In May of 2002, a St. Louis reporter received a letter with a map marked with an X and a chilling message: "To prove I'm real, here's directions to number seventeen." The map leads police to a body. And one digital mistake exposed a killer's darkest secrets. Between 2000 and 2002, at least twelve women vanished from the streets of St. Louis, their deaths barely noticed by a society that had already dismissed them. What investigators found in a suburban basement would out one of the most disturbing serial killers in American history.<br /><br /><b>Sources:</b><ul><li><a href="https://www.stltoday.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.stltoday.com/</a> (Main site - archival articles from 2002)</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/11/us/internet-used-to-find-man-who-is-charged-in-2-of-10-killings.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/11/us/internet-used-to-find-man-who-is-charged-in-2-of-10-killings.html</a></li><li><a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-17-na-serial17-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-17-na-serial17-story.html</a></li><li><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132005&page=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132005&page=1</a> (Serial Killer's Home Movies)</li><li><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-found-serial-killer-lived-home-watching-tv/story?id=24467447" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-found-serial-killer-lived-home-watching-tv/story?id=24467447</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bnd.com/news/local/crime/article311186715.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.bnd.com/news/local/crime/article311186715.html</a></li><li><a href="https://fox2now.com/news/true-crime/serial-killer-maury-travis-the-street-walker-strangler/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://fox2now.com/news/true-crime/serial-killer-maury-travis-the-street-walker-strangler/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.semissourian.com/story/77256.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.semissourian.com/story/77256.html</a></li><li>Forensic Files: "X Marks the Spot" (Season 7, Episode 35) - Available on streaming platforms</li><li>Cold Case Files: "A Map to Murder" (Season 2, Episode 19) - Originally aired on A&E</li><li>Evil, I: "Hell's Basement" episode</li><li>Unknown Serial Killers of America (2025)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maury_Travis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maury_Travis</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120509185024/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/vernon_geberth/12.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://web.archive.org/web/20120509185024/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/vernon_geberth/12.html</a></li><li><a href="https://www.fbi.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.fbi.gov/</a></li><li><a href="https://isp.illinois.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://isp.illinois.gov/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.slmpd.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.slmpd.org/</a></li><li><a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/forensics/digital-evidence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/forensics/digital-evidence</a></li><li><a href="https://dnadoeproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://dnadoeproject.org/</a></li></ul><br /><br />Become a supporter of this podcast: <a href="https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reverie-true-crime--4442888/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss">https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reverie-true-crime--4442888/support</a>.<br /><br /><b>Keep In Touch:</b><br /><ul><li><i>Twitter:</i> https://www.twitter.com/reveriecrimepod</li><li><i>Instagram:</i> https://www.instagram.com/reverietruecrime</li><li><i>Tumblr: </i>https://reverietruecrimepodcast.tumblr.com</li><li><i>Facebook: </i>https://www.facebook.com/reverietruecrime</li><li><i>Contact:</i> [email protected] </li></ul><i>Intro & Outro by Jahred Gomes:</i> https://www.instagram.com/jahredgomes_official
