Virginia Suspect Linked to 1988 Teen Cold Case Murder | Crime Alert 6AM 12.09.25

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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News, True Crime

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🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 5 minutes

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Summary

Investigators in Virginia have announced a breakthrough in the nearly 35-year-old murder of 18-year-old Laurie Ann Powell, finally identifying the individual responsible for her death in 1988.

Police have arrested a suspect in a 1997 Long Island homicide that was once considered potentially linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killings, providing long-awaited clarity for a decades-old investigation.

Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot while on duty in Washington, D.C., in an incident that occurred close to the White House, raising questions about security for personnel assigned to federal locations.

An internal affairs review has concluded that the 2023 death of a 19-year-old Rutland, Vermont police trainee could have been prevented, citing failures by supervising officers to adhere to department pursuit policies.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Crime Alert, I'm John Lemley. At this hour, investigators in Virginia say they've finally identified
0:07.1	the person responsible for the 1988 murder of 18-year-old Lori Ann Powell. Her body was found in the
0:14.5	Elizabeth River near Cranny Island after she disappeared that march. She had been stabbed multiple times.
0:22.0	The suspect is Alan Wilmer Sr. who died in 2017 at the age of 63.
0:28.7	Through modern DNA analysis, authorities recently connected Wilmer to Powell's killing,
0:34.3	even though he died more than a quarter century ago.
0:40.0	Wilmer was already suspected in several other murders, including the 1987 killing of David Knobling and Robin Edwards, part of
0:47.1	what became known as the Colonial Parkway murders, as well as the 1989 slaying of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell.
0:55.6	Investigators say they are now reviewing other unsolved cases from the region to determine
1:00.7	whether Wilmer may have been involved in additional murders.
1:03.7	For the Powell family, this long-delayed identification offers a measure of closure.
1:09.4	Powell's sister said that Laurie, quote, didn't wait for life to happen. She made it happen. Authorities continue to evaluate whether more cases could ultimately be tied to Wilmer.
1:21.1	Thanks, John. For the latest, Crime and Justice News, go to crimeonline.com, and please join us for our daily podcast, crime stories.
1:28.9	More crime and justice news after this.
1:34.7	Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley.
1:39.3	Police have arrested a man in connection with the 1997 murder once thought potentially related to the
1:45.5	Gilgo Beach serial killings. Sixty-six-year-old Andrew Dykes was taken into custody in Tampa,
1:52.1	Florida on a warrant from Nassau County, New York. He faces two counts of murder in the deaths of
1:58.4	26-year-old Tanya Denise Jackson and her two-year-old daughter,
2:02.8	Tatiana Marie Dykes. Jackson's remains originally unidentified and referred to only as peaches
2:09.6	because of a distinctive tattoo were found in Hempstead Lake State Park in 1997. Years later,
2:20.6	skeletal remains of her young daughter washed ashore near Gilgo Beach during a search related to other missing women. Earlier this year, genetic genealogy
	...

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