Chapter Thirty Three:The Girls on I-64

 Kathy Kohm was not the only young girl assaulted and murdered in Spencer County in 1981. We remember her because she was so like us and because she was missing for two months and because we had held out so much hope. We remember her because her death broke our hearts. But there was another girl murdered just a few miles away from Santa Claus, Indiana that Fall. 

   When you’re young and impulsive, running away seems like a solution to all your problems at home.  Sometimes you are just restless and bored and longing for freedom. Sometimes home is too dangerous a place for you to stay. 

   In November of 1981, two teens decided to run away from their Cincinnati homes. Their reasons for running away were their own. Very little of their story was reported in the papers. 

   They headed West out of Ohio on November 12, 1981 towards adventure and a life away from what they had grown up with.  Marie Bridgette Donae Patrick and her friend were eager to get out and see the world. 

   They didn’t have a car or enough money for bus fare. They did what a lot of young people did in the 1960’s and 1970’s; they hitchhiked. They accepted a ride from a trucker who said his name was Bill.  They figured that he seemed alright and the two girls felt that there was safety in numbers. They were together after all and they would take care of each other. 

   Marie got onto the seat nearer to the driver and her friend was near the passenger door. Once in Indiana the driver began making lewd comments and grabbing at the girls.  Marie and her friend told him they wanted to get out.  He refused to stop the eighteen wheeler.  Marie and her friend decided to try to jump out.  Marie encouraged her friend to jump out of the open door. Her friend didn’t want to leave without Marie. But, Marie finally pushed her out in an effort to save her. Bill held onto Marie and wouldn’t let her go. 

   There out on the side of the interstate, Marie’s friend was injured but could manage to walk. 

   She started making her way up the side of the road following the direction the truck had gone. She hoped to find that Marie had managed to jump out. Marie was a fighter after all. 

   She struggled a few miles up the road. She found Marie near the Ferdinand, Indiana exit.  Bridgette had been severely beaten and thrown violently out of the truck suffering a fatal head injury. What had started out as an exciting adventure that morning had ended in utter tragedy. 

   These two young women deserved so much better than this. They left home seeking a better life. But they met a sadistic abuser. 

   Marie was buried in Cincinnati at a beautiful and historic cemetery.  It looks like a peaceful place to rest. 

   Hopefully Marie’s dear friend has managed to find some peace in the many years after such a traumatic experience and the loss of her best friend. 

    Why wasn’t their story more widely reported in 1981?  Why wasn’t Bill tracked down and arrested immediately?  The answer to that question lies in “victim blaming”.  Victim Blaming was the mindset of most of society and law enforcement in the 1970’s through the 1990’s.  It’s the mindset of those who think if the victim put themselves in a dangerous situation that they got what they deserved. “What were they thinking?”  Victim Blaming contributed to law enforcement not pursuing investigations into victims of domestic violence. “Why does she keep making him mad?”  Victim Blaming allowed society to ignore rape as a violent crime. “What was she wearing?”  The mindset of Victim Blaming entirely ignores the fault of the perpetrator.  Victim Blaming is how the Gilgo Beach Serial Killer (also known as the Long Island Serial Killer) was able to kill so many women for so long. His victims were sex workers and the attitude of police was that these women were working in a dangerous lifestyle. So he got away with murder again and again.

    Marie and her friend were not sympathetic enough victims to 1981 society to warrant a big investigation or even a big article in the paper. Was Marie Patrick ‘less dead’ than Kathy Kohm?  No.  But, their case got far less attention and another killer got away. 

    So, who was Bill?  Who was that trucker?  One possible suspect could be Robert Ben Rhoades.  He was a trucker and active serial killer from 1975 to 1990.  He had victims in Illinois, Utah, and Texas.  But based on his truck routes and the reports of missing women that match his preferred victim type; he is suspected of at least 50 murders. 

   He was caught in 1990 when a trooper in AZ approached his parked truck and heard a woman screaming and a violent struggle inside the cab.  The trooper would find a kidnapped victim and a bondage torture chamber inside the cab. 

    Photos of other murder victims were found in Rhoades home. Rhoades is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    But, how many other truckers were out there at the time with similar motives?  

    I remember a bumper sticker from the time. It read “Ass, Gas, or Grass.  Nobody rides for Free.”  How many truckers internalized that slogan? How many killers still believe it today? 

    Another possible suspect is Jerry Johns.  He was suspected of being the “RedHead Serial Killer”.  He was a trucker who was linked via DNA to a victim.  The Redhead Serial Killings is the name for a series of victims, all with red hair, who were found dumped by the side of the road.  

    “Bill” could also just be an unknown. He will probably remain an unknown killer. Police only did a cursory investigation. They likely did not take fingernail scrapings from the victim and if so that evidence likely was not saved. 

    These cases are tragic but we can learn a lot from them.  When we cease victim blaming and we pursue each assault and murder aggressively; we can catch killers.  When we treat rape like the serious crime that it is; we can prevent more rapes and more murders.