Model’s body was found mutilated by 18 shots: a note in her pocket indicates a truck driver is the possible murderer

A note found in the pocket of a model whose body was found off Interstate 80 in western Union County, Pennsylvania, led police to charge a Texas man with his death on Wednesday.

Tracy Ray Rollins Jr., 28, a truck driver from Dallas, Texas, has been charged with murder and corpse abuse in the death of Rebecca Landrith, 47, A native of Virginia who worked as a model in New York City. He was arrested in Connecticut.

Landrith’s body was found just before 7 a.m. on Sunday by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) employee on the eastbound exit of I-80 at the Mile Run interchange near Loganton.

During an autopsy, 18 bullets were removed from Landrith’s body. says the arrest statement.

He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the face, neck and chest, plus two on one hand which the state police called defensive.

“We are relieved,” his brother, George Landrith, told local media about the arrest. “It doesn’t relieve the sense of loss.”

There was concern about an arrest for finding her in the middle of nowhere, he said on behalf of the family. There are no businesses at that intersection and it is surrounded by state forests.

“Her family loved her very much”, his brother continued. None of this brings her back. It is important that he receives justice. “

“It took old-fashioned police work,” District Attorney D. Peter Johnson told Pennlive when asked how quickly an arrest happened.

Neither he nor state police have released what they believe was the motive for the shooting or whether a weapon was recovered. No weapon was found with the body, police said.

The affidavit of the arrest shows that investigators had a significant head start when They found a note in a pocket of Landrith’s leather jacket with Tracy Rollins’s name, a phone number, and an email address.

Using that information, the receipts in his pockets and Rollins’ cell phone records, Officials said they followed his journey from Wisconsin to Maine with a stop at the Mile Run junction from 11:48 p.m. Saturday to 12:10 p.m. Sunday.

Landrith was apparently shot in the cab of the truck.

According to the file, the truck found:

Meat and brain-like matter on the lower bunk behind the passenger seat and meat-like matter under the outer door of the upper stair.

Powder applied as a cleaning agent to the front seat covering signs of blood, six 9mm carcass shells on the front floor and on the floor behind the passenger seat.

The bullet hits the back wall behind the passenger seat and on the bottom bunk, they said.

Rollins was followed to Mildale, Connecticut, and was taken into custody around 11:50 PM on Wednesday. when state police stopped his truck after leaving a truck stop.

When you look in the cabin Police said they saw in plain sight what appeared to be a bleach / cleaner that covered much of the passenger seat and floor.

According to the affidavit, Rollins told investigators that he had been driving trucks for three years, that he did not know Landrith or recognized her from a photo, but that a woman named Leslie whom he had met at a truck stop near Milford, Connecticut, had traveled with him. .

Information was obtained from Milford Police Landrith had made hotel reservations in December under the name of Leslie Myers.

According to Rollins, “Leslie” accompanied him to Maine, back to Connecticut, and then to Brooklyn, New York, and Wisconsin, where he picked up a shipment to deliver it to Maine.

The file adds: When asked about his travels, Rollins replied: “I hate lying to you because this is a murder investigation.”

At that moment, Rollins had not been notified or provided information that this was a murder investigation.

By locating a receipt in Landrith’s pocket and watching the security video, it was determined that Rollins had made the purchase on February 7 at Popeye’s in Howe, Indiana.

Court-ordered data tracked Rollins’ cell phone east of I-80 to the Mile Run interchange and then on to Pittston and Maine. It appeared in a safety video at a truck stop in Baileyville, Maine.

There was no identification on the body and Landrith was not wearing socks or shoesHis identification was confirmed by fingerprints.

According to Landrith’s biography, she was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the youngest of five siblings.

She was a professional model in New York City, a Miss Manhattan 2014 finalist, an accomplished violinist, and a champion for numerous charities.

She had appeared in numerous product announcements, video commercials and on multiple runways, including Fashion Week.

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