In January 1987, 82 year old Opal Weil was slain in her St. Petersburg, FL home. The crime scene reflected a burglary, with Opal’s wedding ring pulled off her finger.  Within a week, it happened again. Octogenarian Eleanor Swift’s home, just 6 miles from Opal’s, was burgled, she was killed, and her wedding ring taken.  A third victim in the same month survived, but remembered nothing.  The cases, quickly connected in the eyes of the investigators, went cold, despite a large number of suspects being considered.  Hairs found at Opal’s crime scene, distinct from her own, would prove to be the key to an IGG analysis, and a suspect was finally identified and arrested for her murder in 2023.  But that is not the end of the story.     

In August, 1986, a human skull and some bones were found of Highway 26 near Government Camp, Oregon. There was nothing to help ID the victim, who the authorities believed was a female between the ages of 17 and 30. An expert believed that the skull had been there for as long as ten years, but some time later, that idea would be challenged. 

Eventually, DNA & genealogy would prove that 'Government Camp Jane Doe' was actually Wanda Ann Herr who was described as a "chronic runaway" and had last been seen by her family in Oregon in 1976. Her case is being investigated as a possible homicide, although it's likely due to very little potential evidence, the mystery surrounding her death will never be solved. 

Four women were murdered in the Denver, CO area, three in 1980 and one in 1978, in crimes that remained unsolved – and unconnected – for decades.  The victims had nothing in common, the circumstances varied widely.  But modern DNA testing technology provided investigators with some very surprising information – and IGG tied it all together.  They were looking for one man for all four murders – and those were not the sum total of his heinous crimes.  Today’s episode is about one of the more depraved killers identified by IGG, one you’ve likely never heard of.