Samuel Little murders: FBI seeks public help to identify 25 victims after serial killer confesses to 93 killings
The FBI is seeking help from the public to identify unidentified victims of the most prolific serial killer in American history, Samuel Little. Little says he strangled his 93 victims between 1970 and 2005 and while law enforcement has been able to verify 50 confessions, many more are pending final confirmation, the FBI said in a press statement.
Due to the modus operandi used by Little, beat and strangle - he came to be known as the "choke and stroke" killer. Also, he left no stab wounds or bullet holes in the body. Many of his victims' deaths had been ruled as accidents, overdoses, and natural causes. Some bodies were never found.
"For many years, Samuel Little believed he would not be caught because he thought no one was accounting for his victims", said FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) Crime Analyst Christie Palazzolo. “Even though he is already in prison, the FBI believes it is important to seek justice for each victim — to close every case possible.”
Here are the unmatched cases and the images that they received from Little:
1. Black transgender, 18, killed in 1971 or 1972
In a video released by the FBI, Little recounted that in 1971 or 1972 he met a good-looking, 18- to 19-year-old black transgender in Miami, Florida. He said that it was a man who presented himself as a woman to him. The victim was approximately 5’6” - 5’7” tall and weighed around 140 pounds. She was from Liberty City, Miami. She had a boyfriend named Wes. She was probably called "Mary Ann" or "Marianne."
The two had met at a bar named The Pool or Pool Palace near 17th Avenue in Miami for the first time. He met her again at a bar in Overtown where he offered to give her a ride home. He said that she lived with some roommates between Bronxville and Liberty City. When he reached her place, he had been driving a gold 4-door Pontiac LeMans. He killed her after they left for the store to buy shaving cream for one of her roommates north on Highway 27. He dumped her body after driving further to into the Everglades and turned down a dirt road that led to a river or a swamp and dragged her approximately 200 yards into muddy waters. He believes her body was never found.
2. Black female killed in 1992 or 1993
Little met a 24-year-old black girl between 1992 and 1994 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He described the woman as 5’5” - 5’7” tall, and approximately 200 pounds. He said that she had buck teeth and had gaps between them. He described her as having "honey-colored skin." He said that he stayed with her for a couple of days and then would shoplift. He was even arrested for it. Records indicate that Little was, in fact, arrested by North Little Rock Police Department for shoplifting from a Kroger store on April 20, 1994, according to the FBI statement. He was driving a 1978 yellow Cadillac El Dorado or a yellow Dodge. On his release after a couple of hours, he had come back to find the woman sleeping inside.
He had met her for the first time at a crack house where she and 6 other women were sitting on the porch. After his release, they went to meet her ex-boyfriend called Bear and back to her house. He believes Bear is dead now. They drove to Benton or Bentonville, Arkansas the next day and when they were outside Little Rock, he strangled her down on a dirt road and then placed her body on a pile of branches and corn stalks.
3. White female, Covington, Kentucky, 1984
Little met a white woman, approximately 25 years of age with "dishwasher blonde" hair that was as short as a bob when he was driving from Lorraine, Ohio to Cincinnati. At the time he was driving a Lincoln Continental Mark III. He met her outside a strip club and she asked him to give her a ride to Miami. He remembers her as being 5’6” - 5’7” tall and 130-170 pounds. He also said that she looked like a hippie.
Little and the white woman drove south on Interstate 75 and they reached Cincinnati where they spent time together on Vine Street downtown. They then drove up to northern Kentucky where he found a dirt road near I-75 and strangled her in the backseat. He left her covered partially with vegetation on top of the hill that the dirt road led to.
4. Black female, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1993
Little met a 40-year-old black woman on either Owens Avenue or Jackson Street in Las Vegas in 1993. At the time he was driving a 1978 yellow Cadillac Eldorado to Los Angeles. He said she weighed approximately 110-120 pounds and was 5'5" tall and was dark-skinned and thin and wore a long wig, possibly. She also had a son, a black male who was approximately 19-23 years old. He killed her in a motel room and strangled her and then put her body in the trunk of his car and drove outside the city. He found a secluded road where he threw her body out of the car, rolled her down the slope on the side of the road and left her there. He drove further down and threw out her clothes as well. Her body was most likely never found.
5. Black female, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1982
In 1982, Little met a black female in New Orleans at a nightclub. The woman had two sisters and the youngest one was having a birthday party. After the club, the two went on a drive in his Lincoln Continental Mark III. He drove her to the Little Woods exit off I-10 where they turned down a dirt road along a canal that was being dredged. They reached a bayou, where he grabbed her legs and drowned her in the river. This was the only victim that he drowned, he said. He left her body there.
He described the woman as approximately 30-40 years old, 5’8”-5’9” tall, weighing 160 pounds, with “honey-colored” brown skin and medium-length straight hair. He said she lived with her mother, who was sickly and possibly an invalid.
6. Hispanic female, killed in either 1988 or 1996
The woman was said to be in her 40s. No other details are available.
7. Black female, Fort Myers, Florida, 1984
No other details are available.
8. Black female, Tampa Bay, Florida, 1984
No other details are available.
9. Black female, Munroe, Louisiana, 1987 and early 1990s
She was 24 years old. No other details are available.
10. Black female, Plant City, Florida, 1977 or 1978
Little met the victim in Clearwater, Florida. No other details are available.
11. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1987
She was aged between 26-27 years old. No other details are available.
12. Black female, Savannah, Georgia, 1974
She was aged between 22-23 years old. No other details are available.
13. Black female, Savannah, Georgia, 1984
She was 23 years old. No other details are available.
14. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1992 or 1993
No other details are available.
15. Black female, Atlanta, Georgia, 1981
She was aged between 35-40 years old. No other details are available.
16. Black female, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1974
No other details are available.
17. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1996
She was aged between 23-25 years old. No other details are available.
18. Black female, Atlanta, Georgia, 1984
Aged between 23-25 years. Victim possibly a college student. No other details are available.
19. White female, Los Angeles, California, 1996
Aged between 23-25 years old. No other details are available.
20. Black female, Charleston, South Carolina, between 1977 and 1982
She was 28 years old. No other details are available.
21. White female, Homestead, Florida in 1970 or 1971
No other details are available.
22. Black female, Granite City, Illinois, between 1976 and 1979
The victim was aged 26. The two met in St. Louis, Missouri. No other details are available.
23. Black female, Houston, Texas, between 1976 and 1979 or in 1993
Aged between 25-28 years old. No other details are available.
24. Black female killed in Miami, Florida, 1971
Aged 22. No other details are available.
25. Black female killed in Miami, Florida, 1971 or 1972
She was aged 28 and was possibly working on Homestead Air Force Base. No other details are available.
26. Black female, Miami, Florida, mid-1970s
Aged 23-24 years old and possibly called Emily. Victim possibly worked at the University of Miami.
27. Black female, East St.Louis, Illinois, between 1976 and 1979
The two met in St. Louis, Missouri. No other information is available.
28. Black female, Knoxville, Tenessee in 1975
She was aged 25. No other information is available.
29. Black female killed in Los Angeles, California in 1996
The victim was aged 25.
30. Black female killed in Los Angeles, California in 1996
The victim was aged between 23-24 years old and possibly called T-Money.
31. Hispanic female killed in Los Angeles, California in 1992 or 1993
She was aged between 24-25 years old. Victim possibly from Phoenix.
32. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1992
33. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1991 or 1992
Aged between 20-22 years old. Victim possibly from San Francisco.
34. Black female, Los Angeles, California, in 1990 or 1991
Aged between 40-45 years. The victim possibly called Alice.
35. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1987
Aged 22-23 years.
36. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1987
Aged 19.
37. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1987
Age 50 possibly called Granny.
38. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1987
39. Black female, Los Angeles, California, 1987
40. Black female, Gulfport, Mississipi, between 1980 and 1984
She was aged 22.
41. Black female killed in San Bernardino, California in 1984
She was between 18 and 23.
If you have any information linked to Little’s confessions, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit at tip online at tips.fbi.gov.