The I-70 Killer
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It was November 2021 when the FBI and five law enforcement agencies met in St. Charles, Missouri. They had spent nearly 30 years trying to catch a killer. Their meeting in St. Charles was a way to compare notes and re-examine a series of killings that took the lives of six innocent people during the spring of 1992.

From April 8th until May 7th, 1992, five women and one man were gunned down in cold blood by a mysterious man armed with a .22 caliber pistol. It was an unusual make and model used by the German military during World War II. It was known to be an unreliable weapon, but the killer was successful in using that make and model. The victims were all store clerks at busy shopping centers.

Usually, the victims were working alone, all of the stores were robbed, the women who were targeted were petite brunettes, while the lone male victim wore his hair in a ponytail. The murders spanned 1,700 miles along and near Interstate 70 from Indianapolis, Indiana to Wichita, Kansas. Those that have investigated the case believe the killer had mapped out their route because in their opinion, these killings were not random.

the murder would be named the I-70 Killer, who has not been captured to this day. Their 1992 spree was a reign of terror that has haunted numerous families and members of law enforcement for over three decades. For some, the I-70 murders were an isolated incident. However, there are possible links to another series of killings off I-35 in Texas and a bizarre murder in Indiana.

Had the I-70 killer moved on and struck again? The FBI and law enforcement agencies have compiled somewhere in the ballpark of 100,000 possible leads into a database. Also, they have composite sketches of the killer. The case has been discussed in numerous newspapers and was featured on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. All of this information and exposure has not led to an arrest. Part 1: Robin Fuldauer

Jeff Mayrose was a manager of a paint store on Pendleton Pike in Indianapolis near I-70, and he had his eye on an unkempt man. Somewhere before 1 p.m. on April 8, 1992, a man wearing a green coat and carrying a large bag caught the attention of Mayrose. The individual suspiciously walked around the outside of Mayrose's store a few times and found a seat on a curb near a restaurant.

The man was giggling and talking to himself. It was completely unnerving. Mayrose watched him carefully, and what he remembered about the man was that he was staring at a Payless shoe source across the street for over half an hour. Mayrose lost sight of the man for a moment. Robin Fuldauer was an employee of Payless shoe source. She was a 26-year-old college graduate who had dreams of starting a family.

Fuldauer was the store manager and was working alone on April 8th. Fuldauer's district manager was trying to call her, but Fuldauer would not pick up the phone. The district manager tried calling for 45 minutes and decided to contact Lucretia Gullit, who worked at a nearby gas station. Gullit was asked to check on Fuldauer. It wasn't a difficult task since the shoe store was a 30-second walk from the gas station.

When Gullet walked into the Payless shoe source, she noticed the cash register was open and there were no employees in the store. A woman and a child were shopping for shoes. Gullet walked up to the woman and politely asked her to leave the store. There was a door towards the back of the store that caught Gullet's attention. She would not open it because something in the back of Gullet's mind told her to call the police, so she did.

Meanwhile, Jeff Mayrose noticed the strange man from earlier near his paint store. He was seen hitchhiking near I-70. The man eventually vanished. But something else caught Mayrose's attention. Sirens were heard and there was a commotion at the Payless shoe source. What happened? Someone had killed Robin Fuldauer. She had been shot twice in the head. The person that killed her took just under $100 in cash from the register at the store.

The police that investigated the murder of Robin Fuldauer believed the man that killed her spent less than 15 minutes in the store. The receipts from the Payless shoe source showed that the last item rang up on the register occurred at 1:12 p.m. the day Fuldauer was murdered. Law enforcement believed that the killer was in the store when the last purchase was made. What was even more shocking to investigators was that the neighboring businesses did not hear a gunshot.

The area was busy, especially at the gas station where Gullit worked. Family and friends were shocked. Fuldauer grew up in Indianapolis and was a salutatorian of her high school. She was someone remembered as having a heart of gold. She was also remembered as someone who loved playing tennis and sailing. Someone had taken her life. It was a senseless robbery. Hopefully, it was an isolated incident.

Sadly, this was just the beginning of a horrible nightmare. Part 2: Patricia Majors and Patricia Smith Three days after Robin Fuldower was murdered, two women would be found dead at the La Bride d'Elegance and Sir Knight Tuxedo Formal Wear shop in Wichita, Kansas. The victims were Patricia Trish Majors and Patricia Smith.

Both Majors and Smith were shot with a .22 caliber pistol. Both had been placed in a back room in the store. The register had money missing. Majors was the owner of La Bride d'Elegance and Sir Knight Tuxedo Formal Wear. She had purchased the business a year before and was enjoying being a small business owner. Smith was one of Majors' workers and she was recently married. Wedding season was keeping them busy and business was good.

The two women were working until 6pm but were waiting after closing for a man to come in and pick up an item. At some point, a man entered the store. He forced both Majors and Smith to the back of the store, shot them both, and then took money from the register. Perhaps both Majors and Smith were under the impression that the gunman was the man they were waiting for. Their lives were cut short due to a senseless but cold-blooded robbery.

A man who was remained anonymous walked into the store sometime after the gunman had walked in. The man was there to pick up a cummerbund for a tuxedo. That man came face to face with the shooter. The shooter asked the man to walk to the back of the store. A gun was pointed at the man, but he told the gunman to let him leave while walking out of the store. The shooter was adamant that he walked to the back of the store. They argued briefly, and the witness left unharmed.

It was reported that the shooter told the man not to call the police or to say anything to anyone. When the witness left, he found a payphone nearly a mile from the store, called the police, and provided them with a description of the shooter. However, the call from the witness occurred one hour after the incident with the shooter. It was reported that the witness was shaken by the encounter with the killer, and it might have taken him a while to calm down.

Sadly, when law enforcement discovered the women, Smith was still alive. She died later at a local hospital. Had the call been made earlier, it is possible Smith could have recovered. However, it is only a guess. Wichita is less than 700 miles from Indianapolis, and a trip by car is roughly 10 hours. The killer had managed to travel the distance in a few days following the murder of Fuldauer.

La Bride d'Elegance and Sir Knight Tuxedo Formal Wear was located in a busy strip mall, but the area where the women were killed was along I-35, which is south of I-70. However, the same .22 caliber weapon was used in these murders as the one in Indianapolis. Also, like the Indianapolis murder, there was a witness. The man that saw the shooter in Wichita said he was an unkempt man wearing a short brown jacket.

He also told the police the gun the killer used appeared to be an Uzi style. This murder was different in one way. This time, there were two victims. Law enforcement has theorized that the killer entered the store and saw either Majors or Smith working. They might have been caught off guard when the other employee appeared. The Wichita Police Department had no idea that the murders of Majors and Smith were linked to the Indianapolis case involving Fuldauer.

Phone calls to other law enforcement agencies linked the murders. The only difference was Fuldauer was working alone while Majors and Smith were working together. One theory is that the killer saw either Majors or Smith and believed the store had only one employee on staff.

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Paid non-client endorsement. Compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com/crimehub. Part three, Michael McCown. The killer struck again 16 days later on April 27th, 1992, when Michael "Mick" McCown was found dead at a ceramic shop in Terre Haute, Indiana. McCown would be the lone male victim in the shooting spree.

Terre Haute is located along I-70 near the Indiana and Illinois state line. It is a city that's 600 miles east of Wichita, but 77 miles west of Indianapolis. McCown was working alone at Sylvia's Ceramics. The business belonged to his mother, and the area where he worked was a popular shopping location in Terre Haute. McCown wasn't feeling well on April 27th. In fact, he thought about not going to work that day.

In the end, McCown opened the store and he would eventually meet up with the I-70 killer. In this incident, a witness did not see anyone unusual near Sylvia's Ceramics. Like the other locations in Indianapolis and Wichita, Sylvia's Ceramics was in a strip mall on a busy road. Some money, perhaps less than $50, was taken from the register.

What police theorized happened is that the killer was interested in the business because it had a woman's name. Perhaps the killer would be dealing with a lone female employee. McCown was on duty that day, but it was reported that he had long hair that was braided into a ponytail. It is believed the killer mistook McCown for a female employee. McCown was shot behind the counter and not taken to a back room.

It has been theorized by law enforcement that the killer realized McCown could put up a fight if forced to a back room at gunpoint. The killer decided to shoot McCown. Those that knew McCown remember him as a very kind man. McCown had two sisters and one of them was watching the evening news the day he was murdered. His sister was not aware of anything bad happening to McCown.

The news showed Sylvia's ceramic shop and a reporter noted that a male body had been found inside the store. His sister was devastated and decided to drive to the store. That's where she saw her mother, who was inconsolable. The killer took McCown's wallet and the jeans he was wearing that day were preserved by law enforcement for possible evidence. Part 4: Nancy Kitzmiller

During the afternoon hours of May 3, 1992, Nancy Kitzmiller, age 24, would become the fifth victim of the mystery shooter. Located west of St. Louis, St. Charles is a community located along I-70, and Kitzmiller was working at the Bogey Hills Plaza off the highway. The killer struck sometime around 2:30 p.m. on May 3.

According to Kitzmiller's mother, it was an absolute fluke that she was working alone at the Boot Village store in St. Charles, Missouri. Another worker wanted the day off, and Kitzmiller agreed to take their shift. Kitzmiller was well aware that she would be the only employee in the store. Boot Village sold boots and western clothing, and Kitzmiller was the store's manager. Kitzmiller was born and raised in Oklahoma, and moved to Missouri at some point in her life.

She loved all things Western and soccer. She was on the women's soccer team at Oklahoma State University. Kitzmiller was hoping to get a job with a mapping agency in St. Louis. Kitzmiller had recently interviewed for the job, and it was something she wanted since she had graduated with a degree in geography. Life was going well for Kitzmiller. She had interviewed for a dream job, plus she had recently purchased a pickup truck.

Boot Village was located along a busy road where people would shop. It was located between a beauty salon and a veterinary clinic. The register at the store was empty, but it was reported that a citizen caught a glimpse of a man believed to be the shooter. A man with dull red hair was viewed outside of Boot Village around 12:30 p.m. on that day Kitzmiller was murdered. Not long before the shooting, a Hallmark store in the area had been robbed by a man that maced the workers.

The robber had taken a few hundred dollars from the store. It's not clear if they were related, but law enforcement would learn what places like Terre Haute, Indianapolis, and Wichita already knew. There was a serial killer on the loose. Part 5: Sarah Blessing On May 7th, 1992, a strange man was moving nervously and talking to himself outside the video attic shop in Raytown, Missouri.

Located outside of Kansas City, this community was also off of I-70. Tim Hickman was working at the video attic shop and looked out of the window at the strange man. He stared right back at Hickman. The two were in a stare down. Hickman recalled the man was wearing a sport coat, dress pants, and dress shoes. Hickman found it odd for the man to be wearing a sport coat since it was warm outside.

Sarah Blessing, age 37, was working next to the video attic shop at a place called The Store of Many Colors. It sold items related to health and Blessing was one of the store owners. On May 7th, 1992, she was working alone. After the strange man wandered away from Hickman's store, he heard a loud pop.

Then he heard a door slam. The noises frightened Hickman. He grabbed a pistol from under the counter, grabbed a cellular phone, and decided to check some of the neighboring stores. As Hickman left his store, he saw the door closing at the store of many colors. The man from earlier was leaving the store quickly, and Hickman froze for a moment. He was trying to process what was happening.

The man ran up a hill near the store towards a road. Hickman decided to look into the store and saw Blessing's feet. She had been murdered. All Hickman could do was call the police. A few witnesses came forward to tell investigators that they too saw the man running from the store of many colors that matched Hickman's description of the man. Tim Hickman would later recall that his mom and sister were working at the video store earlier in the day.

Hickman pondered if the man had seen one of them earlier and was shocked to see Tim Hickman working in the store. Tim Hickman would later learn from authorities that Blessing's murder was part of a shooting spree. Hickman was asked to compare composite sketches of the suspect. After reviewing the sketches, the man Hickman saw outside of his store resembled the man involved in the shootings in Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Wichita, and St. Charles.

To some, the shooting of Sarah Blessing was the last murder committed by the I-70 killer. However, according to some, there were more. Part 6: The Suspect For over 30 years, authorities have attempted to track down the men responsible for the murders of Robin Fuldauer, Patricia Majors, Patricia Smith, Michael McCown, Nancy Kitzmiller, and Sarah Blessing. So who was the killer?

There are theories from law enforcement that he was a hitchhiker or even a truck driver. If the suspect was a hitchhiker, then someone would have remembered picking up the killer near I-70 or the busy roads during the killings. If the suspect was a truck driver, then their big rig would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Someone would have noticed something. Also, what if the suspect drove their own vehicle

There would have been a chance that the car would be ticketed or towed. The suspect would have used toll roads or stayed in a motel. Law enforcement checked anywhere and everywhere, and some 67,000 people have been added to a database of possible suspects. However, they are no closer to solving the mystery. There are persons of interest. Donald Waterhouse from Tennessee was a suspect.

Waterhouse had killed his parents with a .22 caliber weapon one month before Robin Fuldauer was murdered. A truck driven by Waterhouse was found near I-70 in St. Louis. He was in the area at the time of the murders and was arrested roughly six months after the murder of Sarah Blessing. While Waterhouse was a suspect, there was nothing to connect him to the I-70 murders. There were a few serial killers on the radar.

there was Neil Falls, a man who traveled across the country committing heinous acts. During the 1992 murders, he was living about 100 miles from Wichita. Falls would later be killed in a struggle and nothing police found in his possession linked him to the murders.

Another serial killer was Donald Blom. He had a rap sheet going back to the 1970s and was viewed as a man that required around-the-clock mental health supervision. Or he would commit an act or some acts that would have devastating results. Like Falls, Blom never could be linked to the I-70 murders. He would later die in prison. Another serial killer linked to the case is Herb Baumeister, a man who lived in Indiana.

Baumeister was diagnosed with schizophrenia and experienced many ups and downs during his lifetime. At one point, Baumeister married, had a family, and was the owner of a few grocery stores in Indiana. However, Baumeister was involved in the deaths of various men, and the police were able to link those deaths back to Baumeister. He was known to travel I-70 in search of victims. Unlike the I-70 killer, Baumeister buried his victims on the farm he called home,

When the authorities were closing in on Baumeister, he took his own life. Nothing found on Baumeister's property ties him to the I-70 killings. One thing law enforcement can agree on is that something happened around 1992 to cause the suspect to snap. They committed their crimes from April to May of that year. They traveled hundreds of miles and selected shopping centers that were busy. The selected businesses generally had a lone female employee.

There are some investigators who believe that the murders continued after Sarah Blessing. They did not continue on I-70, but along I-35 in Texas. Part 7. The I-35 Murders Roughly 500 days after the murder of Sarah Blessing, a murder in Fort Worth, Texas would be eerily similar to the I-70 murders. It was September 25th, 1993, when Mary Ann Glasscock was working at an antique store in Fort Worth.

She was working alone in the store and was killed the same way as the I-70 victims. The difference was Fort Worth is off of I-35 and not even close to I-70. The weapon used was a .22, the same caliber as the I-70 shootings. And some money was presumed to be missing from the register. A difference was that the victim was found partially clothed and their car keys were missing.

The next shooting occurred in November of 1993. Amy Vess was working at the Dancer's Closet in Arlington, Texas. The store was off of I-35 and she was working alone at the store. Her death was similar to the methods used by the I-70 killer. Vess was found in the back of the store. The same caliber weapon was used and money was missing from the register. Vess had somehow survived her shooting and made her way to a phone to contact 911.

Sadly, she would not survive. Both Vess and Glasscock were petite brunettes like the women who were victims of the I-70 killer. At the time, law enforcement in Texas were not aware of the I-70 killings and did not immediately link the shootings. Then there was a third victim named Vicki Webb. She worked at the Alternatives Gift Shop in Houston. Her shop was off I-69 and not I-35.

Webb was shot once, but this time there was a major difference. Webb survived. She remembered her killer and provided a description to law enforcement. To this day, she is still haunted by the shooting. The major difference with the I-70 shootings and those in Texas were the weapons. Both were .22 caliber, but the one used in the I-70 shootings was believed to be a Irma Work ET-22, which was an old German military pistol known to jam.

One of the police departments in the I-70 killer investigation made a decision that may have changed the course of the case. The police department released information about the make and model of weapon used by the killer. If they were keeping up with the press, which authorities believed was the case, then the killer would have switched weapons to avoid connecting the dots. The decision has split investigators.

The one major clue they had at the time was out there for the world to see and read. Some believe the killer is responsible for both shootings along I-70 and those in Texas. They used two different weapons that were .22 caliber. Both sets of murders are identical because the murders happened in busy locations near a major highway where a woman was usually working alone. Cash was taken from the registers, but in some cases, the amount was minimal. Part 8

Terre Haute, Indiana, again. It was the day after Thanksgiving in 2001 when a man entered the 7th and 70 Liquor Store in Terre Haute, Indiana. The location of the store was near I-70, and it was less than a mile down the road from where Michael McCown was killed at Sylvia's Ceramic Store some nine years earlier.

Sometime around 6:30 p.m., a man entered the store. He walked to a part of the store and grabbed some beer, and then he walked to the counter where Billy Brosman was working. The man then pulled a gun on Brosman and ordered him to open the register. The man grabbed some, but not all of the cash. But then he ordered Brosman to the back of the store. Brosman was shot and killed. The killer ran out of the store. They didn't grab their beer or any more cash from the register.

The difference was that Brosman was male. However, the caliber of weapon is the same and the strange manner in which Brosman was ordered to the back of the store and was killed. Also, the killer took a minimal amount of cash from the register. Another major difference was that the whole act was caught on video camera. While the quality is not great, it does include audio, but it too is not great. The suspect in the video matches the description of the I-70 killer. Part 9

The I-70 killer began their reign of terror 32 years ago. While investigators from various jurisdictions have chased down every possible lead and have preserved any valuable piece of evidence, they still do not have a suspect. There are sketches of the suspect and video.

However, there is a survivor in Vicky Webb. She was shot by the man believed to be the I-70 killer. She was working at a store in Texas. She remembers the man in her store and the shooting. Webb has seen sketches of the suspect and is fairly certain that the man who shot her was the I-70 killer. There is evidence believed to have been touched by the suspect. It was tested for a DNA match and at the time of this episode, there are no matches.

It is frustrating, but members of law enforcement are still hoping that something will happen sooner than later. Someone could come forward with a confession, or there will be a match to the DNA. This is a mystery that still haunts the families and members of law enforcement that investigated the case. Many have discovered the case from podcasts and YouTube videos about the case. People want to see justice, and maybe it will arrive sooner than later.