Alicia Showalter Reynolds

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Culpeper County Sheriffs Office (VA)

Offense Location:

Baltimore, Maryland

Summary:

Alicia Showalter Reynolds, 26, was traveling along Route 29 from Baltimore to Charlottesville on March 2, 1996, when she was abducted in Culpeper County. Her remains were found on May 7, 1996, in the Lignum area of Culpeper County. Despite thousands of tips and numerous suspects investigated and cleared over the years, no one has ever been arrested in connection with Reynolds' killing.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On Saturday at about 7:30 A.M. on March 2, 1996, Alicia Showalter Reynolds of Baltimore, Maryland, said good-bye to her husband and left her home. Alicia planned to drive more than 150 miles to spend the day shopping with her mother in Charlottesville, Virginia. Witnesses who saw her vehicle parked on the southbound shoulder of Route 29 said a white man was stopped outside her vehicle. The man was described as being between 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 6 feet tall, with a medium build and light to medium brown hair. He appeared to be between 35 and 45 years old and was driving a dark pickup truck, possibly a green Nissan. Alicia's car was discovered that evening, abandoned on the shoulder of Route 29 in Culpeper, Virginia, with a white napkin under her windshield wiper. This was traditionally an indicator that someone had car trouble. They think that a man flagged her down, told her that he saw sparks coming from under the car, and that he could take her to the dealership. On May 7th, 1996, two months after she disappeared, her body was found in a wooded area 15 miles southeast of Culpepper. She had been murdered, perhaps on the same day she disappeared.

Additional Details:

As news spread about Reynolds' abduction, other women came forward to report that a white man had either stopped them or attempted to stop them while they traveled along the same route. More than 20 women came forward reporting interactions with a similar man on or near Route 29 in Virginia, bringing investigators to wonder if Alicia had been the victim of a serial killer. Her killer was dubbed "the 29 Stalker." The unknown man got that moniker after multiple women came forward with the same story that witnesses said happened to Alicia. State Police have received more than 10,000 leads in the 28 years they have investigated this case. Alicia Showalter Reynolds, a 25-year-old PhD student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, was driving to meet her mother in Charlottesville, Virginia, on March 2, 1996. The two were going to buy dresses for Patrick's upcoming wedding. His slain sister was working on a vaccine to combat parasitic infections in developing nations when she was killed. A Maryland man named Darrell Rice was later identified as a person of interest in this case. He served time in jail for trying to kidnap a female bicyclist around the time of Alicia's disappearance. He was charged with the attack on the woman who broke her ankle while escaping from the Route 29 Stalker. She identified him as her attacker. He was given eleven months in jail after pleading to lesser charges. In March 2018, he died at seventy in an Ohio prison. Unfortunately, Rice died before the DNA match was made. Originally, officials believed Alicia was a victim of Richard Marc Evonitz, a serial killer active during her disappearance. This was never confirmed, and Reynolds' case still remains cold today. A lecture series was later named for her at Johns Hopkins University, and Alicia Showalter Reynolds received her doctorate posthumously.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 29, 2026