Top 10 Creepiest Unsolved Rest Stop Mysteries
#10: Phone Booth Demise
Top 10 Failed Cell Phone Designs You Wouldn't Believe
Truck driving can be a challenging profession, with long hours working a great distance from friends and family. That said, it's natural that any driver back in the pre-cell phone era would make a pit stop to call their loved ones to check in on the homestead, right? That's what Dwayne McCorkendale was doing in the autumn of 1988 when he pulled into a truck stop and used a phone booth to call home. His body was unfortunately found in that booth, ambushed by unknown assailants while he was making the call. Some money and Dwayne's keys were taken from the scene, and his fellow truckers did report a suspicious vehicle driving erratically near the area, but to this day no one has been brought to justice.
#9: Mother Mystery
In the late seventies, a woman named Jane Snow had stopped briefly off Michigan's Interstate 75 while driving with her two children. The family split up to use the facilities, only Jane never returned. Her sons were tragically the ones to discover their mother in the ladies' room, the victim of a seemingly random and violent homicide. To compound things further, a hitchhiker with some very troubling circumstantial evidence was later hauled in by police. The hitcher named John McGawley presented signs of a physical struggle, including scratches and bloodstains, and had an outstanding warrant to his name. However, he could not be successfully linked to the case, and Snow's death remains unsolved.
#8: Motor-Home Nightmare
There are few things more American than packing up a big RV or motor-home and driving cross-country to see the sights. It's an adventure many retirees chose to do during their golden years, enjoying some well-earned R&R. Unfortunately, parking those vehicles can be dangerous and unpredictable at night, and in 1979, Franklin Schumaker and Patricia Doyle were found unresponsive and piled on top of each other after it was reported their motor-home hadn't been moved in days. To this day, the crime hasn't been solved, although hearsay from sources close to the couple claim that Schumaker might have associated with illegal elements that may have contributed to the incident.
#7: Shot in the Stall
What Really Happens When You Get Shot?
Our next entry is yet another tragic murder that occurred during an otherwise routine bathroom break while traversing down the highway. This time the victim was Belgium native Xavier Baligant, who was traveling through France with his sons sleeping in the back seat. Baligant left the pair in the car while he quickly used the facilities, but never returned. A witness claims to have heard gunshots shortly after Baligant left the car, and the Belgian's body was found inside one of the stalls. A year later, a murder with the same MO occurred to another tourist in the French Alps, but to this day there have been no arrests in either case.
#6: A Strange Disappearance
Top 10 Creepiest Mysteries of the Last Decade
Family and friends of Lee Cutler became concerned on the afternoon of October 20, 2007, when the eighteen-year-old didn’t show up for work. Concern turned into despair when Lee’s car was at a rest stop in Baraboo, Wisconsin nearly two hundred miles away from Cutler’s hometown of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Although Lee was nowhere to be found, security cam footage was discovered at a nearby Walmart, where the teen was filmed purchasing cold and pain medication. These purchases, now empty, were found in Lee’s car, along with his wet clothes, a note, and an indication that he took his own life. However, Lee Cutler’s body has still never been found.
#5: Where Is David Lovely?
Top 10 Creepiest Internet Mysteries
Uprooting from one side of a country to another is never easy, but perhaps Jackie Aubut felt that the trip would be a lot more fun traveling together with her son David Lovely and daughter Allison. David took his motorcycle, following his family until his bike needed some repairs. They made plans to meet at a different rest stop after this was done, but David never arrived. A phone call placed to his aunt revealed that David had a breakdown and decided to try his chances with an offer of help from a man he met while he was waiting at a rest stop. His motorcycle was found relatively undamaged off a side road, but David’s family would never see the young boy again.
#4: Cold Case in Ontario
Top 10 Scariest Unsolved Cold Cases
Sometimes, cold cases remain that way despite the best efforts from police and the public at ending their search. Our next entry is unfortunately one of those cases, specifically when the remains of an unidentified woman were found at an Ontario rest stop in the summer of 2005. Thirteen years later, in 2018, police were still searching for who had committed the crime that had left the woman with such injuries. Although leads were followed and some progress was made in the case, the woman remains unidentified and the case is still open as of 2021.
#3: The Blind River Killer
Top 10 Unsolved Serial Killer Mysteries
Although there are some who believe convicted criminal Ronald Glenn West was responsible for our next entry, the actual identity of The Blind River Killer remains inconclusive. This is deeply troubling, especially given the brutal and seemingly random nature of what happened to Gord and Jackie McAllister on the night of June 28, 1991. The McAllisters were accosted, robbed, and attacked by an overnight assailant while their motor-home was parked for the night. Jackie perished in the attack, but Gord managed to escape and hide, while another passerby, Bryan Major, was shot by the attacker before the latter left the scene. The case was even profiled on "Unsolved Mysteries," but to this day the true identity of The Blind River Killer is unclear.
#2: Death on the Road
Top 10 Near Death Experiences Caught on Security Footage
An emotional family reunion became even more tragic when recent widower Dexter Stefonek went missing after leaving his son's home in Oregon. Stefonek's abandoned car was found in a Montana rest stop, after being intentionally set ablaze. Dexter's body was found shortly thereafter - dumped. Although a man was reportedly seen driving Dexter's car, and leaving it holding two cans of gasoline, the culprits have never been apprehended. Oddly enough, money that was being held inside Stefonek's suitcase was still there, although his clothes seemed to have been intentionally tossed about after the fact, in an apparent attempt to throw off investigators.
#1: Last Rites
Top 10 UNSOLVED Reddit Mysteries
The act of giving Last Rites is the holy administration of sending off the terminally ill or dying with the traditions of their respective faiths. Our last entry presents the unthinkable, however: a priest being attacked after being called to perform these Rites under false pretense. The body of Father Reynaldo Rivera was found near a New Mexico rest stop after earlier receiving a frantic call from a man reportedly needing Last Rites. Speculation on the case tenuously connects it with another priest, John Kerrigan, whose disappearance was said to be connected with accusations of abuse. The theory is that priests were being targeted by victims of said abuse, although to this day no hard evidence has surfaced to support or solve Rivera's murder.
