GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va – Virginia State Police say they have identified a suspect in the 1988 murder of a Gloucester County woman, Laurie Ann Powell, using DNA obtained from a man suspected of being a serial killer.
Police say they linked the late Alan Wilmer, Sr., to the stabbing death of the 19-year-old Gloucester High graduate.
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This is the fourth homicide police have connected to Wilmer, a former Northern Neck resident who died alone in his Lancaster County home on Dec. 15, 2017, at age 63. Wilmer had no criminal record.
According to police, Laurie Ann Powell went missing on March 8, 1988. Her body was recovered from the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth approximately three weeks later. The victim was last seen walking alone down Rt. 614, towards Rt. 17, following an argument with her boyfriend. The cause of death was found to be a stab wound to the back of her neck.
Powell’s body was discovered at Craney Island on April 2, 1988. Eight days later, Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call vanished on April 10, 1988. Call’s car was found on the Colonial Parkway, but their bodies have never been found.
In Jan. 2024, State Police announced they had linked Wilmer to the death of Teresa Howell in Hampton in July 1989 through DNA evidence. He was also connected via DNA to the deaths of Robin Edwards and David Knobling, both of whom were killed and sexually assaulted. Their bodies were discovered at Ragged Island Refuge in September 1987 on the banks of the James River, not far from where Powell’s body was found.