warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised
March 20th, 1984: 19-year-old Linda Grober walks into a Tallahassee, Florida mall to buy a gift for her and her boyfriend’s anniversary, but doesn’t come home. She is victim #4. April 4, 1984: 16-year-old Tina Risico vanishes from a mall in Southern California, last being seen getting into the car of a strange man.
She is victim #9. April 10th, 1984, Merrillville, Indiana: 16-year-old Dawn Wilt meets a friendly photographer at her local mall… and steps into a nightmare that could change everything. She is victim #10.
The FBI is continually one step behind this serial killer —better known as the Beauty Queen Killer— whose deadly spree across the country will force three women to fight to escape, stop one of the wildest manhunts in U.S. history, and see justice served for all the other victims.
Pay attention to the man , as he hiding them most distrubing secret.
In the 1980s, tapes like these were used as a dating service,and yet no one knew that this man was ,in reality – a serial killer.
It’s 1984 in Miami at the Miss Florida beauty pagent.
The woman on screen is one of the finalists in the competition, but shortly after, she mysteriously disappears.
When police began their investigation , they spotted a photographer.
Who is alwas lurking around girls, snapping photos of them.
Not long before that event at the Miami Grand Prix, another woman had disappeared.
Detectives are baffled because the same man was seen there too, but this time , not as a photographer…
… But as a rece car driver.
When the police try to find him , he’s already left town.
By that point , it’s too late to catch him .
Yong women all around the country are going missing,what follows is one of the biggest manhunts America has ever seen .
But everything will change when one of his victims miraculously survives, this one 16 year old holds the key to stop him.
She will come back from the dead , get revenge, and finally bring him down….
It’s 1984 in Tallahassee, Florida Linda, a sophmore at Florida State University,is living the college dream .
She has a longtime boyfriend, a passion for her studies, and an unshakeable love fot the ocean waves along the Gulf Coast.
Life for Linda feels like one long , beautiful summer .
But on March 20th , just days before her five year anniversary with her boyfriend, Linda goes out for a quick trip to Governor’square mall.
Blissfully unaware that this errand will soon take a dark turn.
This department store will end up being her last known wherabout before she vanishes.
12 hours later,when Linda reappears on March 12tst, she’s 40 miles away from the mall, barefoot and shaken.
She runs up to the front desk of a roadside motel in Bainbridge, Georgia, seeing her , the night manager freezes.
Moment’s later a sheriff’s deputy rushes into the motel, the only worlds Lindsa can get out are chilling” a man kidnapped me nad tortured me”
The officer quickly calls for an ambulance, and heads directly to the room she pointed him to.
The door creaks open to reveal a grim scene,blood on the carpet, the walls, and torn pieces of duct tape on the floor.
He immediately radios for backup and calls in a forensic team.
Something violent and distrubng happened here.
Linda is rushed to Memorial Hospital in Georgia, where , despite her severe injuries, she refuses to stay silent.
Word of her remarkable survival spreads quickly through the police stations across the state, eventually reaching two officers in Miami , almost 500 miles away.
When detective Hanlon and his colleague hear about the perpetrator’s features from the police reports, a chill runs down theit spine.
He was allegedlly tall, well- dressed, with a slight accent, and a neat beard and mustache, it’s way too familiar.
Both men immediately jump on a plane to meet Linda in person in Georgia, if their hunch is right, this could change everything.
At the Georgia Hospital , the officers listen intently to Linda’s account.
She said ” he came up to me in the store and asked me if i was interested in being a model , and i said no , i had a boyfriend who wouldn’t like that very much and wasn’t really interested in modeling
And he had followed me out to my car ,so that’s when things kind of unfolded, and that’s when i got nervous , i think he sucker punched me in the solar plex, and i wake up, and i was in his car”
This is still in the early days of forensic evidence and her firsthand account may be the only thing they have to spark a new lead.
I was standing and he was at the television, he was on the bed, he wasn’t really paying attention to me at all and went for what was like , they have the little latch on the door, and i didn’t make it.
And then we fought for who knows how long he hit me over the head, and i just laid back, and he was on top of me, i just pretended that he’d actually knocked me out.
And i waited a second and just jabbed my fingers in his eyes, and ran to the bathroom, and pretended like i was dead, when i opened the door , he was gone.”
Her quick thinking impresses the officers,if their hunch is correct, the man who kidnapped her is exceedingly violent and dangerous and has a long list of victims before her.
Carefully , they take out a series of pictures and showed them to Linda.
Without hesitation, she identifies one man .
She dosen’t know his full name, but the detectives somehow do .
Christoper Wilder , he’s the man they’ve been tracking for several weeks, and now he’s crossed state lines with Linda.
Detective Hanlon know’s it’s time to bring in the FBI.
When 23 year old Elizabeth Kenyon, a miss Florida finalist, vanished without a trace, Wilder had been datingthe young women at the time of her disappearance and was conveniently nowhere to be found when detectives wanted to question him.
But Elizabeth wasn’t the first.
A week before her disappearance 20 year old Rosario Gonzalez had also been reported missing from the Miami Grand Prix.
A race Christopher Wilder participated in.
Back at the hospital, invetigtors gather more information from Linda.
New reports also start coming in concerning missing young women, different towns , different states, but all with the same disturbing pattern.
Sheryl Bonaventura was an aspiring model.
She disappeared from a shopping center in Mesa , Colorado.
a 21 year old Oklahoma woman…
whos body was found in Kansas.
And Las Vegas becomes the seventh city in a trail of abductions.
17 year old Michelle Korfman of nearby Boulder City .
It’s now April 4th , 1984.
two weeks after Linda’s abduction and month since Wilder had been on police’s radar following the Miami Grand Prix
Across the country, a 16 year old girl named Tina is walking through a mall in Torrance, California, determined to find a summer job.
Later that same day, a man coems up to her and starts a conversation.
Passersbys notice that they don’t seem to know each other , but the interaction seems formal and friendly.
They’re then spotted walking in the parking lot.and seconds later, she’s in his car, and the pair disappears.
Unbeknownst to her, Christopher Wilder has just found his next victim.
April 5th, the next day, Carol , Tina’s mom contacts the police and reports her daughter missing.
She tells them that Tina hasn’t come home from school and hasn’t been in touch all night, the worried om also lets them know that Tina has been having boyfriend troubles later.
And police in California don’t immediately take her disappearance seriously, assuming this might be a petty teenage fight.
But Tina’s situation is , in fact, extremey serious.
200 miles from her mom in a motel room, heavy with what’s just taken place, the teenager stares at the ceiling unable to move.
The man from the mall sleeps beside her, his treats ehoing in her head.
I’ve killed before”
When the sun finally comes up, Wilder then leads her back into his car blindfolding her ,even without seeing anything, she knows his gun and knife are within arm’s reach.
After terrifying hours of silence and uncertainty on the road, Tina feels the car slowed down and park.
He’s chosen a new motel to spend the night in.
The day Tina disappeared , she had very long hair, but that nigt at the motel , Wilder stands beside her with a pair of scissors.
Without any warning , he cuts a first look of hair off to her chin.
Tina realize something with dread but also an uncomfortable relief.
She realizes that he’s changing her apperances because he doesn’t want her to be recognized.
Most likely this man wants to keep her alive.
A strange routine starts for Tina.
The pair drive all day long until there’s no more sunligth,only stopping occassionally for gas and food at small drive – in resturants, Tina looks for any opportunity, a bathroom window, a scrape of paper to leave a note, but Wilder is always watching.
Her hope for escape slowly disappears to nothing.
She’s now been missing for six terrifying days.
However , on day seven ,April 10th, the pair arrive in Gary , Indiana, thousands of miles away from Tina’s home in California.
Wilder turns to her and forces her to do the unthinkable, if she doesn’t help him find a new victim, she won’t live to see another day.
I do know i came out of , like , applying, and i was approached by a girl…”
… he told me, you know , to say hi ,that’s she’s beautiful, would she be interested in becoming a model?let me introduce you to him isto what i said to her.”
Tina pretends to talk about a local beauty competition with Wilder as a photographer, Dawn seems excited and follows them outside.
Suddenly Wilder violently pushes Dawn into his car, and they quickly speed away,as they drive, Wilder completely drops his charismatic sweet talker persona and immediately threatens Dawn, warning her , just like Tina, ” that he’s killed before.”
As night falls, Wilder stops the car at a motel in Ohio.
When the group enters the room, he immediately breaks the bathroom lock to prevent the girls from escaping.
He then tells Tina to go take a bath, leaving Dawn alone in the bedroom with him.
From unswe the batroom door,Tina can see lights flickering erratically. she immediately knows what the man is doing to Dawn.
The same torment he’s inflicted on her over the last seven days.
The next morning ,the three get back in the car and drive eastward ant some point, Wilder gets out, and Tina finds herself alone with Dawn.
There was a part of Dawn that had awareness that Tina wasn’t voluntarily and may be initially with him, Dawn did say ” how are we gonna get out of this ?” Tina thougt maybe they could get through this together, but that didn’t happen.
It’s now April 12th, the group is at a motel in Victor , New york.
Tina is shocked to see her own mom on TV.
The teenager watches as her mother threatens the man who’s sitting next to her, her words have a powerful effect.
Tina not only knows people are looking for her , but her mom’s strengh and courage change everything, she isn’t alone after all,however ,her mom’s TV appearance has a completely opposite effect on Wilder.
He frantically gathers his stuff,hurrying Tina and Dawn.
He knows the cops and families of his victims are closing in on him.
Back at the station, law enforcement are scrambling to piece together the mounting evidence before time runs out.
Tracking Christopher Wilder has felt like ghost hunthing.
He’s never in one place long enough to pin him down,crossing state lines faster tha nthey can follow, leading to administrative slowdowns and miscommunications.
At this point it has been well over a month of failed efforts
But now , the FBI makes a bold move, they decide to broadcast a video of Wilder himself, now the public can learn his voice, his mannerisms and understand the danger lurking behind the charm.
Wilder’s tape shocks the public, it’s a chilling portrait of a man hiding in plain sight.
Turns out the photographer is also a suspect in multiple violent crimes committed all the way in Australia.
His glamorous racecar driver experience and job as a fashion photographer have been the perfect cover to lure teens into his clutches.
With Tina’s mom and the Public on their side, the cops close in on Wilder.
Meanwhile, Wilder speeds down the road with Tina and Dawn trapped in the backseat.
After an hour , he stops the car near the Finger Lakes, a secluded area in upstate New York.
Wilder turns to Dawn and order her out of the car, Wilder forces Dawn deep into the woods when suddenly the man jumps on her , putting his hands around her throat, Dawn’s vision begins to blur, but she figthts with everything she has.
The two fall to the ground , Dawn can’t give up, but then she sees Wilder’s hand a flash of metal,he has a knife, on the ground and bleeding out .
Dawn can only watch as he quitely gets up and walks away, barely holding onto life,Dawn knows he can come back at any moment and finish the job, she needs to ove if she wants to live.
once he’s out of site , she attempts to run for her life.
She make her way to the road , a delivery man drove her to the hospital
Now at the hospital, the staff treat her injuries somehow Wilder miraculously missed her heart.
Police gather as much information from Dawn as they can about her kidnapper, despite her severe injuries and blood loss, she tells them he captor’s name, where she had been taken from, and the other kidnapped girl’s name, Tina.
Back in the car , when Wilder returns without Dawn, Tina can only assume Dawn has been killed.
However, hours later, the pair hear on the car’s radio that a teenager has been found alive.
Tina has no idea that public opinion has turned completely against her in the first days of her kidnappping.
She was seen for what she was , a victim,but now ,after Dawn’s survival and retelling, the media has twisted the narrative.
And labeled her an accomplice.
However,that testiony has also been a game changer for the FBI as they now know which direction Wilder is heading and what car he’s driving.
Finally , they’re one step a head of him .
Wilder is panicking, speeding into the parking lot of the East View Mall still in New York.
Usually , this is his favorite hunting ground, but now he’s in a rush.
From a distance he spots 22 year old mother Beth Dodge in her car.
At gunpoint Wilder forcesBeth into his car while forcing Tina to follow them in the Firebird.
After a short ride, they stop in a secluded area.
The minute she got out of the car with him , hetold her to walk ahead and he just shot her s traight in the back, point blank.
Her body was discovered beside a highway by two truck drivers.he killed her for a car only, this was like out of character for him.
At this point , Tina has been captive for nine days.
She could have never predicted Wilder’s next move.
After enduring his violence, torture ,and kidnappings, he now announces to her that he’ll drop her off at the Boston airport.
Tina can’t believe it, after witnessing so many things, why would he simply let her go?
In spite of roadblocks on every major highway, Wilder tactfully avoids them and the pair arrive at the airport where he buys a one-way ticket to LA, shockingly , no one recognizes them.
Tina keeps her head down, Wilder is clearly paincked and reckless.
The killer might change his mind,Tina could be one wrong move away from staying his captive forever or his next murder victim.
Fear is in the air.
But then just like that , he turns away and simply walks,leaving her to get on the flight alone.
It’s now April 13th.
Soon after landingin LA, Tina, in shock, rushes to the police station, finally free, it’s now up to her to expose Wilder, to force him to face justice for what he’s done.
Wilder’s spree of violence needs to stop.
Tina’s father was never in her life, and now all of a sudden he’s there with the top criminal laywer at the time in the state of California.
There were other jurisdiction involved where Dawn was from and Beth Dodge was from .
And they insisted that Tina was involved with Wilder and an accomplice ,so they were after her.
With the firebird on everyone’s radar and Tina cooperating in custody,cops are on high alert all over the country,that’s when the quite town of Colebrooke , New Hampshire.a report comes through about a flashy car spotted by two state troopers.
The car is confirmed to be the golden Pontiac Firebird.
The two state patrol officers approach with extree caution, if they’re right , the driver is a serial killer armed and dangerous.
As the officers close in, they see the men inside reach for something…
Gunfire erupts,one trooper is hit.
then, amidst chaos Wilder makes his final move, choosing to escape justice on his own terms.
When the smoke clears, his found dead behind the wheel.
A nationwide manhunt is over.
It had been 47 days since the first reported disappearance,but now his time on the run has finally ended.
Troughout his spree, 12 young women were abducted, eight were murdered , countless families shattered
When Linda and Dawn are praised …
Tina’s actions are still questioned.the community and media find it hard to believe that she’s a victim.
When her ordeal was so different from all the other women,while Linda and Dawn are celebrated, Tina’s story is met with doubt.
The public doesn’t rally behind her like the others instead , they question her,choosing suspicion over compassion,despite surviving the same serial killer.
That’s when the Torrance police captain , Jim Popp, steps up and gathers the press to set the record straight.
With Jim Popp rightfully clear her name, Tina can move forward even if it will take time to heal from the public’s initial judgement.