In a new book - 'Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers' - Figliuzzi lays bare in forensic detail how hundreds of truckers trawl rest stops, motels and roadside restaurants for victims.
At a truck stop in Nashville, Tennessee, long-haul driver Bruce D. Mendenhall was seated in his cab when a homicide detective approached him.
The stash of torture implements included 'a rifle, a nightstick, tape, handcuffs, latex gloves, sex toys and a bag of bloody clothing,' according to the police report. But these deaths are not isolated, according to former Assistant Director of the FBI Frank Figliuzzi.In a new book – 'Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers' – Figliuzzi lays bare in forensic detail how hundreds of truckers trawl rest stops, motels and roadside restaurants for victims.
The hallmark of Robert Ben Rhoades , one of the first 'truck-stop killers' on record, was a sick fetish: He shaved the pubic hair of his victims. She had ran away from her dysfunctional family home in Pasadena, Texas, with her boyfriend Ricky in 1990. Rhoades picked them up near Houston and swiftly killed Ricky, shooting him in the head.
The two categories can overlap, as in the case of Mendenhall. Some of his killings were protracted exercises in sadism. Others were literally hit-and-run.The largest age group is 45 to 54, but 7 percent are 65 or older. Over 70 percent are white, and just 12 per cent are black. Nearly 10 percent admit to drinking daily, 20 percent describe themselves as binge drinkers, and more than 25 per cent admit to using amphetamines and cocaine to stay awake on long hauls.
Behind its steel door, women were held captive in handcuffs. Rhoades inflicted agonies by piercing their flesh with fish-hooks. Many were prostitutes. Like Mendenhall, he wrapped their corpses in plastic sheeting and duct tape. But he denied having sexual intercourse with the bodies, and insisted rape was not his chief motive. He just enjoyed killing, he said.
'Truck-stop and street-level prostitution has its own culture, its own language, and its own processes,' she told Frank Figliuzzi. Common terms include 'trick', a trucker looking for sex, and 'house', the trailer behind his cab. It is not uncommon for a pimp to demand each of his 'shorties' must bring back $1,000 a night – and keep working till dawn if necessary.
Prostitutes who report sex abuse are often not taken seriously. Too often, police officers stop taking notes – and stop taking interest – when they learn how these women earn a living.'Should a male-dominated police force even be investigating such things?' asks Dr Williamson, 'You know, police participate as well.'
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