Diane Denise Williams was 17 and a junior at Ballou High School when she was killed on September 5, 1972. The eldest of six children, she had hopes of becoming a model and was described as fashionable. After visiting her boyfriend that evening she was seen getting off a bus at Martin Luther King Road and South Capitol Street, a short distance from her home.

The next morning a truck driver found her body on a grassy incline along Interstate 295, about two miles from home. She was fully clothed but barefoot; her shoes were discovered nearby with the name DIANA written on the soles. An autopsy determined she had been strangled. Semen was recovered from her clothing but was not linked publicly to anyone; the boyfriend denied sexual contact that night. Diane’s killing was one of several similar slayings in 1971–1972 attributed to the Freeway Phantom. No arrests have been announced and the case remains unsolved.

If anyone knew Diane, her movements that night, or has information that could help, please come forward.