SUFFOLK — Virginia State Police and Isle of Wight Commonwealth’s Attorney Georgette Phillips announced Friday that through advancements in DNA technology, investigators have identified Alan W. Wilmer Sr. responsible for the 1988 death of Gloucester County teen Laurie Ann Powell.

Wilmer died in 2017 at the age of 63 in Lancaster County.

According to officials, 18-year-old Powell was last seen alive on March 8, 1988, walking along Route 614 towards Route 17 in Gloucester County. Her body was discovered on April 2, 1988, in the Elizabeth River near Craney Island. Powell had been stabbed multiple times.

In 2024, Wilmer was linked to three other murders: David Knobling and Robin Edwards in Isle of Wight in 1987, and Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell in Hampton in 1989. Knobling and Edwards’ deaths are

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