Meet Robert Ben Rhoades, a truck driver who spent 15 years traveling along the interstates of Texas, Illinois, and Arizona, kidnapping and torturing young women and their male partners.
In February 1990, Rhoades abducted 14-year-old runaway Regina Kay Walters, who had been traveling with her boyfriend, Ricky Lee Jones.
Rhoades immediately killed Jones, intending to hold Walters captive for as long as possible.
Shortly before killing Walters, Rhoades took her to an abandoned barn and forced the terrified teenager to pose for photographs.
He then strangled her with a ligature, nearly to the point of decapitation. Walters’ body was left in the barn, where it remained undiscovered until September 1990.
After abducting Walters, Rhoades further satisfied his perverse desire for power by calling her parents from rest stops as he traveled across the country with her.
On March 17, 1990, Rhoades called Walters’ father, taunting him about knowing her current location but ended the call after being asked whether she was alive or deceased.
Rhoades also called Walters’ mother twice, offering to update her on daughter’s whereabouts in person but failed to show up at the agreed-upon location.
While searching Rhoades’ home, police discovered a collection of photographs taken during Walters’ captivity, indicating that the Truck Stop Killer held the teenager for a substantial period.
Shockingly, among the photos were nude images of Walters, further revealing the extent of Rhoades’ depravity.
