Rebecca Landrith missing model, 47, shot dead 18 times, body found by I-80, Pennsylvania. Tracy Rollins, Truck driver arrested. No known murder motive.
A truck driver has been arrested after the body of a former fashion model riddled with 18 gunshot wounds was found along Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania over the weekend according to reports.
The body of Rebecca Landrith, 47, of Alexandria, Virginia, was found by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee on the side of a ramp of I-80 circa 7 am, Sunday morning.
Tracy Ray Rollins Jr., 28, a Dallas, Texas truck driver come Wednesday was arrested in the woman’s murder, the Philly Voice reported.
Police said the former model was found wearing blue maternity jeans, a purple shirt and a black leather jacket but no socks or shoes. Authorities believe that Landrin was killed a few hours before she was found near the interchange ramp in Union County, around 120 miles north of Philadelphia.
The coroner reported the former model/brand ambassador had multiple gunshot wounds to the head, neck and throat, with 18 bullets removed from her body WLNS reported.
Note inside victim’s coat included suspect’s name, address
An iStudio page for Landrith described her previously working as a model in New York City and was a finalist for the ‘Miss Manhattan’ contest in 2014, as well as the ‘America’s It Girl Miss Lady Liberty’ pageant.
‘Ms. Landrith has appeared in numerous product advertisements, video commercials, magazines, acted as a spokesmodel in videos for businesses and their websites, and multiple haute-couture Runway shows including Fashion Week,’ her biography stated.
Police found a note in Landrith’s pocket with Rollins particulars that led to the arrest of the truck driver earlier this week.
Rollins was taken into custody in Milldale, Connecticut, on homicide and abuse of corpse charges, PennLive reported.
The note had Rollins’ name, a phone number and an email address, investigators said. Authorities also said Landrith recently traveled through Indiana and Wisconsin.
Rollins told investigators he had been driving for three years and didn’t know Landrith, and that he had been traveling with a woman named ‘Leslie’ he met at a truck stop in Connecticut, according to an affidavit obtained by PennLive.
He said he and Leslie traveled to Maine; Brooklyn, New York; Connecticut; and Wisconsin, the affidavit states.
Model was estranged from family
Police learned the model made hotel reservations in December under the name Leslie Myers, the outlet reported.
Police arrested Rollins after allegedly finding blood and shell casings in Rollins’ truck after searching it late on Wednesday night, The Mirror reported.
According to media reports, the suspect had tried to clean his truck with bleach and other solutions. The discovery of flesh and brain-like matter on the bottom bunk mattress behind the passenger seat led to investigators deducing the victim having been shot inside the cab of the truck before her was discarded along a highway.
Landrith’s brother, George Landrith, told PennLive that his younger sister had never married, and had been estranged from the family for about five years. The brother expressed gratitude an arrest in her murder was made.
‘We’re relieved,’ brother George Landrith told PennLive. ‘It doesn’t ease the sense of loss.’
‘Her family loved her dearly,’ he added. ‘None of this brings her back. It is important she receives justice.’
No known motive
The brother conceding knowing little about his sister’s life, but said that their parents are divorced, and that her father lives in Utah. She was one of five siblings.
Not immediately clear is how Landrith came to meet Rollins and what led to the former model seemingly traveling across the North East United States and what ultimately led to her violent murder and her being dumped by a road.
