Crossdresser Travis Harrison May Have Been Mistaken for a Woman by Serial Killer (Rocky Mount, NC)
Slow Motion Apocalypse
Crossdresser Travis Harrison May Have Been Mistaken for a Woman by
Serial Killer By Gary C. King in Police bungling, Sex crimes,
homicide, serial killers, unsolved Tuesday, Dec. 15 2009 @ 9:00AMPost
a Comment
In 2006, a Rocky Mount, North Carolina fisherman and his son got what
may have been the catch, not to mention shock, of their lives when
they stumbled upon the body of a man lying in a brush pile along a
bank of the Tar River. Due to decomposition, all they knew was the
body was dead and naked -- except for socks...
An autopsy revealed that the victim had been dead for at least a few
weeks, but a pathologist could not determine how the victim had died
due to the severity decomposition.
Taraha Nicholson is one of seven woman presumably killed by the same
man in Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Information about the discovery was not initially circulated by
police throughout Edgecombe County or the state, leaving police
handicapped and unable to find anyone who knew anything about the
man's death. They soon exhausted their leads. All they knew was that
the dead man had significant traces of cocaine in his urine.
It took several months, but investigators eventually identified the
dead man as 24-year-old Travis Raregus Harrison, a Rocky Mount
resident. But the investigation seemed to stall until about two weeks
ago, when detectives showed up at the home of Harrison's mother,
Lillian Clark, and asked her for a new photo of her son.
"They said they didn't know anything new, and that they were out of
leads," Clark said.
She also said that police were now looking into the possibility that
her son's mysterious death may be linked to the case of seven Rocky
Mount women whose mostly naked bodies had been turning up in swampy
fields in the area since 2003. Harrison's stepfather, Joe Clark,
recently said that he may understand why a connection between
Harrison's death and the seven unsolved homicides of female victims
had not been made.
"What they don't realize," Joe Clark said, "is that he was a
crossdresser."
Like Elizabeth Smallwood, the dead all occasionally traded sex for
drugs
Similar to the seven other victims, Harrison was black, a known drug
abuser, and that he sometimes traded his body for drugs.
Police began to consider the possibility that Harrison, in drag, had
run across the killer they were looking for who had mistaken him for a
woman. Under the circumstances and with little else to go on, it
seemed like a viable theory to pursue.
Because most of the women's bodies had been found outside of the Rocky
Mount city limits, the investigation was being led by Edgecombe County
Sheriff James Knight who, naturally, declined to provide many details
of the ongoing probe. A department spokeswoman stopped short of
saying that Harrison's death had been officially linked or not to the
other seven homicides.
"We investigate each case on its own," Rocky Mount police Captain
Laura Fahnestock said. "We are not going to publicly link together
any cases unless we have evidence showing that there is, in fact, a
connection. Of course, we do consider other cases for any possible
similarities when we investigate."
Rocky Mount City Councilman Andre Knight, however, has been pushing
the sheriff's department to officially include Harrison's death as
part of the other investigation.
"This case happened in the same timeframe, and this case has several
similarities with the others," Councilman Knight said. "I think while
we have the FBI involved, they should seriously take a look at this
case. All the family wants is closure, and I think they should get the
attention and resources they need to bring justice."
A state and local task force led by the sheriff's department has been
investigating possible connections between the unsolved deaths of
Jarniece Hargrove, 31, Elizabeth Smallwood, 33, Taraha Nicholson, 28,
Ernestine Battle, 50, Jackie Thorpe, 35, and Melody Wiggins, 29. In
September, Sheriff Knight announced that the death of Denise Williams,
21, had been included in the investigation.
Three additional women whose bodies have not turned up and are being
looked for as "missing" as part of the larger investigation include
Yolanda Lancaster, 53, Joyce Renee Durham, 46, and Christine Boone,
43.
Harrison's mother and stepfather said they were disappointed with the
initial lack of attention shown to their son's death by the police and
the media. "My son's death should be included with the others,"
Lillian Clark said. "If it will lead to them catching someone, then I
think it should be."
A $20,000 reward is currently being offered to anyone who provides a
tip that leads to an arrest in the deaths of the women. Anyone with
information about the case is asked to please call the Twin County
Crime Stoppers at (252) 977-1111.
Also see Antwan Maurice Pittman: Have Police Caught a Serial Killer in
Rocky Mount, North Carolina?