Diane Williams was heading home from spending time with her boyfriend when she got on a bus on Martin Luther King Avenue late on the evening of Sept. 5, 1972. The 17-year-old was found strangled the next morning near an on ramp on the southbound side of
Interstate 295 in Prince George’s County, just outside the D.C. line.
D.C. police Detective Jim Trainum, of the Violent Crime Case Review Project, started working on Williams’ killing in 2001. She is believed to be the last victim of the Freeway Phantom, a serial killer whose six young female victims were found near major highways during a 16-month period beginning in 1971.
The killings have frustrated investigators for decades. In that time, witnesses and suspects have died, documentation is missing, and evidence has been lost.
But the Williams case offers a glimmer of hope. The department recently learned that Maryland State Police had DNA evidence in the case. Because Williams’ body was discovered over the District line in Prince George’s, Maryland police initially handled the case.
This is the only Freeway Phantom case where DNA testing will be done. If the sample yields a good profile, it will be submitted to a national DNA database, where it can be compared with evidence from other cases.
There are currently several people of interest in the case, but “nothing very strong” according to Trainum.
A lucky hit on the DNA sample could change that.
“The people we are looking at all have their profiles in the DNA database, so being able to do the profile is key,” Trainum said.
“Even if we don’t get a good enough profile, it could lead to an ID or help exclude somebody.”
That is reason enough for District police to keep looking at the Williams case. With 3,700 open cases and only 13 detectives available to work them, they have to be selective.
“We try to pick the one or two things that might generate something, and if they do then we go with it,” Trainum said.
Anyone with information on the Williams or another D.C. cold case can police at the new tip line at 888-919-2776 or through a text messaging number: 50-411. All calls are confidential, and you will not be required to give your name.
