FBI Norfolk Announces Resolution in the Disappearances of Richard 'Keith' Call and Cassandra Lee Hailey
Investigators determine Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. responsible for the 1988 disappearances of Colonial Parkway victims
This graphic shows photos of Richard 'Keith' Call (at left) and Cassandra Lee Hailey (at right), who disappeared in April 1988.
September 18, 2026 - After more than 38 years of unanswered questions, the FBI Norfolk Field Office, working alongside its law enforcement partners, is announcing a long-awaited measure of resolution in the disappearances of Richard “Keith” Call and Cassandra Lee Hailey.
For nearly 40 years, Keith and Cassandra have been more than names in a cold-case file. While their remains have never been found, investigators can now provide an answer to one of the central questions that has remained with their families for decades. Through an exhaustive review of evidence and a convergence of investigative findings, the FBI and its partners have determined that Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. was responsible for their deaths.
The determination is based on the totality of circumstances, highlighting significant similarities between the disappearances of Call and Hailey and other regional killings connected to Wilmer Sr. This includes matching patterns in timing, location, and the manner in which the victims disappeared. While direct forensic evidence from the scene remains unavailable, the evidence establishes that the circumstances match Wilmer Sr.’s known pattern of offending.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia confirmed that, had Wilmer Sr. been alive today, the evidence developed through this investigation would have supported federal prosecution.
No announcement can undo the loss these families have endured, but the passage of time did not lessen the value of these two young lives.
“Our commitment has always been to the victims and to the families who have carried this loss for nearly four decades,” said FBI Norfolk Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans. “Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey were young people with families, friends, futures, and lives that mattered. They deserved to come home. While we cannot change what happened to them or return them to their families, we hope this determination offers meaningful answers and allows their loved ones to finally know who was responsible.”
The resolution reflects the persistence of the Colonial Parkway Task Force, a collaborative group including the Virginia State Police, the Hampton Police Division, and the Suffolk Police Department.
“Law enforcement has never stopped working on this case, as well as the other cases collectively known as the Colonial Parkway murders,” said Col. Jeffrey S. Katz, Superintendent of the Virginia State Police. “Together, we are pleased to be able to give the families of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call some answers, as we have the families of Robin Edwards, David Knobling, Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell, Laurie Ann Powell, Cathleen Thomas, and Rebecca Dowski. We also thank the Virginia Office of the Attorney General Jay Jones, who funded analytical support and testing via the Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).”
Remembered by the community
On April 10, 1988, Call, 20, and Hailey, 18, both students at Christopher Newport University, attended a party in the University Square area of Newport News, Virginia. They left together during the early morning hours and never returned home. Later that day, Call’s vehicle was found abandoned near the York River Overlook along the Colonial Parkway.
For nearly 40 years, their families lived with an uncertainty few can comprehend. They marked birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones without answers, but they never stopped caring about Keith and Cassandra.
“We are grateful to the families for their patience, strength and trust,” Evans said. “We know that no investigative announcement can erase nearly four decades of pain. Nothing can replace Keith or Cassandra. But we hope this determination honors them and the families who have carried their names forward all these years.”
The FBI also thanks the Hampton Roads community for its patience and continued support.
The FBI Norfolk Field Office remains committed to honoring the victims of the Colonial Parkway cases, not simply by solving them, but by remembering the people at the center of them.
Richard “Keith” Call was more than a missing person.
Cassandra Lee Hailey was more than a case file.
They were loved.
They mattered.
And they have not been forgotten.
FBI Norfolk
Public Affairs Officer Cassandra Temple
(757) 455-0100
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
