Introduction
1. It was early morning: Brian Myers, “Inside Robert Ben Rhoades’ Traveling Torture Chamber,” Grunge, November 24, 2022, https://www.grunge.com/1116029/inside-robert-ben-rhoades-traveling-torture-chamber/.
2. final murder victim: Vanessa Veselka, “The Truck Stop Killer,” GQ, October 24, 2012.
3. FBI agent Mark Young: Marco Margaritoff, “The Chilling Story of Regina Kay Walters,” All That’s Interesting, February 22, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/regina-kay-walters.
2. The FBI Crime Analyst
1. Nashville Metro PD homicide detective Pat Postiglione: Brad Hunter, “Monster City: New Tome on World’s Greatest Cold Case Detective,” Toronto Sun, October 14, 2018.
2. Illinois-based Bruce D. Mendenhall: “Man Charged in Truck Stop Slaying; Suspected in at Least 5 Others,” Associated Press, July 13, 2007, https://www.actionnews5.com/story/6783305/man-charged-in-truck-stop-slaying-suspected-in-at-least-5-others/.
3. It took just three days: Ashe Schow, “Trucker Who Admitted to Killing NYC Model Gets Sentenced,” Daily Wire, November 8, 2022, https://www.dailywire.com/news/trucker-who-admitted-to-killing-nyc-model-gets-sentenced.
4. Linda Schacke was able: John North and Leslie Ackerson, “Appalachian Unsolved: The Trucker Who Liked Redheads,” WBIR.com, June 3, 2020, https://www.wbir.com/article/news/investigations/appalachian-unsolved/appalachian-unsolved-the-trucker-intrigued-by-serial-killers/51-624ef38c-0372-42a4-8bee-25b2b1647c95.
5. “I always slept well at night”: Alberto Luperson, “Serial Killer’s Chilling and Cheerful Confession on Podcast Leads to Search for Possible Location of Victim,” Lawandcrime.com, September 4, 2020, https://lawandcrime.com/crazy/serial-killers-chilling-and-cheerful-confession-on-podcast-leads-to-search-for-possible-location-of-victim/.
3. Girls Next Door
1. TEDx talk: Nancy Yarbrough, “Myths, Misconceptions, Mysteries and Mistakes of the Sex Trade,” TEDx talk, February 13, 2018, https://nancy-theexodus.com/about-us/.
2. “So, my journey began”: Mike Woods, “I Went Through It: Wisconsin Woman Who Was Trafficked Helps Other Victims,” SpectrumNews1.com, April 28, 2023, https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2023/04/18/part-5--wisconsin-woman-who-was-human-trafficked-helps-other-victims.
3. “They took advantage”: Yarbrough, “Myths, Misconceptions.”
4. “bullied, ostracized”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
5. “That caused me to be raped”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
6. “I’m crying out”: Yarbrough, “Myths, Misconceptions.”
7. “fear, vulnerability”: Yarbrough, “Myths, Misconceptions.”
8. nothing traumatic ever happened: Yarbrough, “Myths, Misconceptions.”
9. drug was cocaine: Yarbrough, “Myths, Misconceptions.”
10. Garry Dean Artman: Gina Tron, “Garry Dean Artman Arrested for 1996 Murder of Sharon Hammack,” Oxygen.com, August 22, 2022, https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/garry-dean-artman-arrested-1996-murder-sharon-hammack.
4. The Pioneer Professor
1. part of their study: Celia Williamson and Lynda M. Baker, “Women in Street-Based Prostitution: A Typology of Their Work Styles,” Journal of Qualitative Social Work 8, no. 1 (March 2009).
5. Old-Timer
1. New York Times called them: Martin Waldron, “U.S. Crackdown on Amphetamines Driving Up Prices,” New York Times, January 22, 1972.
6. Monday with Mike
1. the best truck-friendly Walmarts: truckerpath.com, https://truckerpath.com/trucker-path-app/walmart-with-truck-parking/.
7. The Oklahoma Crime Analyst
1. That’s what former McIntosh: Bob Doucette, “A Hint of the Sinister,” Oklahoman, April 23, 2001.
8. Crossing the Rubicon
1. “He was way older than me”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
2. “started experiencing a different type”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
3. no baby steps: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
4. “We had to be groomed”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
5. “We got paid more”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
6. “It just depends on the day”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
7. once she was trafficked: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
8. “Every trafficking situation is unique”: “Myths, Facts and Statistics,” Polaris Project, https://polarisproject.org/myths-facts-and-statistics/.
9. A 2020 study: Christopher M. Jones, Rita K. Noonan, and Wilson M. Compton, “Prevalence and Correlates of Ever Having a Substance Use Problem and Substance Use Recovery Status Among Adults in the United States, 2018,” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 214 (September 2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108169.
10. victory took almost a decade: Brian Mann, “There Is Life After Addiction. Most People Recover,” NPR.org, January 15, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/01/15/1071282194/addiction-substance-recovery-treatment.
10. Tuesday with Mike
1. “But not Vafeades”: Eric Peterson, “The Case of the Vampire Trucker,” Vice.com, July 7, 2016, https://www.vice.com/en/article/9b8wav/the-case-of-the-vampire-trucker.
11. The Oklahoma Crime Analyst
1. “I just broke your neck”: “Suspect Arrested for Rape and Attempted Murder,” ActionNews5.com, September 22, 2004, https://www.actionnews5.com/story/2333343/suspect-arrested-for-rape-and-attempted-murder-now-at-center-of-serial-killer-investigation/.
2. “He’s probably the biggest teddy bear”: Jim Pressman, “Family of Lincoln Truck Driver Accused of Assault, Rape, Speaks Out,” KLKN-TV, September 20, 2004, https://www.klkntv.com/family-of-lincoln-truck-driver-accused-of-assault-rape-speaks-out/.
3. “She was a sweet girl”: Amber Advocate, 2016 Tribal Symposium, https://www.amberadvocate.org/amber-feature/she-was-a-sweet-girl-and-did-not-deserve-to-die/.
4. An FBI agent who testified: Michael Baker, “Federal Judge Calls Pimp Heartless,” Oklahoman, March 5, 2005.
5. “My nephew made a comment”: “John Robert Williams,” Murderpedia.org, https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/williams-john-robert.htm.
6. “The second she tapped on my window”: Scott Glover, “FBI Makes a Connection Between Long-Haul Truckers, Serial Killings,” Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2009.
7. Which is precisely what John Williams did: Glover, “FBI Makes a Connection.”
13. A Starfish in the Desert
1. In one version: “The Tale of the Starfish,” thestarfishchange.org, https://www.thestarfishchange.org/starfish-tale.
2. the DOJ seized Backpage.com: Press release, “U.S. Department of Justice Seizes Backpage.com,” U.S. Department of Justice, April 9, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-leads-effort-seize-backpagecom-internet-s-leading-forum-prostitution-ads.
14. Wednesday with Mike
1. over ten billion dollars a year: “Travel Centers of America, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2023 Financial Results,” Businesswire.com, April 26, 2023, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230426005864/en/TravelCenters-of-America-Inc.-Announces-First-Quarter-2023-Financial-Results.
15. The Oklahoma Crime Analyst
1. FBI PRESS RELEASE: Federal Bureau of Investigation, April 7, 2021, https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/memphis/news/press-releases/fbi-seeking-potential-victims-in-brian-t-summerson-and-pierre-l-washington-investigation.
16. Thursday with Mike
1. CBs were ubiquitous: “CB Radios: The Original Social Media for Truckers on the Road,” gokoho.com, https://www.gokoho.com/blog/cb-radios-and-trucker-handles.
19. Saturday with Mike
1. The sheriff claimed: Isaac Calvert, “Horse Cave Adult Bookstore Closes After Illegal Activity, Two Deaths Reported,” WBKO/Gray News, September 7, 2022, https://www.wbko.com/2022/09/08/new-details-horse-cave-adult-book-store-closes-after-illegal-activity-two-deaths-reported/.
20. Survivor to Thriver
1. Nancy likes to say: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
2. “I got in the truck”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
3. “And then, pow, he hit me”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
4. “She was like”: Woods, “I Went Through It.”
Epilogue
1. long-haul driver Ramin Khodakaramrezaei: Vanessa Bein, “Podcaster and Her Husband Allegedly Murdered by Obsessive Stalker,” Lawandcrime.com, March 12, 2023, https://lawandcrime.com/crime/podcaster-and-her-husband-allegedly-murdered-by-obsessive-stalker/.
2. Polaris calls boyfriending: “Looking for Love Online This Valentine’s Day?,” Polaris Project, February 7, 2019, https:polarisproject.org/blog/2019/02/looking-for-love-online-this-valentines-day/.
3. McKenzie Zahradnik: Mike Woods, “How Sex Trafficking Victims Are Lured In,” SpectrumNews1.com, April 25, 2023, https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2023/04/19/part-2--how-sex-trafficking-victims-are-lured-in.
4. THE FUTURE IS NOW: Markie Martin and Tom Palmer, “The Future Is Now as Driverless Trucking Hits Nation’s Highways,” NewsNation, April 22, 2022, https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/truck-week/future-driverless-trucking-highways/.