William Anthony Kagdis, 54, was murdered after checking into Room 17 of the Johnson Motel on James Madison Highway in Warrenton, Virginia, on August 1, 1982. A NASA engineer from Baltimore traveling on business, Kagdis had been seen with a young white male when he checked in. The next day he was found face down in a pool of blood; the room showed signs of a violent struggle. Investigators determined he had been beaten with a lamp and stabbed multiple times with scissors, and an autopsy listed severe blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death.

Kagdis’s white 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit station wagon, Maryland plate EBX304, was missing after the killing and is believed to have been taken by whoever killed him; the vehicle has never been recovered. No arrests have been reported and the case remains unsolved. If anyone has information about the young man seen with Kagdis that night or the missing Rabbit, contact the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office.