Ep. 50-The Unsolved Murders Along Shaw Creek

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Nestled in the woods of Aiken County, South Carolina, Shaw Creek holds dark secrets beneath its serene surface. Between 1987 and 1993, the remains of four Black women were discovered along these waterways, their bodies stripped of clothing, possessions, and ultimately, their identities. This is the haunting story of a forgotten serial killer who has never faced justice.

The pattern began when hunters stumbled upon skeletal remains in November 1987. The woman had been deliberately positioned—face down, arms outstretched, legs crossed. She stood tall at 5'8" to 5'10" and had distinctive facial features indicating possible Caribbean heritage. Her hair tested positive for cocaine, but decades later, she remains known only as the "1987 Aiken Jane Doe."

As more bodies emerged from the wilderness—Jacqueline "Jackie" Council, a mother of four; an unidentified woman whose remains were burned to destroy evidence; and Ristine Durden, found 15 miles from the others but under strikingly similar circumstances—a chilling pattern emerged. The killer targeted Black women in their mid-20s to early 30s, methodically removing anything that could identify them before leaving them in isolated areas along Shaw Creek.

We examine multiple suspects, including Joseph Patrick Washington, who terrorized similar victims in nearby Augusta before dying in prison in 1999; John Wayne Boyer, the "Long Haul Trucker Killer"; and several other violent offenders with ties to the area. Yet the case remains frustratingly unsolved, the killer potentially still walking free.

The Shaw Creek murders raise disturbing questions about how certain victims—particularly women of color with possible connections to drugs or sex work—become forgotten in our criminal justice system. Two women still have no names, their humanity erased first by their killer and then by time. Join us as we give voice to these women and the relentless search for a predator who believed he could strip his victims of their identities forever.

Have information about these cases? Contact the Aiken County Sheriff's Office. Share this episode and help us ensure these women are not forgotten.