hall said he had been looking for a friend s address but the address he gave didn t exist. officers let paul go. september 20th, 1993, six months after tricia s disappearance, now 15-year-old jessica roach goes missing in georgetown, illinois. investigator gary miller got the call. we all knew we had something really bad here. we had an abduction. jessica s badly decomposed body was found in an indiana corn field weeks later. then, like tricia s, jessica s case went cold. there s a lot of times you wonder if you ll solve it. but you know you re going the keep going and check everything out, you re going to recheck everything. for over a year, miller scoured local police reports. and then a break. a vehicle reported in a county
all of the girls looked alike, hall said. i cannot remember all of them. i picked up several girls in other areas, but i can t remember which ones i hurt. several girls in other areas. there were more victims than just jessica roach. hall said he d also been near the campus of indiana wesleyan university, where tricia reitler had disappeared. i was over there because i needed to be with somebody. it was a small shopping center, i had a van. hall said he raped and strangled a girl here, too. then he identified his victim by pointing to tricia s picture. tricia s disappearance had remained a mystery for 18 months. we were just kind of sitting on the sidelines waiting for information to come in. with little evidence, and local police insisting on another suspect, tricia s
house, going down this way. hall followed and stopped to talk. jessica got scared and backed away. that s when he opens the door, grabs her. there s a physical confrontation where he overpowers her. put her in his van. and left. probably going up this road right past her house. in an interview in the wabash police station, hall surprised investigators by explaining what happened next. i tied her up, but i can t remember with what. i took her pants off. hall said he raped her and led her off through the woods. i laid her up against a tree and put a belt around her neck and she stopped breathing. hall said he strangled jessica from behind so he didn t have to see her face as she died. and that wasn t all.
i had a van. hall said he raped and strangled a girl here, too. and then he identified his victim by pointing to trisha s picture. trisha s disappearance had remained a mystery for 18 months. we were just kind of sitting on the sidelines waiting for information to come in. with little evidence and local police insisting on another suspect, trisha s parents, gary and donna still suffered. with each thing that came in the urgency was great. and the heartache was great, too. anticipation and the hope. hall s confession met the reitler s might at least find their daughter. and that gary miller had found the killer of jessica roach. but the next day, hall changed his story. as i was talking to him he said, i was just telling you about my dreams. that didn t really happen. he said, it was just my dreams.
larry hall had confessed to killing jessica roach, tricia reitler and two other women. and then he took it all back, claiming it was just his imagination. i did confess to certain policemen that i had dreams that i did things. but investigator gary miller had other evidence, like the witness who drove by this cornfield the night of jessica s murder. that person testified he was absolutely sure that when he went by here that night, there was a van and a guy coming from the corn field to get in his van. a search of hall s house and van revealed he had been casing out small college towns and keeping suspicious notes. seen joggers and bikers. many alone. check colleges, parks. seen some prospects.