CASE FILE #001

Carol Denise Spinks

Victim

Carol Denise Spinks

No verified photo on file

1971 · Age 13 · Washington, DC

Last Known Information

Carol Denise Spinks, 13, was abducted in Southeast Washington, D.C. on April 25, 1971, while walking home from a neighborhood store. Her body was found six days later along I-295 near Suitland Parkway. Her case is treated as the first of six killings linked to the unidentified offender the press dubbed the “Freeway Phantom.”

Location

Washington, DC

Discovery / Timeline

1971: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

Investigation

Victim identity, age, and the April 25, 1971 abduction date, per the Metropolitan Police Department.
Case is treated as the first in the linked Freeway Phantom series.

What Remains Unknown

No confirmed suspect has been named and convicted.
Full forensic and investigative case-file details are not comprehensively public.

Sources

Metropolitan Police Department (MPDC) — official case page
Wikipedia — background reference
Project Cold Case
Murder Accountability Project
NamUs

Unanswered Questions

What has been publicly confirmed about the timeline between when she was last seen and when she was found?

What forensic material, if any, has been preserved or re-tested in later decades?

What connects this case procedurally to the other five in the series?

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