The Rainbow Girls Murders

Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero were hitchhiking on their way to the Rainbow Family Gathering in June, 1980, when they disappeared. This was an annual gathering of hippies and free-thinking people where they would celebrate harmony, peace, and freedom at Monongahela National Forest. But after the two young women accepted a ride from a quiet young man driving a Chevy Nova, they were never seen alive again.

Join us at the quiet end for The Rainbow Girls Murders. Someone murdered Nancy and Vicki in cold blood, leaving their bodies to be found on a remote mountainside. But twelve years into the investigation, an innocent man was charged and convicted of their killings. This man would spend years in prison before the real killer could be brought to justice. Today, we’ll talk about this fascinating case and discuss why the wrong man was sent to prison and a cold-blooded killer was left free to kill again.

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Sources

Man who confessed to ‘Rainbow Murders’ is executed, The Associated Press, 11/19/2013

Life Without Mercy by Ralph Kennedy Echols

The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg