Margaret Lynn Finner, 27, disappeared from Wilmington, Delaware on August 22, 1988. She was last seen along Route 13 getting into a distinctive blue Ford panel van with no side windows and round headlights, driven by a white man. Her stepfather reported her missing that day; a friend called him the next day with information about her last known whereabouts.

On November 12, 1988 a hunter found skeletal remains near the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Dental comparison identified the remains as Margaret’s. The medical examiner could not determine an exact cause of death because of the advanced decomposition, though reports noted signs of torture on the remains. Her death was investigated alongside a string of brutal killings in New Castle County.

The blue Ford van description linked her case to others investigated by a task force pursuing the so-called Route 40 Killer. The probe focused on electrician Steven Brian Pennell after a female undercover officer encountered him and noted blue carpet fibers matching those on another victim. A search of his van reportedly turned up items described as a torture kit; Pennell was arrested on November 29, 1988. He was not formally charged in Margaret Finner’s killing due to the condition of her remains, though authorities and family expressed belief in his responsibility.

Did anyone in the Wilmington area remember seeing a blue panel van on Route 13 in August 1988 or know more about Margaret’s last day?