Trucker May Have Killed 20 Along Interstate, Police Say

SAN DIEGO —  Law enforcement authorities are investigating a truck driver who may have left a trail of more than 20 women dead along Interstate 10 from California to Florida, police said Thursday.

San Diego police, working with the FBI, have taken DNA samples from a man who has been identified as a suspect in the murders, believed to have occurred between 1980 and 1990.

“The information that we have is that the guy is responsible for murders from Florida to California,” said San Diego Police Sgt. Jim Munsterman. The suspect may also be responsible for slayings in Colorado, Texas and Oregon, he said.

Authorities hope to link the man’s DNA to other unresolved killings along the route.

Munsterman refused to identify the man or his whereabouts.

“As far as his route, it varies, but he is still a trucker,” Munsterman said, adding that he had no information connecting the suspect to any recent murders.

“If I had enough to arrest him, I would, but I don’t,” Munsterman said.

San Diego FBI spokesman Keith Moses confirmed that the agency is working with San Diego police on the case, but declined to elaborate. “We routinely don’t comment on pending investigations,” Moses said.

The truck driver is a suspect in the death of a woman who was found in San Diego in 1981 and possibly many others. Most of the victims were hitchhikers or prostitutes, Munsterman said.

Munsterman said a witness came forward with information about eight months ago and the investigation continues.

He said he is releasing information on the slayings in the hope that other law enforcement agencies along the 3,000-mile route may recognize similar cases.

Munsterman said the case is not related to the one in which trucker Wayne Adam Ford confessed last week to killing four women and mutilating some of the bodies.

“Unfortunately it’s just kind of a coincidence,” said Munsterman.

He said authorities believe the San Diego case has the highest chance for prosecution, “and that’s why we’re running with it.”

Munsterman refused to give any further information about the victims, how they were killed or any other similarities among the cases, noting that all the information police had was coming from a witness.