WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.180 Beyond the silence, the eastbound strangler, 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:06.860 Atlantic City murders. Today, we're heading to 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:09.919 the outskirts of Atlantic City, New Jersey, back 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:13.939 to the fall of 2006, a time when the city's neon 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:16.399 lights couldn't hide the darkness lurking just 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.559 beyond the boardwalk. On November 20th, two women 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.500 were walking behind the old Golden Key Motel. 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:26.399 What they stumbled upon would haunt the city 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:29.929 for years to come. There, in a drainage ditch, 00:00:30.170 --> 00:00:33.390 they found the body of Kim Raffo, face down, 00:00:33.490 --> 00:00:37.490 in shallow, grimy water. The police arrived and 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:39.810 within hours, three more bodies were discovered. 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:43.570 Barbara Brador, Molly Diltz, and Tracy Ann Roberts. 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:47.490 Four women, all found in a row, all laid face 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:50.729 down, their heads pointed east toward the city. 00:00:51.250 --> 00:00:53.829 It was a scene that would earn the unknown killer 00:00:53.829 --> 00:00:58.179 a chilling nickname. The Eastbound Strangler. 00:01:00.140 --> 00:01:03.520 Welcome to Beyond the Silence, Whispers Across 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:07.700 America. I'm Sammy, your host, driven to shine 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:09.939 light on the dark corners of forgotten cases, 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:13.319 demand justice, and keep alive the voices the 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:16.859 world has tried to silence. Today we step into 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:19.319 the chilling mystery of the Eastbound Strangler, 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:24.670 the Atlantic City Murders. Now, I gotta say, 00:01:24.689 --> 00:01:28.069 the details here are just, they stick with you. 00:01:28.670 --> 00:01:31.189 All four women were fully clothed, but their 00:01:31.189 --> 00:01:33.989 shoes and socks were missing. They were spaced 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:36.689 out about 60 feet apart, and the way they were 00:01:36.689 --> 00:01:39.890 positioned, arms stretched out, heads facing 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:44.549 east. It's almost ritualistic. The killer, whoever 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:48.209 they are, took their time. They tried to keep 00:01:48.209 --> 00:01:50.730 the bodies hidden, anchoring them to the side 00:01:50.730 --> 00:01:53.569 of the ditch. hoping the water and the elements 00:01:53.569 --> 00:01:57.129 would erase the evidence. But as we know, secrets 00:01:57.129 --> 00:02:00.650 like this don't stay buried forever. The city 00:02:00.650 --> 00:02:04.010 was in shock. Atlantic cities always had its 00:02:04.010 --> 00:02:07.209 shadows, but this was something else, a serial 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:12.330 killer, right in their backyard. Let's talk about 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:15.650 the women whose lives were stolen. These weren't 00:02:15.650 --> 00:02:17.870 just names in a headline. They were daughters, 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:22.150 mothers, friends. Kim Raffo was 35, originally 00:02:22.150 --> 00:02:24.990 from Brooklyn. She moved to Atlantic City with 00:02:24.990 --> 00:02:28.590 her boyfriend in 2003, looking for a fresh start. 00:02:29.030 --> 00:02:31.870 She had two kids, and at one point she was even 00:02:31.870 --> 00:02:35.349 part of the PTA down in Florida. But life got 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:38.270 tough. She struggled with substance abuse, and 00:02:38.270 --> 00:02:40.310 like so many, she was just trying to get her 00:02:40.310 --> 00:02:43.750 life back on track. Her friend John Pesci said, 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:45.889 She was trying to get her life together, but 00:02:45.889 --> 00:02:48.909 she couldn't get away. That just hits you, doesn't 00:02:48.909 --> 00:02:54.259 it? Then there's Barbara Brader, 42. She worked 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:56.979 as a cocktail waitress at the casinos, helped 00:02:56.979 --> 00:02:58.900 her mom with her clothing store, and was known 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:02.020 for being there for her family. But she was also 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:04.719 a victim of domestic violence. And after her 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:06.879 father died, she started self -medicating with 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:11.900 drugs. Her sister Francine told 48 Hours. She 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:14.759 ended up self -medicating herself with drugs. 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:17.840 At the time of her death, Barbara had a 9 -year 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:20.439 -old daughter. That's a whole life left behind. 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:26.259 Tracy Ann Roberts was just 23. She grew up in 00:03:26.259 --> 00:03:28.539 Delaware, trained to be a medical assistant, 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.259 and had only recently moved to Atlantic City. 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:34.060 Like the others, she struggled with addiction. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.740 She was described as a really nice, pretty, young 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:40.539 person that had her whole future ahead of her. 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:43.180 Her murder left her daughter without a mother. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.800 I mean, it's just heartbreaking. And then there's 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:51.599 Molly Diltz, the youngest at 20. She grew up 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.020 in Blacklick, Pennsylvania, a blue -collar mining 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:58.819 town. Her uncle, Steve Taylor, said she was a 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:01.620 warm and loving, caring kid. She had a lot of 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:03.419 good to spread to the world, and it's just a 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:06.500 shame that she won't be able to do that. Molly's 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:09.240 mother had died young, and her brother had also 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:12.520 passed away before her. She had a tattoo of an 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:15.659 English bulldog, which is how investigators identified 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:18.670 her. For everything she'd been through, her uncle 00:04:18.670 --> 00:04:22.589 said she came out pretty damned well. That's 00:04:22.589 --> 00:04:25.529 the thing. These women had stories, struggles, 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:28.529 and people who loved them. They deserved better. 00:04:31.110 --> 00:04:33.709 So let's dig into the crime scene itself, because 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:36.790 this is where things get really strange. All 00:04:36.790 --> 00:04:38.810 four women were found in that drainage ditch 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:41.930 behind the Golden Key Motel, right off the Black 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:45.069 Horse Pike. The killer didn't just dump the bodies, 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:48.649 he arranged them. Each woman was placed face 00:04:48.649 --> 00:04:51.829 down, heads pointed east, arms stretched out 00:04:51.829 --> 00:04:54.569 and spaced apart. Their feet were bare and their 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:57.629 shoes and socks were missing. It's almost like 00:04:57.629 --> 00:04:59.910 the killer wanted to send a message, or maybe 00:04:59.910 --> 00:05:03.110 it was just part of his ritual. I mean, I'm not 00:05:03.110 --> 00:05:05.930 a profiler, but that kind of detail? It's not 00:05:05.930 --> 00:05:09.850 random. The autopsies showed that two of the 00:05:09.850 --> 00:05:12.410 women, Roberts and Raffo, died from asphyxiation, 00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:16.129 likely strangulation. But for Diltz and Brydor... 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:19.199 Their bodies were so badly decomposed that the 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:21.740 cause of death couldn't be determined. They'd 00:05:21.740 --> 00:05:24.240 been there the longest. The killer used the water 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.079 to his advantage. Trying to wash away evidence, 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:30.980 and the longer the bodies stayed hidden, the 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:33.220 harder it was for investigators to piece things 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:36.920 together. It's frustrating, honestly. The police 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.240 believed the killer lured these women from the 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:41.639 city's red -light district out to Egg Harbor, 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:45.120 where he killed and disposed of them. And the 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.620 way the bodies were anchored, it's like he wanted 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:49.939 to keep them out of sight for as long as possible. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.480 There's also the question of why these women. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.699 Most of them were sex workers, and as grim as 00:05:57.699 --> 00:06:00.399 it is, that made them more vulnerable. They were 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.379 easy to approach, easy to get into a car, and 00:06:03.379 --> 00:06:05.600 if they went missing, sometimes no one reported 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:08.579 it right away. That's a pattern we see in so 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:12.480 many serial cases, and it's just, it's infuriating. 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:15.120 These women mattered, and their lives shouldn't 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.399 have been seen as disposable. Now, you might 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:21.980 be wondering, did the police have any suspects? 00:06:23.100 --> 00:06:26.579 Well, they did, but nothing ever stuck. There 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:29.720 was Terry Olson, a repairman who was staying 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:33.600 at the Golden Key Motel for free in exchange 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.000 for doing repairs. His girlfriend implicated 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.149 him during a domestic dispute. and police found 00:06:40.149 --> 00:06:43.009 cameras and some pretty disturbing images in 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:47.569 his room. But, and this is important, there was 00:06:47.569 --> 00:06:50.769 no DNA evidence linking him to the murders, and 00:06:50.769 --> 00:06:55.850 he was never officially named a suspect. Then 00:06:55.850 --> 00:06:58.089 there was Eldred Raymond Burchell, who called 00:06:58.089 --> 00:07:01.569 himself the River Man. Maybe a nod to the Green 00:07:01.569 --> 00:07:04.279 River Killer? He apparently confessed to another 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.180 sex worker that he'd killed people, but again 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:10.120 nothing concrete tied him to the case. There 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:13.339 were a couple of other guys, Charles Coles, a 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:15.319 drug dealer and friend of one of the victims, 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:18.959 and Mark Hesse, who knew two of the women. Both 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.839 were questioned and released, so basically a 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:25.839 lot of leads, but no answers. And then there's 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:27.959 the theory that maybe this was connected to the 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:31.490 Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island. Both cases 00:07:31.490 --> 00:07:34.389 involved sex workers, both had victims found 00:07:34.389 --> 00:07:37.829 in remote, watery areas, and both had bodies 00:07:37.829 --> 00:07:40.829 arranged in a certain way. But after a lot of 00:07:40.829 --> 00:07:43.069 back and forth, law enforcement has said there's 00:07:43.069 --> 00:07:46.189 no official link. Even after the arrest of Rex 00:07:46.189 --> 00:07:49.389 Hoyerman in the Gilgo Beach case, police in New 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:52.509 Jersey and New York compared notes, timelines, 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:56.209 and methods. And they just couldn't make the 00:07:56.209 --> 00:07:59.519 connection. All the initial suspects in Atlantic 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.300 City have been ruled out, and the Gilgo Beach 00:08:02.300 --> 00:08:05.540 Killer would have had to travel over 150 miles 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:09.300 to commit these murders. So, as of now, the Eastbound 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:13.839 Strangler remains a ghost. Nearly two decades 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:16.480 later, the Eastbound Strangler case is still 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.180 cold. There's a $25 ,000 reward out there for 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:23.350 information, but no one's come forward. The police 00:08:23.350 --> 00:08:25.769 aren't talking, the leads have dried up, and 00:08:25.769 --> 00:08:27.769 the families are left with nothing but questions. 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:30.970 Investigators have said they believe the killer 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:34.049 knew Atlantic City well. Maybe someone who was 00:08:34.049 --> 00:08:37.070 trafficking the victims, or someone who moved 00:08:37.070 --> 00:08:40.029 in those circles. But without new evidence, it's 00:08:40.029 --> 00:08:44.190 all just speculation. What really gets me is 00:08:44.190 --> 00:08:48.710 how the city itself has changed. The Golden Key 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:52.830 Motel is gone. Demolished years ago. But the 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:55.289 memory of what happened there lingers. The sex 00:08:55.289 --> 00:08:57.750 worker community in Atlantic City still faces 00:08:57.750 --> 00:09:00.350 the same dangers, and the women who were lost 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:03.970 in 2006 are still waiting for justice. Their 00:09:03.970 --> 00:09:06.990 families, their friends, they deserve answers. 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:11.049 And honestly, so does the city. This isn't just 00:09:11.049 --> 00:09:13.590 a story about a serial killer. It's about the 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.049 people left behind, the lives interrupted, and 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:19.029 the silence that follows when justice isn't served. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:24.139 So that's where we are. Four women, one killer, 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:27.759 and a city still searching for the truth. If 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.320 you know something, anything, about this case, 00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:33.600 there's still a reward, and there are still people 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.080 hoping for closure. That's it for today's episode. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.299 The questions remain, and the search continues, 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:44.860 because every lost soul deserves answers, and 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:48.100 every story deserves to be heard. What are your 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:51.940 thoughts? What do you believe happened? Share 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:54.379 your voice, because sometimes the smallest detail 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:58.019 can spark the biggest breakthrough. I'm Sammy, 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:00.379 and this is Beyond the Silence Whispers Across 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:03.899 America. Thank you for listening, stay safe, 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:05.120 and I'll see you next time.