Dr. No: The Elusive Serial Killer

Overview

Dr. No is the chilling nickname assigned to an unidentified American serial killer believed to be responsible for the murders of at least ten women and girls in Ohio between 1981 and 1990. This sinister figure primarily preyed on sex workers, luring them from the shadows of parking lots and truck stops that lined Interstate 71. As investigators probe deeper, suspicions arise that he may also be linked to three similar killings in New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania between 1986 and 1988.

Quick Facts

• Other Names: "Ohio Prostitute Killer," "I-71 Killer"
• Victims: 10+
• Span of Crimes: 1981–1990
• Country: United States
• States: Ohio, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania

The Victims

The first of Dr. No’s known victims was discovered on April 24, 1981, in Miami County, Ohio. The body of a young woman, whose identity remained a mystery for decades, was found strangled and battered. She was well-groomed, with no personal belongings to aid in her identification. The victim, nicknamed "Buckskin Girl" due to the distinctive poncho she wore, would remain nameless until 2018 when she was finally identified as Marcia King.

The brutality continued when, on June 16, 1985, 25-year-old Marcia Matthews was found beaten but alive by a passing trucker. Tragically, she succumbed to her injuries just two days later. Her death, resulting from a traumatic brain injury inflicted by a blunt object, marked the second in a series of violent encounters.

By July 20, 1986, the body of 23-year-old Shirley Dean Taylor was uncovered. Witnesses had last seen her at the Union 76 truck stop, where she went to meet a client known only as "Dr. No." Strangled and stripped of her underwear, her remains were found just miles from where she vanished.

The pattern was clear: sex workers were disappearing from the same truck stop. Eighteen-year-old April Barnett went missing in December 1986, her body discovered days later, also beaten and strangled. The search extended beyond Ohio, as evidence linked the killer to victims in Illinois, including 28-year-old Jill Allen, found murdered near Interstate 70.

In February 1987, Anne-Marie Patterson vanished after providing police with a description of a suspect. Her decomposed body was located 250 miles from where she disappeared, near Cincinnati. The timeline continued to grow darker with subsequent discoveries, including the bodies of Lamonica Cole, Terri Roark, and Patrice Anita Corley, each marked by the same horrific signs of strangulation and sexual assault.

The Investigation

As the body count rose, the Ohio State Highway Patrol mobilized a task force. Police interviewed hundreds of sex workers, truck drivers, and service station employees, attempting to piece together the identity of this shadowy figure. Witnesses described him as a tall man, likely between 25 and 40 years old, with fair skin and dark hair, wearing glasses and speaking with a Northeastern accent. The vehicle he drove—a silver truck with a red hood—became a focal point of the investigation.

Despite extensive efforts, including distributing over 4,000 photographs of the victims across 130 truck stops, the elusive killer remained at large. Five suspects were detained over the years, but none faced charges, and their identities were never revealed.

Suspects

In April 1991, a significant lead emerged: 36-year-old Alvin Wilson, a truck driver whose hair matched samples taken from the victims. Wilson had a troubling history of violence against women, but the evidence remained inconclusive. Other potential suspects came and went, including John Fautenberry, a long-haul trucker, and James Robert Cruz Jr., who was convicted of another murder but later cleared in connection with Dr. No.

As investigators continued to sift through evidence, they also considered a truck driver named Sean Patrick Goble, who had admitted to killing two prostitutes in Tennessee. However, he was eliminated as a suspect due to his alibi during the earlier murders.

In a shocking twist, in November 2005, authorities arrested Dellmus Colvin, a truck driver linked to the murders of five prostitutes in Toledo. While he confessed to some killings, he adamantly denied any involvement with Dr. No’s string of murders.

Conclusion

The case remains open, with the shadow of Dr. No still haunting the highways of America. The victims—forgotten no more—serve as a grim reminder of the dangers that lurked along the interstates, where lives were tragically cut short, and justice remains elusive.

Sources

1. Mysterious "Dr. No" May Have Been Serial Killer Responsible for Rash of 1980s Murders | Mysterious Universe
2. Winsor, Morgan (April 12, 2018). "Body of 'Buckskin Girl' found in Ohio in 1981 identified as Arkansas woman." ABC News.
3. Smith, Dana (April 12, 2018). "Cold case homicide victim identified after 37 years." WTDN.
4. Other various sources referenced in original Wikipedia article.

For further details, visit the original Wikipedia page: Dr. No (serial killer)