(NewsNation) — The FBI’s “Highway Serial Killings Initiative” indicates that over the past few decades, at least 850 homicides in the United States are suspected to be linked to long-haul truck drivers.
On NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, explained that truck drivers who spend long periods on the road are often considered suspects in these cases.
The FBI initiative aims to connect seemingly unrelated murders that exhibit a pattern: female victims, many of whom are involved in prostitution or sex trafficking, are often picked up at truck stops, sexually assaulted, and subsequently murdered, with their bodies discarded in various locations.
Figliuzzi stated, “The FBI is confident that these 850 murders are the acts of serial killers.” He also mentioned that 25 long-haul truck drivers are currently incarcerated for multiple homicides.
Additionally, there are still 200 unresolved cases and authorities are investigating 450 potential suspects in these incidents. In his new book, “Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers,” Figliuzzi attempts to narrow down the suspect list by exploring three key subcultures: long-haul truckers, sex trafficking victims, and crime analysis.
To gather insights into this subculture, Figliuzzi spent a year traveling over 2,000 miles in a semi-truck.
He characterized the trucker lifestyle as isolating, noting that 10% of long-haul drivers consume alcohol daily, 20% engage in regular binge drinking, and 44% suffer from clinical depression. “Some of these killers express during interviews that they realize they have the freedom to exploit law enforcement jurisdictions, thus thinking they have a ‘license to kill,’” Figliuzzi remarked, drawing on his 25 years of experience with the FBI.
The FBI acknowledges that while the majority of truck drivers are diligent individuals, the isolation and transient nature of their work may attract or even foster the tendencies of serial killers.
