Overview
- - The FBI Norfolk Field Office identified Wilmer as responsible for the murders of Cathleen Thomas, 27, and Rebecca Dowski, 21, whose bodies were found in a car off the York River in October 1986.
- - Investigators say Wilmer is connected to at least six murders and disappearances from 1986 to 1989, including earlier links to the 1987 killings of David Knobling and Robin Edwards and the 1989 murder of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell.
- - Wilmer, a Lancaster County fisherman, died in 2017 at age 63, preventing prosecution.
- - Authorities say work continues on related unsolved cases tied to the Colonial Parkway pattern and are seeking tips via 1-800-CALL-FBI and tips.fbi.gov.
- - Some relatives are urging legal changes to allow the suspect’s DNA to be uploaded to CODIS to help resolve additional cases.