her blouse, shorts, and panties. Blood 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.480 mixed with semen was found in the crotch of her panties, 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:35.400 but could not be conclusively grouped. 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:43.280 Brenda's case is different from Carol and Darlinia's in two 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:48.080 major ways. One is the time period between capture and killing. 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:51.360 Carol was kept alive and even fed for about a week. 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:55.080 Authorities weren't able to determine an exact time of Darlinia's 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:57.679 death due to the decomposition of her body when she 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.439 was found. However, they did confirm that it was a 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:04.520 shorter interval than the previous murder. The second difference, as 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:08.240 we mentioned, are the phone calls, but outside of that, 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:12.480 the similarities remain. How the girls were killed, the killer's 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:16.520 dump sight and the washed feet. Although Brenda had been barefoot, 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:20.880