In a major development for long-unsolved Cold cases, Virginia authorities announced that advanced DNA testing has linked Alan Wade Wilmer, Sr. to multiple violent crimes. This raises new questions about whether a serial killer may have been operating in the region during the 1980s.
Investigators revealed the findings during a press conference, calling the results “a turning point in several historic investigations.”
A Break in the Laurie Ann Powell Case
Wilmer, who died in 2017 at age 63, was conclusively connected to the 1988 stabbing death of 18-year-old Laurie Ann Powell, a Gloucester County teenager who vanished on March 8, 1988. Her body was found nearly a month later in the Elizabeth River.
According to Virginia State Police, Powell’s family attended Friday’s announcement and grew emotional as investigators described how decades-old evidence finally produced answers. “If Wilmer were alive today, he would absolutely face criminal charges,” one investigator said.
Because Wilmer had no felony convictions, his DNA was never entered into national databases. Only after his death did forensic specialists obtain a DNA profile that matched crime scene samples.
