A teenage hitchhiker narrowly escaped death after a frightening encounter with a man who would later be identified as the infamous serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades.
Author Vanessa Veselka shared a terrifying experience she had while hitchhiking across America as a teenager.
With the rise of Netflix’s true crime series, the interest in serial killers has spiked, yet few can claim to have survived an encounter with one.
Veselka recounted her bizarre meeting with Robert Ben Rhoades during the summer of 1985 and how she miraculously survived.
In an article for GQ, the 56-year-old recalled being at a truck stop with another person when the body of a young hitchhiker was discovered in a dumpster.
Fortunately, that ride was uneventful and they traveled to Ohio while enjoying Diet Coke and music. However, Veselka soon found herself in the car with Rhoades.
Rhoades, a truck driver, had transformed his vehicle into a torture chamber, allegedly killing up to 50 women between 1975 and 1990.
Dubbed the ‘Truck Stop Killer,’ his victims were often hitchhikers, sex workers, or young women alone at truck stops.
In her GQ article from 2012, Veselka described the chilling event: “Several days later, heading south on I-95 through the Carolinas, I got picked up by another trucker who was not fine.
“I don’t remember much about him except that he was taller and leaner than most truckers and didn’t wear jeans or T-shirts. He wore a cotton button-down with the sleeves rolled neatly up over his biceps and had the cleanest cab I ever saw.”
She observed that his demeanor changed on the road, and he soon stopped responding to her questions.
She described the shift in his posture, his relaxed face taking on ‘something both arrogant and blank’.
Veselka recounted that he mentioned the dead girl, then pulled over to the side of a wooded area and brandished a hunting knife.
Describing this terrifying moment, Veselka said: “[He] told me to get into the back of the cab. I began talking, saying the same things over and over. I said I knew he didn’t want to do it. I said it was his choice. I said he could do it in a few minutes.
“I said I wouldn’t go to the cops if nothing happened to me, but it was his choice—until he looked at me and I went still.”
Miraculously, the killer uttered one word: “Run.”
Despite fearing for her life just moments earlier, Veselka darted into the woods and hid, waiting for his truck to leave.
She later emerged onto the road, still in shock, and continued hitchhiking south.
For years, Veselka kept the encounter to herself, only learning of Rhoades’ gruesome acts in 2012 when a friend shared a news link about his crimes.
She initially didn’t recognize him, but upon seeing pictures from his younger years, she made the horrifying connection.
In April 1990, Rhoades was arrested in Arizona, facing charges of aggravated assault, sexual assault, and unlawful imprisonment.
He was found guilty of the murder of 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters and sentenced to life without parole.