From 1971 to 1972, a serial killer known only as the "Freeway Phantom” stalked Washington, D.C., abducting and murdering six young Black girls.

In 1971, a serial killer struck in Washington, D.C., for the first time in known historu. Over the next 17 months, the so-called “Freeway Phantom” kidnapped and murdered six Black girls between the ages of 10 and 18.

It took four murders for police to realize the cases were connected. And as he killed without consequences, the Phantom only grew bolder and more vicious.

After kidnapping his fourth victim, the serial killer made her call her family. And a note in the pocket of the fifth victim taunted the police: “Catch me if you can!”

Who was the Freeway Phantom? Decades later, the case remains chillingly unsolved.

The First Freeway Phantom Murder

By 1971, serial killers had made headlines in New York and California. But that year, Washington, D.C., experienced its first serial murders.

In April, Carol Spinks walked to the local 7-Eleven with $5 in her pocket. The 13-year-old had been sent by her older sister to buy TV dinners.

Spinks reached the 7-Eleven, made her purchases, and set off for home. But she vanished during the four-block walk.

Police found Spinks’ body six days later. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled — and police believe the killer had kept the girl alive for several days before murdering her.

Spinks left behind an identical twin, Carolyn. “It was terrible,” Carolyn Spinks recalled of the days after her sister’s murder. “I couldn’t get it together. I thought I was losing my mind.”

However, Carol Spinks’ shocking death was only the first in a series of murders.

Two months later, police received a call about a second body in the same spot – an embankment next to the I-295 freeway.

The third victim’s body appeared just nine days later. And the serial killer known as the Freeway Phantom had become bolder. This time, he made his victim call home before he killed her.