HAMPTON, Va. — Following news of a suspect in at least one of the Colonial Parkway double homicides, family members of the other victims say they hope this break in one case will uncover new leads.
Family members of two victims say they’re hoping people come forward with information that could help solve their cases.
"It's very difficult to wait 37 years for answers," said Bill Thomas.
Bill Thomas said he still has a lot of questions about what happened to his sister Cathy Thomas, a victim in a series of killings known as the Colonial Parkway murders.
During a press conference on Monday, law enforcement announced Alan Wilmer is responsible for at least one of the double homicides.
"As the brother of a murder victim I can't help but take some real joy in seeing families get answers," Bill Thomas said. "Someone here in Virginia has to know more about the history of this gentleman."
While police have not directly connected Wilmer to Cathy’s death, Bill Thomas is hoping more information will be brought to light to help solve the other cold cases now that police identified a suspect in another Colonial Parkway murder.
"We need people to think long and hard if they have ever crossed paths with this man," said Bill Thomas. “Go back and take a look at this gentleman. They’ve got really great pictures of him with age progression: what he looked like back in the 80s, what he looked like a few years ago before he passed. People may remember something. This is a time for the public to step forward.”
The mother of another victim is also hoping people who knew Wilmer will come forward. Joanne Hailey's daughter, Cassandra "Sandra" Hailey, disappeared in 1988.
"The only thing this thing can do, bringing it out, is shake the wool out of the trees," said Joanne Hailey. "Because there's someone, people who know what happened and they're just too afraid to come forward."
Both Joanne Hailey and Bill Thomas are asking anyone who may have information about Wilmer, and his whereabouts in the 1980s, to come forward.
“If people who knew this man, and particularly hunted or fished with this man, they [police] want to know his whereabouts," Thomas said. "Where did he go? One of the Colonial Parkway murders is linked directly to a hunt club. Could Mr. Wilmer have been a person that hunted back in that club in the 1980s?”
They say even if a tip seems insignificant, it could help detectives find leads in these other cases.
"[Cassandra] did not deserve anybody to do something like this," Joanne Hailey said. "She was a kind person. She treated everybody with respect. She’d give the shirt off your back if you needed it and she was loved by a lot of people who still remember her.”
The family of another Colonial Parkway murder victim is also speaking out. Richard "Keith" Call disappeared alongside Cassandra Hailey back in 1988.
Keith’s sister Joyce Call said she’s asking anyone with information about Alan Wilmer to contact the police.
“Our family is hopeful that our case will have closure very soon,” she said.