NORFOLK — The FBI Norfolk Field Office, in coordination with local law enforcement partners, announced Tuesday the resolution of the 1986 cold case murders of Cathleen Thomas and Rebecca Dowski, victims of the Colonial Parkway murders.
Between 1986 and 1989, a series of violent crimes occurred along or near Virginia’s Colonial Parkway and surrounding areas, resulting in the murders and disappearances of at least eight young people. These crimes became collectively known as the Colonial Parkway murders, one of the most complex and enduring cold case investigations in Virginia history, the FBI notes.
The agency said through persistent investigation and breakthroughs in forensic technology, it has determined that Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. of Lancaster County, who died in 2017, murdered Thomas and Dowski. Wilmer Sr. is connected to a series of at least six murders and disappearances of young people in Virginia between 1986 and 1989.
“Thomas was a vibrant young woman known for her compassion, intelligence, and close relationships with family and friends. Dowski was a talented musician and college student with a promising future, remembered for her creativity, kindness and love of music. Their lives were tragically cut short, but they were never forgotten by the investigators who continued to pursue justice on their behalf,” The FBI said in its report.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia also confirmed that, had Wilmer Sr. been alive today, the evidence developed through this investigation would have supported federal prosecution.
Thomas, 27, and Dowski, 21, were last seen together in October 1986. Their bodies were later discovered inside their vehicle along the Colonial Parkway. Despite extensive investigative efforts at the time, the case remained unsolved for decades.