After nearly 30 years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has marked the slayings of Laura “Lollie” Winans and Julianne “Julie” Williams inside Shenandoah National Park as “resolved.” The suspect in the homicides, Walter “Leo” Jackson Sr., was a convicted serial rapist who died in prison in 2018.

Family members reported Winans, 26, and Williams, 24, missing when they didn’t return home from a camping trip in May 1996. They had been killed at their campsite near the Skyland Resort on May 24, and their bodies were found on June 1, according to the FBI’s Richmond Field Office. Their disappearance had set off an extensive search by rangers with the National Park Service and was widely reported in the media.

The connection to Jackson was ultimately made through modern DNA testing.

In 2021, a new FBI Richmond investigative team was assigned to conduct a methodic review of the case. FBI special agents, intelligence analysts, and other FBI Richmond employees reassessed hundreds of leads and interviews. They spent countless hours to identify and prioritize evidence from the crime scene to retest and submitted the items to an accredited private lab.

The lab was able to successfully pull DNA from several items of evidence and, with assistance from the Virginia State Police, the profile was submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

“Even though we had this DNA match, we took additional steps and compared evidence from Lollie and Julie’s murders directly to a buccal swab containing Jackson’s DNA. Those results confirmed we had the right man and finally could tell the victim’s families we know who is responsible for this heinous crime,” said Stanley M. Meador, the FBI Richmond special agent in charge.

Jackson, who went by the name “Leo,” died in prison in March 2018 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Jackson had a lengthy criminal history, including kidnapping, rapes, and assaults. The investigative team continued taking steps to learn more about Jackson’s activities through the years. 

Jackson, a residential painter by trade, was an avid hiker and was known to visit Shenandoah National Park.

“After 28 years, we are now able to say who committed the brutal murders of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams in Shenandoah National Park,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today. “I want to again extend my condolences to the Winans and Williams families and hope today’s announcement provides some small measure of solace.”

In 2021, a new FBI Richmond investigative team was assigned to conduct a methodic review of the case. FBI special agents, intelligence analysts, and other FBI Richmond employees reassessed hundreds of leads and interviews. They spent countless hours to identify and prioritize evidence from the crime scene to retest and submitted the items to an accredited private lab.

Recently, the private lab successfully pulled DNA from several items of evidence and, with assistance from the Virginia State Police, the profile was submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). There was a positive match to Walter Leo Jackson Senior (born November 2, 1947). Jackson was a convicted serial rapist, originally from the Cleveland, Ohio area.

Blue Ridge Outdoors reported in a 2018 article that photos left behind on the women’s camera give a glimpse of the last few days of their lives. “The women arrived in Shenandoah National Park on May 19, 1996, and launched off into the woods on the Whiteoak Canyon Trail, emerging again a few days later due to rain. … They hitched a ride with a park ranger and renewed their camping permit before setting out again. They climbed Hawksbill, the highest mountain in Shenandoah, before making camp that night in an idyllic spot next to a stream near the Appalachian Trail.”

The FBI said it will continue to work with law enforcement partners to determine if Jackson is responsible for other unsolved crimes.