Linda Neal, a 40-year-old Black woman, was found dead on September 25, 2004, in Peoria County, Illinois. Her body was located in a field, and investigators determined she had not been killed where she was found. Neal was a sex worker and her death was later linked to a series of murders targeting Black female sex workers in the area earlier that year.

Detective Dave Hoyle, who had previously met Neal after she reported being sexually assaulted by a customer, was assigned to her case but was unable to identify the assailant from that earlier report. A task force formed after Neal’s death and investigators conducted surveillance of known sex workers; tips increased but surveillance did not prevent further killings.

On October 15, 2004, Brenda Erving, another Black female sex worker, was found deceased facedown on a muddy gravel road, nude except for a single sock. A sex worker named Vickie reported being strangled by a man named Larry Bright; authorities obtained a water bottle from Bright’s property with DNA that matched DNA found on Neal’s body. Larry Bright was arrested and charged with Neal’s murder and the murders of several other Black female sex workers.

Did anyone who knew Linda or worked in that community notice any interactions or patterns that could help fill gaps in the timeline?