A cold case involving the death of a Gloucester teen has been solved more than 37 years after that murder took place, the Virginia State Police announced last week.
The late Alan W. Wilmer Sr. of Lancaster has been named as the person responsible for the 1988 stabbing death of Gloucester teenager Laurie Ann Powell. She was 18 years old. Wilmer died in 2017 at age 63 and was identified as the killer through DNA results.
Last year, Wilmer was also named, through DNA testing, in the 1987 deaths in Isle of Wight of David Knobling, 20, and Robin Edwards, 14, in one of several cases known collectively as the Colonial Parkway Murders, as well as the 1989 death in Hampton of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell, 29.
Virginia State Police public relations director Robin Lawson and Capt. Timothy Reibel announced the finding at a press conference Friday in Suffolk and streamed live on social media platforms.
Reibel said that Wilmer had never been convicted of a felony, so his DNA was never obtained “until it was necessary for identification purposes after his death.” He said that interagency cooperation and sharing of DNA results were crucial in determining the link between Wilmer and his victims. The DNA evidence was the result of sexual assault, he said.
“While we hope this provides a sense of resolution for [Laurie Ann’s] family,” said Riebel, “we recognize there are other families of homicide victims who are still hoping for answers. That’s why we continue to push forward with our investigation.”
He said investigators are working on reconstructing Wilmer’s movements and encounters over the years, and he asked for the public’s help in those efforts.
“We do not give up in the pursuit of justice and sincerely thank Laurie Ann Powell’s family for their patience, assistance, and understanding over the years,” said Col. Matthew D. Hanley, superintendent of the Virginia State Police. “It is unfathomable to lose a child, particularly in such a violent and senseless manner. While only the family truly understands the depth of their sorrow and frustration, we have grieved alongside them and hope that the identification of the killer brings them some sense of peace.”
Family statement
Powell’s sister, Cindy Kerchner of Gloucester, speaking during the press conference on behalf of her mother Jo Ann Compton and stepfather John Compton, spoke of 37 years of “heartbreak and unanswered questions,” and expressed appreciation to the “law enforcement professionals, investigators, forensic teams and community members who never gave up on finding justice for Laurie Ann.” She said there was comfort in knowing that the truth had finally been brought to light.
Kerchner described Laurie Ann as a person who was “young and figuring things out,” but was filled with “fearless energy” and was “bold, brave, spontaneous and full of life.”
“She spoke her mind and followed her heart and believed in living every moment as if it mattered,” said Kerchner. “She taught us what it means to live fully, and she deserved so much more time. I’ll always be grateful she was my sister and that I got to be part of her life for even a short while. She was a wonderful person.”
The disappearance
Powell, who lived in Wicomico, went missing on March 8, 1988. She was last seen around midnight walking on Route 614 (Hickory Fork Road) about a half mile from Route 17 near Haynes Mill Pond. According to an article in the March 17, 1988 Gazette-Journal, then-lieutenant J.G. Bell of the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office said that Powell had previously been in a vehicle with four acquaintances.
A 1987 graduate of Gloucester High School, Powell had worked at a video store her mom ran at Edgehill Shopping Center in Gloucester Court House.
At that time, the Sheriff’s Office described Powell’s disappearance as “strange,” and not exhibiting the “classic signs of a runaway.” Extensive searches were made involving the GCSO, a State Police helicopter, track dogs, and friends and family, who covered Hickory Fork Road from Route 17 to Cappahosic. Flyers were distributed throughout Gloucester and the surrounding communities, and a $1,000 reward was offered for any information leading to a possible crime.
On April 2, 1988, nearly a month after she was reported missing, Powell’s nude body was discovered by boaters in the Elizabeth River near Craney Island and the confluence with the James River. According to the autopsy report, as reported by the Gazette-Journal, she had multiple stab wounds to her back and was identified by her fingerprints. At the time, the case was being investigated jointly by the GCSO, the Portsmouth Police Department, and the Virginia State Police.
Still unsolved
Still unsolved is the 1988 disappearance of Gloucester resident Keith Call, who went missing with his fellow Christopher Newport University student Cassandra Lee Hailey of Grafton on April 10 that year. The two were on their first date and had attended a party in Newport News.
Call’s unoccupied vehicle was found on the Colonial Parkway near the Naval Weapons Station the next day. The car was unlocked, the driver’s door open, and the keys were in the ignition, said a park ranger interviewed at the time. In addition, articles of male and female clothing were found inside, along with other personal effects.
Searches by dogs in the vicinity of the overlook, teams of people in the woods, divers in the river, and a helicopter along the shoreline turned up nothing. The area where the couple was found was about four miles from the location on the parkway where two women, Cathy Thomas and Becky Dowski, were found slain in a car in October 1986. They were the first of the victims to be named in the Colonial Parkway Murders.
About Wilmer
Wilmer, who went by the nickname “Pokey,” was 5’5” tall with a muscular build, and he weighed around 165 pounds, said the press release. He had sandy brown hair, blue eyes, and a close-cropped beard. He drove a blue 1966 Dodge Fargo pickup truck with the Virginia license plate “EM-RAW” and typically had clamming equipment and a large metal toolbox in the bed. He had several other pickup trucks he drove in the 1980s and 1990s, as well.
Wilmer had a small commercial wooden fishing boat named the Denni Wade, and he often docked at marinas in Gloucester and Middlesex and around the Northern Neck and Hampton Roads areas. During the 1980s, he worked as a waterman, farming mainly clams and oysters. He also ran a business called Better Tree Service. He was an avid hunter and belonged to at least one hunt club on the Middle Peninsula.
Anyone who may have worked with, hunted with, or farmed oysters and clams with Wilmer, as well as anyone who may have socialized with him or docked next to him at marinas in the Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, or Hampton Roads, is asked to email the Virginia State Police at questions@vsp.virginia.gov. Anonymous tips are welcome.
The Wilmer family released a written statement, saying the family “continues to be deeply impacted by the revelations of Alan W. Wilmer Sr.’s previous crimes.”
“Learning that another crime has been connected to him is devastating,” said the release. “While this is a difficult time for us, our first thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends on the tragic loss of their loved one, Miss Powell. Thirty-seven years is far too long to not have answers, and we cannot begin to fathom what they have had to endure all this time. As a family we would like to commend the Virginia State Police on their endless diligence in resolving these crimes and continue to cooperate with them. We are asking for privacy at this time for all involved.”