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The case of Robert Ben Rhoades serves as an excellent example of the type and nature of case to which VICAP’s services would provide critical assistance and support. Rhoades is considered one of the most dangerous and notorious serial sex offenders and killers in the United States. Rhoades was a professional long-haul truck driver, and his case dramatically demonstrates the sophistication of a criminal predator who can effectively defy law enforcement by taking advantage of fragmented law enforcement efforts, disconnected and detached data resources, and inconsistent investigative approaches. Also in the sleeper berth was Robert Ben Rhoades, who, when surprised by the trooper’s advance, immediately exited the truck and tried to convince Miller that nothing was wrong. Rhoades stated that the events being discovered were consensual and a private matter. While Miller tried to sort through the situation, he placed Rhoades under arrest, at which time he discovered Rhoades was in possession of a loaded .25 Caliber automatic pistol (Brandel, 1966). Rhoades was placed in the trooper’s vehicle and secured with a seat belt. By the time Miller had checked on the victim and returned to the squad car, Rhoades had managed to get the seat belt off and slip his handcuffed hands in front of him. Miller asked Rhoades if he had a handcuff key, to which Rhoades affirmatively replied. Miller took the key, re-cuffed Rhoades behind his back and through his belt, and stayed with him until backup officers arrived at the scene to assist. She stated that she had accepted a ride with Rhoades at a coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona. The victim indicated that she had fallen asleep in the sleeper berth, only to awake as Rhoades was placing handcuffs on her wrists and ankles. She stated that Rhoades beat her with a whip, attached a chain around her neck, and attached spring-type clips to her nipples and vagina. It was unclear how long Rhoades had kept Lisa Pennal in this torture chamber, but the physical injuries on her body indicated that several events of whipping and torture occurred. During this ordeal, Rhoades told Pennal that he had been doing this to girls and women for 15 years. Even though Rhoades was handcuffed and in custody, he remained calm. Alva Busch quotes Rhoades in the book Roadside Prey: “‘I can tell you, this girl is not playing with a full deck,’ laughed Rhoades, as if someone had told a joke . chuckled Rhoades, ‘you don’t screw around with the women on the road. The teenager in the photographs remained unidentified as far as the Robert Ben Rhoades case was concerned. At the time of the initial missing persons report, Walters had been in the company of an 18-year-old white male named Ricky Lee Jones. Interestingly, the investigators working on the Rhoades case and the investigators working the Walters case in Texas and Illinois were each working independently of one another. Tragically, Robert Ben Rhoades would remain a “single episode” Police also recovered several items of clothing that belonged to Walters in the possession of Robert Ben Rhoades (1990). Reflecting on the comment Rhoades had made that he had been “doing this for 15 years,” Law enforcement agencies began to share information about similar crimes and victims more generously than at any time before the incident. Since the Rhoades case broke, there have been many missing persons and unsolved homicide cases that have been attributed to Rhoades, but he has only been prosecuted for the death of Regina Walters. During this same period of time, Rhoades continued to travel from one state to another. As the Rhoades saga progressed, information was discovered about another victim named Shana Holts, from January of 1990, who came into contact with Rhoades at a truck stop in San Bernardino, California. Holts was so terrified of Rhoades that when she was faced with the prospect of identifying him after fleeing his vehicle, and then of having to testify against him, she declined to cooperate any further and the case was dismissed. Law enforcement agencies in many different parts of the United States had criminal abductions and possible homicide charges against Rhoades based on comparisons and travel routes. It was not until the final chapter of the Rhoades saga was written that each agency came to realize that its “single event” The Rhoades case has helped law enforcement agencies across the United States to see, in graphic detail, the value of cooperating, communicating, and coordinating their efforts in solving difficult criminal cases. If better information sharing and coordination had occurred, it might have dramatically reduced the number of victims who fell prey to Robert Ben Rhoades (Cooper & Additionally, it is cited as a case methodology reference in the second edition of Analyzing Criminal Behavior II (Cooper & Another thorough review of the case is presented in the true crime novel Roadside Prey (Busch, 1996). Robert Ben Rhoades, No. mother: In September 1990, the police in Illinois found the remains of Regina Kay Walters. Even though we did not live in Illinois, this case should still be kept open.
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