Latest / U.S SECRET CRIMES / The Photographs That Exposed a Killer: The Case Of Robert Ben Rhoades
Transcript
- 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,240 #TheTruckStopKiller, the girl in the abandoned barn, what if the person who offered you a ride 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:11,120 was the very person you needed protection from? Across America's highways, a truck driver 3 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:15,680 moved from state to state, blending into the ordinary rhythm of commercial travel while 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:21,280 investigators struggled to connect a series of terrifying crimes. For one 14-year-old girl named 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:26,240 Regina K. Walters, a journey that began with the decision to leave home ended in a mystery that 6 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:32,000 crossed hundreds of miles, confused investigators, and threatened to leave her family without answers. 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,040 The man eventually connected to her murder was Robert Ben Rhodes, a long-haul truck driver whose 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,840 movements on the highways made him difficult to trace. But how did investigators turn scattered 9 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:47,280 clues, anonymous phone calls, and a collection of photographs into a case that would put him behind 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,160 bars for the rest of his life? The story began with a danger that many people traveling 11 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:57,520 America's interstate highways would never have imagined. Truck drivers regularly traveled enormous 12 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:03,440 distances, passing through towns and cities where nobody knew them. For most, it was simply a job, 13 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:08,400 but investigators came to believe that roads had used the anonymity of the road to prey on vulnerable 14 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:14,000 women, particularly those who were hitchhiking or had limited means of finding safer transportation. 15 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,960 According to the investigation described in the transcript, he picked up women, restrained them 16 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:24,480 inside his truck, and subjected them to sexual assault and abuse. When investigators later searched 17 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,760 his property, they discovered evidence that suggested his crimes had continued beyond a single 18 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:36,480 encounter. One of the women who survived him was 18-year-old Nicole Tuttle. On January 29, 1990, 19 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:42,480 Nicole accepted a ride from a truck driver at a rest stop in California. The man introduced himself 20 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:47,440 as Dustin and told her that he was traveling east through Arizona. There was nothing in that 21 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:52,480 introduction that revealed the danger she was entering. After spending several hours on the road, 22 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:58,160 Nicole fell asleep in the rear compartment of the truck. According to her account, that was when 23 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:05,200 the driver attacked her. Nicole told investigators that she was overpowered, restrained, and assaulted. 24 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:10,400 She described being held captive for several days while the truck continued traveling. The ordeal 25 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:15,600 eventually brought her to Houston, Texas, where the driver took her to an apartment and assaulted 26 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:21,120 her again. At one point, he cut her long hair with a straight razor. The significance of that detail 27 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,960 would become clear much later, when investigators examined evidence connected to another missing girl. 28 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:32,240 After several hours, the driver took Nicole back to the truck. During a stop at a brewery, 29 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,360 he left her alone while he went inside to sign for freight. This time, he failed to restrain her 30 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:44,400 properly. Nicole recognized that the opportunity might not come again. She ran, escaping with a dog leash 31 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,440 still around her neck and desperately tried to attract the attention of passing motorists. 32 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,800 On February 5, 1990, someone finally stopped and helped her reach a telephone. 33 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,680 Nicole contacted the authorities and reported what had happened. Houston police began searching 34 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:05,280 for the truck driver. An officer stopped a man whose vehicle matched her description. However, 35 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:10,240 Nicole initially told them that the man was not her attacker. A background check revealed no 36 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:15,760 outstanding warrants or convictions, and the driver was released. Nicole was frightened and wanted to 37 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:21,360 return home to California. She was not ready to face the prospect of testifying against the person 38 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:27,120 who had abused her. The transcript indicates that she later identified the driver as Robert Ben Rhodes, 39 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:32,160 but the initial failure to establish his identity delayed the investigation. This was one of the most 40 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,840 important moments in the case. A survivor had escaped from a dangerous man. Yet the fear surrounding 41 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,960 the experience made it difficult for investigators to move forward. While Nicole was trying to recover 42 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:49,280 from her ordeal, another young person disappeared on the same day. Her name was Regina K. Walters. 43 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:55,840 Regina was 14 years old. Her parents were divorced, and she usually lived with her father in Houston. 44 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:01,520 She had recently been visiting her mother, Carolyn Walters, a single parent who worked long hours as a 45 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:07,760 department store clerk. Their relationship was not without conflict. Two nights before Regina disappeared. 46 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:13,600 Mother and daughter had argued about Regina going out to visit a friend. At approximately 930 that 47 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,560 evening, Regina told her mother that she intended to visit someone and would return shortly. 48 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:23,280 Carolyn was reluctant to let her go, but eventually trusted that her daughter would come home or call 49 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:28,800 if she stayed out longer than expected. Regina had run away before, but she had always returned on 50 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:34,080 her own. That history initially gave her mother some reason to hope that this disappearance would end 51 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:39,760 the same way. It did not. When Carolyn returned from work and discovered that Regina was missing, 52 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:45,280 she checked for messages and contacted her daughter's friends and father. Nobody knew where the girl was. 53 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:51,600 Carolyn reported her missing to Pasadena, Texas, police, and provided a description of her daughter. 54 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:57,760 Regina was approximately five feet tall, weighed around 95 pounds, and had long curly brown hair. 55 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,720 Detective Suzanne Jackson of the Pasadena Police Department's juvenile division was assigned 56 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:08,240 to the case. As the days passed without contact, Carolyn began distributing missing person 57 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:14,160 flyers around the community. She also offered a reward for information that might help locate Regina. 58 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:19,680 What had initially appeared to be another possible runaway case was becoming increasingly worrying. 59 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:24,480 Regina normally contacted her mother to let her know that she was safe, but this time there was 60 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:30,720 silence. Five days after the disappearance, a caller gave Carolyn a possible lead. The caller had 61 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,240 reportedly seen Regina with two young men, named Billy and Ricky. Another person later provided the 62 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:41,680 address of an apartment where Regina had allegedly attended a party. Police visited the location 63 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,720 and learned that the apartment was rented to 17-year-old Billy Wayne Gibbs. Investigators soon 64 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:51,280 established that Gibbs had a girlfriend whose name was very slendered in the transcript as Urania 65 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:57,120 or Uranus Suite, and a friend named Ricky Lee Jones. The three were already wanted in connection 66 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:02,320 with an automobile theft. Officers located Gibbs and his girlfriend near the apartment and brought 67 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:08,000 them in for questioning, while Jones remained at large. Gibbs told police that Jones and Regina had 68 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,760 been together and intended to travel to Mexico, where Jones had relatives. Investigators considered 69 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:19,040 whether the couple had left to avoid legal trouble, especially because Jones was already on probation 70 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:25,600 for theft. If he were found traveling with a 14-year-old girl, he could face additional legal consequences. 71 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:30,160 Police issued a warrant for Jones's arrest and entered Regina's information into the National 72 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:35,360 Crime Information Center database so that other departments could be alerted if she was located. 73 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:41,040 The theory that Regina had simply run away with her boyfriend, however, did not explain everything. 74 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:47,280 On March 17, Regina's father, Jerry Walters, received a disturbing telephone call at his 75 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:52,640 unlisted home number, an unidentified man asked whether he was Regina's father and claimed to know 76 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,600 where she was. The caller said that the girl was in the loft of a barn and that changes had been 77 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:03,360 made to her appearance. He specifically mentioned that her hair had been cut. When Jerry asked whether 78 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:09,040 his daughter was alive or dead, the man hung up. That detail should never be overlooked. 79 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,680 The caller had information about Regina's location and appearance that made the family fear the 80 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:19,200 worst, yet the identity of the caller remained unknown and investigators needed time to trace the 81 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:24,640 telephone records. Around the same period, Carolyn received a separate call from a man who said he had 82 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:29,920 information about Regina and wanted to meet her at a convenience store at 630 the following morning. 83 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,400 Detective Jackson warned Carolyn that meeting an unknown person could be dangerous. 84 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,080 Carolyn nevertheless wanted to hear anything that might help her daughter, 85 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,040 so police agreed to monitor the meeting from a distance. 86 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,200 Carolyn waited for more than two hours. The caller never appeared. 87 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,920 Telephone records eventually revealed that the call to Jerry had originated from a gas station in 88 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:56,400 Anna, Texas, about 200 miles northwest of where Regina had last been seen. The call to Carolyn 89 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:01,200 had come from a pay phone only a few blocks from her home. The call suggested that someone was 90 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:06,160 deliberately contacting the family, but they did not immediately reveal who that person was or 91 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:11,360 what had happened to Regina. Investigators were growing increasingly concerned that the case involved 92 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:18,080 foul play. Then, on April 23rd, a discovery near a riverbank in Pasadena brought another painful 93 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:23,600 possibility. A partial skeleton belonging to a small female was found, and the remains appeared 94 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,960 consistent with the general age and size of Regina. Detective Jackson took Regina's dental records 95 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,840 to the medical examiner, but the comparison showed that the remains did not belong to her. 96 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:39,360 The discovery provided no closure. Instead, it reinforced the fear that Regina might have 97 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:44,080 suffered the same fate while leaving the family with no confirmed answer. Months later, 98 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:50,400 on October 12th, two boys playing near a dirt road in Manville, Texas, discovered human remains 99 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:56,240 near a pile of wood. Police secured the scene, but the remains were too decomposed to be identified 100 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:01,520 immediately. Investigators again compared the remains with Regina's dental records. 101 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,640 Once again, the results did not match. The search continued, but the most important breakthrough 102 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:13,520 came from a different state. In October 1990, a farmer in Bond County, Illinois, was preparing to 103 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:20,000 burn down an old barn. Before doing so, he climbed into the hay loft to inspect the building one last time. 104 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:25,600 There, among the discarded material, he discovered what appeared to be a human skeleton. He immediately 105 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,960 contacted the authorities. Illinois State Police Agent Mike Shealy responded to the scene. 106 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:36,320 The body had no identification or clothing nearby that could readily establish the victim's identity. 107 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,480 The rural location, close to Interstate 70, raised a troubling question. 108 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,920 Had the victim lived locally or had someone transported her remains across state lines and left 109 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:50,720 her in the abandoned building? A forensic anthropologist examined the remains and determined that 110 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:57,040 the victim was a young female, probably between 14 and 16 years old. Her estimated weight was between 111 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:03,680 90 and 110 pounds. Investigators also found evidence that her hair had been cut relatively recently 112 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:08,800 in relation to the condition of the remains. The medical examination determined that she had died 113 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:14,400 by strangulation. Investigators believed that the circumstances of the death indicated a deliberate 114 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:20,240 and controlled act. The case was not simply a matter of identifying an unknown victim. They needed 115 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:25,360 to discover who had taken the girl to the barn, why she had been killed, and whether the same offender 116 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:31,440 had harmed other people. Agent Shealy entered the available details into national databases. The number 117 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:37,040 of possible matches was overwhelming. Hundreds of missing person cases initially appeared to fit the 118 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:42,880 victims' estimated age and the relevant time period. By narrowing the search, investigators reduced 119 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:48,080 the number of possibilities and circulated information to law enforcement agencies handling 120 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:54,320 unresolved cases. On October 16, Detective Jackson received information about the unidentified 121 00:10:54,320 --> 00:11:00,080 girl in Illinois. The description appeared consistent with Regina. Jackson remembered the anonymous 122 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,800 caller who had told Regina's father that the missing girl was in a barn and that her hair had been 123 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:10,080 cut. She contacted authorities in Illinois and asked whether the victim had been found in a barn. 124 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:15,680 The answer gave the investigation a new direction. Investigators compared dental records 125 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:21,520 and the identification was confirmed. The girl found in the Illinois barn was Regina K. Walters. 126 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:26,000 For Carolyn and Jerry Walters, the confirmation ended the uncertainty over their daughters' 127 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:30,400 whereabouts, but it brought the devastating knowledge that she would never return home. 128 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,880 For the investigators, it transformed a missing person case into a murder investigation 129 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,920 with a new central question. Who had killed Regina and what had happened to the boyfriend who had 130 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:45,920 last been associated with her? Attention initially focused on Ricky Lee Jones. He had disappeared, 131 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:50,720 and his family said that they had not seen him for more than a year. His probation violation 132 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:56,080 gave investigators a reason to believe that he might be avoiding the authorities. A profile developed 133 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:02,960 by FBI agent Mark Young. However, suggested that Jones was unlikely to have committed Regina's murder. 134 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:08,320 Young believed that the circumstances indicated a more control defender, potentially an older man 135 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:13,360 who traveled for work. The location of the barn near a major interstate supported the possibility 136 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,320 that the killer had been passing through the area. The cutting of Regina's hair was another important 137 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:23,280 clue. Investigators began to consider whether her murder was connected to the crimes of a 138 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:28,720 traveling sexual predator. Meanwhile, partial remains of a young man were found near a creek in the 139 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:35,600 Marshall, Texas area. Because of the location and the available information, investigators suspected 140 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,400 that the remains might belong to Jones. The transcript does not establish a definitive 141 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:46,720 identification. However, and the connection remained uncertain. For a time, authorities feared that 142 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:51,360 the person responsible for Regina's death had also killed her boyfriend and escaped detection. 143 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:56,320 The case might have remained unresolved if another highway encounter had not brought Robert Ben 144 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:01,840 Rhodes to police attention. In Arizona, a highway patrol officer named Michael Miller was nearing 145 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:07,120 the end of his shift. When he noticed a tractor trailer parked on the side of an interstate on ramp, 146 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:12,560 the vehicle presented a potential hazard. So Miller approached the driver's door to investigate. 147 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:18,080 The driver, Robert Ben Rhodes, suddenly emerged from the cab and behaved in a manner that struck the 148 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:23,280 officer as unusual. Rhodes acknowledged that he had a gun in his back pocket and claimed that everything 149 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:29,120 was fine, but Miller could hear a woman screaming inside the truck. Rhodes tried to explain that the 150 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:35,280 situation was consensual. The officer did not accept that explanation without checking. After securing 151 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:41,280 Rhodes in the patrol car, Miller returned to the truck and found a 27-year-old woman. Identified in 152 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:47,520 the transcript as Kathleen, restrained by her wrists and ankles, she had been held against her will. 153 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,400 The officer reassured the woman that she was no longer in danger and waited for additional officers 154 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:57,760 to arrive. At one point, Rhodes managed to move his cuffed hands and loosen his seat belt, 155 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:03,280 nearly creating another opportunity to escape. Miller intervened before he could get out of the 156 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:10,240 patrol car. When investigators searched the truck, they found restraints, chains, handcuffs, whips, 157 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:15,760 hooks, towels, and other objects that appeared to have been used in assaults. The discovery made it 158 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:21,360 difficult to view the incident as an isolated misunderstanding. Kathleen told investigators that she 159 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:26,320 had accepted a ride from Rhodes near a truck stop north of Phoenix. She said that he attacked her 160 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:31,360 after she had fallen asleep in the truck's sleeper compartment and then restrained her. She also 161 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:37,280 described trying to defend herself by biting him on the shoulder. Rhodes denied committing a crime. 162 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,520 He claimed that Kathleen was mentally unstable and suggested that she had willingly 163 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:46,640 participated in what happened. Yet, investigators photographed a wound on his shoulder that was 164 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:52,480 consistent with her account of biting him. Detective Rick Barnhart, who led the local investigation, 165 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:57,120 believed that her description and the physical evidence supported her allegations. There was still 166 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:02,320 a serious problem. Kathleen had difficulties during her interview and sometimes moved away from 167 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,680 the events she was trying to describe. Prosecutors feared that the defense would use those difficulties 168 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:12,800 to undermine her credibility in court. The challenge was not to assume that a person who struggled to 169 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:18,640 give a clear account was necessarily unreliable, but to establish the case through corroborating evidence. 170 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:24,080 Barnhart suspected that Rhodes had been assaulting women for years. Kathleen had indicated that his 171 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:29,120 crimes had been going on for approximately 15 years, and the equipment in the truck suggested 172 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:34,640 deliberate preparation. Barnhart entered Rhodes's name into national crime databases in the hope that 173 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:39,360 other police departments would recognize the pattern. One of the people who noticed the case was 174 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:45,360 a Houston police officer familiar with Nicole Tuttle's earlier report. The similarities were striking. 175 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:51,280 Nicole had described a truck driver who kidnapped and assaulted her, held her for days and cut her hair. 176 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:56,800 The man detained in Arizona appeared to match the description of the driver involved in that attack. 177 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:02,720 Investigators in Houston contacted Detective Barnhart, and the separate cases began to converge. 178 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,600 The FBI became involved because Rhodes traveled across state lines, and the investigation appeared 179 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:13,680 to extend beyond one local jurisdiction. FBI agent Bob Lee began by examining Rhodes' Houston 180 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:19,840 apartment. With a search warrant, investigators recovered restraints, chains, handcuffs, 181 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:26,000 equipment for holding victims, women's jewelry, clothing, bloody towels, and photographs. 182 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,960 Some of the photographs showed women with their hair cut short. Investigators believed that the 183 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:36,000 photographs could be souvenirs of assaults, although they could not immediately identify every woman 184 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,720 depicted. The evidence was disturbing not only because of what it suggested about Rhodes, 185 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:45,120 but because it raised the possibility that many victims had never been reported missing or had never 186 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,920 been connected to him. A person who repeatedly moved across state lines could leave evidence in 187 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:55,520 one city, encounter victims in another, and disappear into a new jurisdiction before investigators 188 00:16:55,520 --> 00:17:00,080 realized that the crimes might be connected. Despite the evidence recovered from the apartment and 189 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:06,320 truck, prosecutors in Arizona faced difficulties building a strong case around Kathleen's assault. 190 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:11,440 In December 1990, Rhodes accepted a plea agreement that would give him a six-year sentence, 191 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,120 including time already served, with the possibility of work release. 192 00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:19,680 The agreement meant that he might become eligible for release much sooner than investigators 193 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:25,680 believed was safe. That prospect increased the urgency of the investigation into Regina's murder. 194 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:32,000 By 1991, FBI agent Mark Young had developed a profile of the suspected killer. The profile 195 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,560 suggested a traveling offender with a history of sexual violence whose movements could take him 196 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:42,160 across the country. Young shared the information with other investigators, hoping that an unresolved 197 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:47,520 case might provide a connection. Agent Bob Lee remembered Nicole Tuttle's case and recognized the 198 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:52,720 significance of the girl's shorn hair. The connection between Nicole's account and the profile of 199 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,920 Regina's killer was a turning point. Investigators reviewed the photographs recovered from Rhodes' 200 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:02,880 apartment and discovered images of a young girl who appeared to be Regina. The photographs showed 201 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:08,000 the girl in different locations, including a barn and investigators compared them with pictures 202 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,920 supplied by Regina's family. They found matching facial characteristics and identifying features. 203 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:19,040 The evidence was further strengthened when investigators located a black dress among the clothing 204 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:23,920 recovered from Rhodes' property. Laboratory examination connected the dress to the clothing 205 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:30,080 Regina wore in the photographs. Investigators also examined a fiber recovered near Regina's remains 206 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:35,600 in Illinois. It was consistent with cotton towels found in Rhodes' Houston apartment, but the result 207 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:40,880 was inconclusive because the type of towel was common. The distinction mattered. A similarity 208 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:46,240 between fibers could help direct an investigation, but it was not the same as definitive proof that a 209 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:51,600 particular person committed a murder. Another important discovery came from the truck itself. 210 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:57,680 Investigators obtained trucking logs, fuel receipts, and other records from Rhodes' former employer. 211 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,720 These records helped reconstruct his movements. A fuel receipt showed that his truck had been in 212 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:09,920 Anna, Texas, on March 17, 1990, the same date as the disturbing telephone call to Regina's father. 213 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,640 The match was significant, although a receipt alone could not prove who made the call. 214 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:20,080 Investigators also examined how the caller had obtained Jerry Walters' unlisted telephone number. 215 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:25,440 The answer was found in Regina's small spiral notebook, recovered among the evidence associated 216 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:31,280 with Rhodes. It contained personal information, including the telephone numbers of both parents. 217 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:36,080 On the back of the notebook, investigators found a message that they believed had been written by 218 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:42,240 Rhodes. Beside drawings of a knife and a gun were the words, "Rickie's a dead man." Investigators 219 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,880 regarded the message as an important clue, but they still needed to establish its meaning and 220 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:51,920 connection to the events surrounding Regina's disappearance. They also needed to determine what 221 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,880 had happened to Ricky Lee Jones. The remains discovered in Texas might have been his, but the 222 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:02,560 investigation lacked a reliable DNA reference sample for a comparison. Without that confirmation, 223 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:07,840 the theory that Rhodes had killed Jones remained unresolved. Investigators entered Rhodes' travel 224 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:13,120 history and the known details of his alleged crimes into the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension 225 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:19,600 Program, known as Vice-CAP. The system returned more than 50 possible matches involving unsolved 226 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:24,880 homicides and missing person cases. The number illustrated the enormous challenge confronting 227 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:30,400 investigators. If Rhodes had been offending across the country for years, the cases already connected 228 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:35,200 to him might represent only a fraction of the people who had encountered him. In a further attempt 229 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:41,200 to strengthen the case, investigators located the truck roads had driven. By then, approximately two 230 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:47,440 years had passed and the vehicle had been cleaned, repainted, and used by other drivers. Nevertheless, 231 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:52,800 investigators recovered a strand of hair considered consistent with Regina's and a small fingerprint 232 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,440 matching hers from the sleeper compartment. The fingerprint established that Regina had been 233 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:03,360 inside the truck. However, it did not establish exactly when she had been there or prove by itself 234 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:08,240 that she had been held against her will. The federal kidnapping case therefore remained difficult to 235 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:14,560 prove. By January 1992, investigators concluded that the available evidence was not strong enough 236 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:20,080 to establish the interstate kidnapping charge. With Rhodes approaching another parole opportunity, 237 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:25,520 they had to consider another route to prosecution. Authorities in Illinois agreed to pursue a capital 238 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,920 murder charge based on Regina's death and the evidence recovered from the barn and Rhodes' 239 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:35,840 possessions. On February 6, investigators traveled to the Arizona State Prison in Florence to serve 240 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:40,640 Rhodes with the warrant. They confronted him with photographs of Regina and hoped he might make a 241 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:46,080 statement that would strengthen the case. He refused to confess and firmly denied involvement in her 242 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:52,880 death. The investigators were now facing a difficult legal battle. They had photographs, a matching dress, 243 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:58,880 a fingerprint, hair evidence, travel records, and the disturbing calls to Regina's parents. 244 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:04,560 But much of the case was circumstantial and some forensic findings were inconclusive. They had to 245 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:09,120 demonstrate how the pieces fitted together without claiming that any single clue proved more than 246 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:15,600 it actually did. Rhodes was eventually extradited from Arizona to Illinois. After further delays, 247 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,560 the case reached a critical point on September 11th, rather than proceed with the capital 248 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:26,080 murder charge and risk a possible death sentence. Rhodes accepted a plea to first degree murder. 249 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,280 He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The sentence secured a 250 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:36,560 measure of justice for Regina and her family. It also meant that Rhodes would no longer be able to 251 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:41,920 return to the highways as a free man. But it did not answer every question surrounding his alleged 252 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:47,360 crimes. Investigators continued to examine photographs and other evidence in an effort to identify 253 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:52,880 women who might have been assaulted or killed by Rhodes. At least one woman in the recovered photographs 254 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,920 remained unidentified. Authorities were concerned that other victims might never have been reported 255 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:02,640 missing or that their cases had been closed without being connected to the truck driver. That 256 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:08,000 unresolved part of the investigation is one of the most important lessons in the story. A conviction 257 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,200 for one murder can bring accountability, but it does not automatically explain every crime that a 258 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:18,880 suspect may have committed. Nor does it identify every victim whose life might have intersected with the 259 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:24,960 offenders. Regina's story also reveals how easily a missing child can be misunderstood, because she 260 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:30,720 had run away before, her disappearance initially carried the appearance of a familiar family problem. 261 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:37,120 But a history of leaving home did not make her less deserving of urgent protection. Her age, vulnerability, 262 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:42,000 and sudden loss of contact were reasons to keep searching, not reasons to assume that everything 263 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:48,320 would be fine. The case also demonstrates why survivors of assault must be treated with care. Fear, 264 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:54,880 trauma, shame, and confusion can affect how a person reports an experience. Nicole's initial failure 265 00:23:54,880 --> 00:24:00,240 to identify Rhodes did not mean her account was unimportant. Kathleen's difficulty maintaining 266 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:06,320 a consistent narrative did not erase the need to examine her allegations alongside physical evidence. 267 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:11,200 Investigations must be patient enough to recognize that people do not always respond to trauma 268 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:17,760 in predictable ways. There is a wider lesson for society too. People who travel alone, hitchhike, 269 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:23,200 run away from home, or have limited financial resources can be exposed to additional risks. 270 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:29,120 But vulnerability is never an invitation to abuse and responsibility for a crime belongs to the person 271 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:34,400 who commits it. The appropriate response is not to blame victims for the decisions they made before 272 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:40,400 an attack. It is to improve access to safe transport, strengthen missing person investigations, 273 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:46,240 support survivors, and ensure that reports of violence are taken seriously. For law enforcement, 274 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:51,600 the investigation showed the value of sharing information across jurisdictions. A local officer in 275 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:56,080 Arizona could not have been expected to know every missing person case in Illinois or every 276 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:02,080 assault reported in Texas. It was the exchange of records, forensic information, photographs, 277 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:07,520 and investigative experience that allowed the separate cases to become connected. Modern databases 278 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:12,480 and DNA technology can strengthen this work, but they are most effective when combined with careful 279 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:18,880 judgment, collaboration, and respect for the evidence. Above all, the story of Regina K. Walters 280 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:25,200 reminds us that behind every photograph, fingerprint, missing person notice, and case file is a human 281 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:31,040 being whose life mattered. Regina was more than the victim in an investigation. She was a daughter whose 282 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:36,480 mother waited for her return. A young person whose future was taken away, and a family member whose 283 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:42,080 absence left questions that no prison sentence could entirely resolve. Robert Ben Rhodes was convicted 284 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:47,440 of Regina's murder and sentence to spend the rest of his life in prison. Yet the unanswered questions 285 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:52,480 surrounding other possible victims remain a sobering reminder that justice is not always complete 286 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:57,680 when one offender is convicted. Sometimes, the work continues through the painstaking process of 287 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:03,200 identifying the forgotten. Reopening unresolved cases and giving families the truth they have 288 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:08,320 waited years to hear. The highways that once gave Rhodes the opportunity to move unnoticed also 289 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,760 became part of the evidence that helped investigators trace his movements. What began as separate reports 290 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:18,640 from frightened survivors and grieving families ultimately became a wider investigation into a 291 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:23,920 traveling predator. And the most enduring lesson is that no victim should be dismissed as unimportant 292 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,880 simply because their circumstances make them easier to overlook. Every report deserves attention. 293 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:35,280 Every clue deserves careful examination and every missing person deserves to be remembered. This is 294 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:41,680 U.S. Secret Crimes podcast. Stick to US for more of information and stories of this nature see you 295 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,400 on the next one.