1988 - Aileen Wournous                                 Home

                                                                               Florida Interstate Highway Murderer

    In the 90s when Eileen Wournous was arrested and her crimes became publicized, I realized that I had had a close encounter with her in the 80s. In the 80's my younger brother was attending Florida State University and I began to take an interest in Florida State football.

In the fall of 1980 while I was campaigning for Ed Clark for the LP candidate for president, I traveled to Tallahassee to see the Florida State - Pittsburg football game. My younger brother Rick was attending Florida St at the time. I had two huge posters with a picture of Ed Clark and a Clark for President sign taped to each side of my blue ford van. At the game my Clark for President button was lost in all the Bobbie Bowden for President buttons. Florida State upset Dan Marino and Pittsburg and I became of fan of the exciting style of Bowden football.

As a result throughout the 80's and 90's I was on the highways between Bonita Springs and Tallahasee in the fall of the year occasionally. On one of those occasions after the game I was headed south somewhere around Gainesville when I saw two girls hitchhiking. One was blond and one brunette. The blond was more actively engaged in trying to thumb down a ride while the brunette was sitting by the side of the road.

At the time it had been at least 10 years since I had had any sex so I immediately brought the car to a halt by the side of the road. I was about 30 yards past the blond and she waved to the brunette to hurry along as she began running toward the van. As she did I had this premonition of me being attacked by them while I was in a compromising situation. I imagined them cutting my balls off. I decided to pass and took off.

As I did I could see her disappointment. On the way home I fantasized about what I could have done with them. I even thought about taking them to my house in Bonita for a while. I am not sure of the first time I saw them but after reading about her I am thinking that it was after the 1988 Florida game which Florida State won 52-17.

     Sometime in the early 90s I began to hear on the news that police were looking for two girl hitchhikers in connection with several murders of men on the highways of central Florida. I had a suspicion that these were the blonde and brunette that I had almost picked up two years earlier.

On thanksgiving weekend 1990 I went to Tallahasee for another Florida State-Florida game. On my way back I saw the same two girls hitchhiking again. This time I slowed down to get a good look at them but I didn't stop. I thought about stopping and calling 911 to get hold of the highway patrol, but I didn't. I would have had to have stopped somewhere for a phone as I had no cell phone at that time. I figured they had to be the two girls they were looking for. I just couldn't believe they were still out there hitchhiking. Again my distrust of authority due to the Kennedy assassination had prevented me from calling the police.

     After reading about her murders I now know that they had just murdered another man in the week prior to thanksgiving weekend 1990. She was arrested Jan 9th, 1991.

When I stopped in 1988 and almost picked them up they had not murdered anyone yet. I now have to wonder if I had stopped and picked them up and taken them to my home and provided them with some security and gotten them off the road if their futures might have been different.