Long stretches of the road are devoid of any streetlights and are extremely isolated, making it a popular lovers' lane location frequented by young adults.

In January 2024, authorities announced that at least two of the murders (David Knobling and Robin Edwards) had been conclusively linked to an official suspect, Alan Wilmer Sr., a local fisherman who died in 2017.

Wilmer has been described as "suspect number one" in the presumed murders of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call but was freed after an FBI polygraph.

[2][3] The first two known victims were Cathleen Marian "Cathy" Thomas (27), a United States Naval Academy graduate, and College of William & Mary senior Rebecca Ann “Becky” Dowski (21), a business management major working as a stockbroker at the time of the murder.

[4] Between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. on October 12, 1986, a pedestrian jogger saw a car, a white 1980 Honda Civic, down an embankment at the Cheatham Annex Overlook on the Colonial Parkway, seven miles east of Williamsburg.

[6] The lesbian couple had disappeared after leaving a computer lab at William & Mary on October 9 at around 6:30 p.m.[5] Thomas had gone to the parkway in the past to be alone with a romantic partner.

Their throats had been slashed so deeply that they were nearly decapitated, and the killer had covered the bodies and vehicle with diesel fuel but had not lit them on fire.

[9] In 2024, Bill Thomas recalled that four days after his sister Cathy's death, the FBI suggested to him that the perpetrator may have been a member of law enforcement.

Knobling's vehicle, a black Ford Ranger, had previously been discovered on September 21 by a patrolman at the Ragged Island Wildlife Refuge's parking area, with the wipers, engine and radio still running and some articles of clothing inside.

Both doors were left open, and the driver's side window was partially rolled down, which caused police to speculate that the perpetrator either was or had been posing as a uniformed officer.

On September 23, the bodies of Knobling and Edwards were found after being washed ashore with the tide about 100 feet apart on the bank of the James River.

Although the former deaths did not occur on the Colonial Parkway, both sets of victims were couples who had been killed at or around lovers' lane areas, and the two locations were only about a thirty-minute drive apart.

[11] On January 8, 2024, the police announced that DNA evidence revealed the identity of Knobling and Edwards' killer as Alan Wilmer Sr., a hunter and fisherman.

[16] On April 10, 1988, Christopher Newport College students Cassandra Lee Hailey (18) and Richard Keith Call (20) were reported missing.

Call, who was on a two-week break from serious girlfriend Selina, asked out Hailey, a business classmate, to see a movie on Saturday night and then go to a party.

Park authorities initially suggested they had gone swimming and drowned, but a claim that was met with great skepticism given the water temperature and the steep, 20-ft embankment.

The suspect, identified decades later as Alan Wade Wilmer, was placed under surveillance, and police observed him cleaning and spraypainting his pickup.

Police found dirt and grass stains on the vehicle's underside, suggesting the car had recently been driven through the woods.

[21] On August 21, 1984, the bodies of Michael Sturgis “Mike” Margaret (21) and Donna Lynn Hall (18) were found in a wooded area approximately 300 yards southwest of the Kings Crossing Apartment Complex in Henrico.

A trail of blood led to the bodies of Hall and Margaret underneath a checkered red and blue blanket about twenty feet away.

Some detectives believe that Hall and Margaret were the first victims of the Colonial Parkway Killer due to similarities in modus operandi.

Both double murders occurred on National Park property – the historic Colonial Parkway and the Shenandoah – which were connected by Interstate 64.

In the Hailey-Call case, police dogs traced a scent from the car to the nearby edge of the York river, suggesting the involvement of a boat.

[34] Cathy Thomas's vehicle was found with the driver's seat adjusted for someone taller than her, suggesting the killer may had driven it before it was pushed off the embankment.

[36] Larry McCann, head of the Virginia State Police's Behavioral Science Unit, argued that two individuals were working together in the murders.

[37] On April 19, 1988, press reported that local private detective Ronald Little, then under arrest for immigration charges, alleged he was a suspect in the Parkway Murders.

[38][39] Robin Edwards's mother Bonney had been employed by the company, while Brian Pettinger had worked as a security guard and loss prevention officer for the firm.

Entertainment Television presented a full-length documentary, THS Investigates Serial Killers on the Loose, which features a segment on the Colonial Parkway murders.

[42] In 2011, author Michelle McNamara published a two-part exploration of the Colonial Parkway murders in her True Crime Diary.

[43] In October 2016, there was extensive coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Colonial Parkway murders, including an eight-part multimedia presentation by the Daily Press newspaper.