On the evening of June 25, 1980, 26-year-old Vicki Durian of Wellman, Iowa, and her friend Nancy Santomero were found shot at close range in a secluded clearing on Briery Knob near Droop Mountain Park in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The two had been hitchhiking east to attend the Rainbow Family Gathering and were discovered the same night; the coroner estimated they had been dead no more than several hours. Neither woman carried identification, and investigators found no evidence of sexual assault.

The remote location suggested the killer might have known the mountain roads. Over the years suspicion focused on several local men amid changing stories, contradictions and concerns about witness credibility. In 1992 seven men were charged; the case against all was dismissed, then five were reindicted and Jacob Beard ultimately was tried and convicted in 1993. Beard has maintained challenges to the verdict, and the case has been complicated by later statements from convicted killer Joseph Paul Franklin claiming responsibility and by recanted or inconsistent witness accounts.

Are there readers who knew either woman or who have information about Briery Knob and the area on June 25, 1980?