A Woman Vanishes, a Man questioned…Where is Samantha?
Submitted by Liam McCusker
More than a decade has passed since Samantha Ann Clarke disappeared from Orange County, Virginia, leaving her family and the community searching for answers.
On the night of September 13, 2010, Clarke left her home shortly after midnight and told her younger brother Hunter that she was going out with friends and would be back before morning. The only other thing that she took with her was a house key. That same night, her mother, Barbara Tinder, was at work when she received two phone calls from her home phone number. Because she was working, Tinder was not able to answer. When she returned the calls on her break, Hunter told her that Samantha had made the calls, and had then informed him that she was leaving the house. He was in his room at the time, and did not know what type of clothing she was wearing, or if she had been picked up. Clarke never returned home.
Clarke was reported missing to the Orange Police Department two days later by Tinder who had been told by the department that she needed to wait 48 hours because Clarke was an adult. However, former Orange Police Chief James Fenwick later told the media that Tinder was not given the right information.
Clarke did not have a driver’s license, and according to Tinder, it was very rare for her to go out after dark, as very few options for public transportation were available at that time.
Police questioned a man named Randy Allen Taylor, whom Clarke had met a week prior to her disappearance, as phone records indicated that he had called her home six times the night that she vanished. However, Taylor denied having any involvement in her case, and no evidence has ever come up to charge or convict him in her case.
Taylor later accused police of harassment, which included planting a weapon in his car and illegally tracking him, which he said caused him to lose his job. A judge dismissed charges against Taylor that included illegal possession of a weapon, ruling that the police had not legally obtained the evidence.
Over the years, police have conducted multiple searches of Greene Acre Lake in Greene County, Virginia, as Taylor was familiar with the area, but these searches never led to any break in the case.
Three years later, in 2013, Taylor was linked to and convicted of the abduction and murder of Alexis Murphy from Lovingston, Virginia. Investigators found alarming evidence in Taylor’s camper, including blood on a shirt, hair extensions, a fingernail on the carpet, and a hair on the pillow which led to his conviction. Taylor received two life sentences for Murphy’s murder, her remains were not recovered until late 2020. Despite his conviction, he has never been charged in connection to Clarke’s disappearance.
In the fall of 2014, law enforcement personnel and volunteers conducted a search of roughly 200 acres of a private hunting club in western Orange County. Taylor was familiar with the land and had access to it, as it was an area where he used to live. The search, aimed at uncovering evidence related to both Murphy and Clarke, yielded no new findings.
The Orange Police Department updated Clarke’s disappearance to an abduction and homicide investigation in January, 2021, based on advancements in forensic technology, though officials declined to disclose details of any new evidence. Her body has never been found.
Anyone with information on Clarke’s disappearance is asked to contact the Orange Police Department at 540-672-1491 or police@townofOrangeva.org.
A Family loses Two Members to Violence…
It’s tough to lose a loved one to murder. It’s even worse when when you lose two family members to gun violence. Wendy Lawson is dealing with this and in both cases, the homicides are unsolved. One is her brother, the other is the father of her two grandsons. Both occurred in Culpeper County in Virginia.
It was early Sunday morning when around 3:00 am on October 9th, 2016 Culpeper County Law Enforcement arrived to the 100-block of Jeffries Alley, near Yowell Meadow Park, for a shooting. When officers arrived they discovered 37 year old Joe “Jody” Pullen severely wounded from several gunshot wounds to the head. He would be pronounced deceased at the scene. It is alleged that there are witnesses to this crime and that these people have not come forward. If you have information about this homicide please contact the Culpeper Police Department at 540 727-3430. You can also email tips here at justiceforjody2016@gmail.com
For more information about this case please visit Justice for Jody
Tragedy would strike again when Roger “RaRa” Davis Jr. was gunned down on March 6th, 2018 on an early Tuesday morning in the 15000 block of Shanktown Road in the unincorporated community of Reva. He was 27 years old and a former standout athlete in High School. He was related to Punell, because Pullen was the great uncle to two of Davis’s children. There is a $5,000 reward being offered for information in his case that leads to a conviction of the suspect(s).
If you have any information about the murder of Roger Davis or Joe “Jody” Pullen, please contact the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office at the 540-727-7900 or e-mail tipsforroger@gmail.com
Death of Man in Creek Remains a Mystery
On June 12th, 2019, a grisly discovery was made of a decomposed body found in a Henrico County Creek near the Eastgate Town Center. The decease male had been dead for several days. NEarly two weeks later, police would identify the man as 36-year-old David Karl Beman, of Richmond, Viriginia.
There has been little information release about this case. See Police ID man found dead in Henrico County creek (wric.com)
If you have any information please contact Henrco County Police at 804-501-4810.
Who Killed a former Popular Aide to a US Senator?
Claiborne Pell was a legend in Rhode Island politics. The former Senator grew up a child of privilege who didn’t like to flaunt his enormous wealth. When he was elected to his first term as a US Senator, he was viewed as a political outsider. Through the help Raymond Nels Nelson, who was a (former bureau chief of the Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin Newspaper) Pell won in an upset. Nelson, was a skilled strategist and campaigner who ended up being the administrative assistant for Pell when he was in Washington DC. He eventually joined the staff of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. In 1976, the married father of three made a controversial decision and came out as a gay man. It damaged him politically but he refused to hide his sexuality anymore.
Things did take a dark turn for the Washington Insider when on June 1, 1981, the 59-year-old was found murdered at his apartment at 701 Quincy Street, NE in Washington DC. The former professional typist turned political staffer had been bludgeoned to death with one of his own typewriters in his residence. For years there have been rumors about why he was murdered. Rumors on the internet speculate that political pressure may play a part as to why the case remains unsolved.
The unsolved murder is still under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department. If you have information about this case please call the police at 202 727-9099 or contact them via email at unsolved.murder@dc.gov. Nelson left behind three children and friends and family that are still looking for answers. For additional information about this case please visit http://www.defrostingcoldcases.com/guest-post-in-loving-memory-raymond-nelson/
Is Double Murder at Shenandoah National Park a Hate Crime?
Virginia is known for it’s beauty and millions of people have enjoyed it’s forests, trails and mountains. However, on June 1, 1996, the peacefulness that is Shenandoah experienced pure horror as two women were found victims of a brutal double homicide. Twenty-four year old Julianne Williams and her girlfriend twenty-six year old Lollie Winans had their wrists bound and their throats slit. Winans dog, Taj was left untouched and found near the crime scene. The area where the killing took place was very close to where the Appalachian Trail goes through. The two victims were lesbian lovers who kept a low profile in regards to their sexuality. Law Enforcement believes that the two may have been specifically targeted because of that. A man was eventually arrested for the double murders but was released and not considered a suspect anymore. Members of the public and family members of other unsolved crimes in the area continue to look at another person as being responsible.
There have been around a dozen murders along the entirety of the Appalachian Trail. Most have been solved but this case and two others remain unsolved.
UPDATE: 6-21-2024 Law Enforecment announced that now deceased convicted Serial Rapist Walter Jackson’s DNA was found at the crime scene. It is believed that he is the monster responsible for the horrible crime. For more information click here https://savagewatch.com/2024/06/21/killer-identified-in-unsolved-double-murder-of-same-sex-couple-on-hiking-trail/
Savagewatch - Unsolved Crime 