INTERVIEW: Frank Figliuzzi, Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers, Sex Trafficking, and Solutions

In 2004, an analyst from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation discovered a pattern of murdered women dumped along the Interstate 40 corridor in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Her work eventually led to the creation of the FBI’s Highway Serial Killings Initiative. 

In today’s episode, I sit down with Frank Figliuzzi, former FBI Assistant Director and author of Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers. In his book, Figliuzzi examines the Highway Serial Killings Initiative and takes readers inside the worlds of long-haul truckers, sex trafficking victims, and the crime analysts working to solve these cases.

Our conversation covers the common misconceptions about trafficking victims, the challenges analysts face in connecting cases across jurisdictions, and why long-haul trucking can provide both opportunity and cover for serial killers. We also explore solutions: from efforts within the trucking industry to fight trafficking, to how criminalizing victims only deepens the problem, to the larger cultural challenge of reducing men’s violence against women.

If you suspect human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline:  [phone] or text “HELP” to 233733

Check out more resources for victims of human trafficking at: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en

Check out more of Frank Figliuzzi’s work at his website: https://frankfigliuzzi.com/

You can purchase his book wherever books are sold! https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-long-haul-hunting-the-highway-serial-killers-frank-figliuzzi/20575018?ean=9780063265158&next=t

SOURCES:

• Figliuzzi, F. (2024). Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers. Mariner Books.
• https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040609
• https://www.phoenix.gov/administration/departments/humanservices/programs-services/strategic-initiatives/eliminating-human-trafficking.html#accordion-a6984a59c2-item-d044dd75fd

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