Model Dreams, Monster Road: The Murder of Janelle Johnson

In 1983, Janelle Johnson was chasing her dreams. Just 23 years old, she traveled from Riverton, Wyoming to Denver for a modeling interview at Vannoy Talent Center. She called home to check in, planned her return—and vanished.

Two weeks later, her body was discovered on a desolate stretch of Muskrat Creek Road near Shoshoni. She had been brutally assaulted, strangled, and left in a shallow grave. The forensic evidence that could have identified her killer was collected—then destroyed in a failed police refrigerator. Forty years later, her case remains unsolved.

In this episode of Dark Dialogue: Rocky Mountain Reckoning, John and Angela retrace Janelle’s final journey. From her ambitions as a small-town girl chasing big-city dreams to the dark realities of hitchhiking in the Great Basin during the 1980s, they explore the suspects who could have been responsible: Dale Wayne Eaton, Robert Ben Rhoades, Larry Hall, and the unknown predators who stalked Wyoming’s highways.

This is more than a murder story—it’s a story of systemic failure, lost justice, and a young woman who should never be forgotten.

👉 If you know anything about the murder of Janelle Johnson, contact the National Organization of Parents Of Murdered Children at (513) 721-5683 or darkdialogue.com | Join the Dark Dialogue Collective | Adopt-a-Victim Initiative

💜 Follow, rate, and share to help keep Janelle’s name alive—and to keep pressure on the people who know the truth.

Because justice delayed is justice denied.