Some people familiar with the cases suggest the total number of victims could be fifty or higher, and nearly all are unsolved. The road itself is dark, without the lights and cameras that deter crimes in more populous areas.ДЇrom 1969 to the present, dozens of young women, most of them indigenous, have disappeared or been found murdered near Highway 16. The region is plagued in places by poverty, which means many residents lack reliable transportation. Highway 16 transverses remote areas of forest, snaking through logging towns and Native American reservations. The name derives from a 450В mile stretch of Highway 16 in Canada and the tears that the families have cried over the victims lost along it. TheВ вЂњHighway of TearsвЂќВ murders represent the work of more than one serial killer, with many cases still unsolved. Ponte died several years ago, and the cases remain open and unsolved. Police questioned Ponte numerous times and even dug up his yard with a backhoe looking for evidence, but there was never anything definitive to connect him with the crimes. Ponte admitted to a relationship with one of the murdered women, and he had served as an attorney for three other victims. Several had also known a defense attorney named Ken Ponte, who became a main suspect in the case. Indeed, several of the women had known each other prior to the murders. The investigation focused on New Bedford, particularly an area called Weld Square where some of the women were known to frequent. DNA was not a widely available tool in the late 1980s. By the time their bodies were discovered, decomposition made identification of the victims a challenge. The women were all drug addicts and/or sex workers, so in some cases, it took days or weeks for anyone to notice they were missing. Two other women who disappeared around the same time are believed to be additional victims, but their bodies have never been found. The serial killer first came to light in 19 when the remains of nine women were discovered near Interstate 195 and other local highways. DebraвЂ™s case is part of an infamous unsolved serial murder investigation called the New Bedford Highway Killer near where I live in Boston. DebraвЂ™s body was discovered two months later, along with the bodies of five other women nearby. Days later, the boyfriend called DebraвЂ™s mother to say he hadnвЂ™t seen her. They are all seeking that one witness, the one piece of DNA that might break the case.Дebra Medeiros told her mother she was going to visit her boyfriend in New Bedford, MA. There are dozens of other unsolved serial homicides that remain active and investigators hopeful for a resolution. Theories about their true identities abound, but as the years go by, the chances that either case will be definitively resolved grow slimmer. Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer have each inspired numerous books and movies. A few killers have managed to capture public imagination anyway. For a serial killer who enjoys provoking headlines, the greatest irony is that true fame requires being caught, and make no mistake-they do not wish to be caught.

Most notorious unsolved serial killers