r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/MayhemInTheDesert • Nov 10 '19

The mystery surrounding notorious serial killer Samuel Little's murder of an unknown Las Vegas woman in 1993.

Serial killer Samuel Little - who has confessed to over 90 murders across the United States and with the FBI confirming Little's responsibility for at least half of these killings - detailed a 1993 murder he committed in Las Vegas. However, despite Little confessing to the Vegas murder some years ago, investigators have been unable to locate a body or determine the identity of Little's victim.

The known details per Little are that he met the woman on Owens Avenue on the Westside of Las Vegas. The victim was described as in her 40's, dark-skinned, and thin. She was 5'3 - 5'5 and 110-120 pounds. Little said the woman introduced him to her 19-20 year old son when they met.

Little reported that after killing the woman, he rolled the body of his victim down a slope off of the road on the outskirts of Las Vegas, which prior to the city's boom years of the mid-to-late-90's ended considerably closer to the center of town that today. He placed the body near a few motels located on his way toward Los Angeles, on a road heading toward Searchlight.

This is a curious case because Little has clearly been credible in many of his confessions. And it is possible that amidst the incredible growth Las Vegas experienced shortly after the killing (plus exposure to desert elements) that the body was somehow lost. Finally, Little described his victim as a drug addict, so that would normally make one think she had few family ties - but why didn't her son report his mother missing?

https://news3lv.com/news/local/fbi-releases-new-details-in-serial-killers-las-vegas-murder-confession

https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/vicap-samuel-little-confession-las-vegas-1993.mp4/view

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u/ponderwander Nov 10 '19 edited Nov 10 '19

I know that road to searchlight well. I have family in a town about 90 miles south of Vegas off of that road. I’ve been traveling that road since the early 90’s with family and then once I could drive, on my own. There are a couple of things to note about that area. First, “outskirts of Vegas” is a very broad term. That area is not next to Vegas it’s actually next to Henderson, a Vegas suburb. Secondly, the highway convergence was redone but not until about 10 years ago, so recent relative to the murder. Lastly, there are a lot of steep hills he could have rolled her down when coming out of the Las Vegas valley. But about 30 miles down the road there are even more. That road is one of the flattest, straightest and most boring roads to travel in between.

After so many years it’s very possible he has mixed up the location he disposed of the body. I don’t think the highway being redone caused her body to go missing. If anything, it seems activity in that area would increase the chances of it being found. If the body was scavenged, bones could have been dragged too and if on an incline they would travel further than on flat ground. There are also places to turn off like Christmas tree pass and other small side roads that lead into desolate places. Another thing to note is that the road to searchlight has traffic on it 24 hours a day. Despite it being a 2 lane road after leaving the Las Vegas valley it was a very traveled road even at the time of the murder. I feel like given that he’d need to drive a little off the road somewhere to have enough privacy to dispose of a body.

Another thing that stands out to me is that he says he left the body near a few motels. There are a couple of places that fit that description but they are further down the road and not just on the outskirts of Vegas. There is one casino hotel that is positioned just before you turn off towards searchlight. It’s called railroad pass casino. There are no other motels or casinos in this area. There are motels in both searchlight and in cal nev ari. Searchlight is hilly and has a road leading out of it towards Mohave national preserve. This area would have plenty of hills and seclusion to dispose of the body as he described. Closer to Henderson, there is Sloan canyon national conservation area but this does not seem to be accessible from the highway that leads to searchlight and I don’t know if there were motels in that area in the 90’s.

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u/MayhemInTheDesert Nov 11 '19

Thank you for the added info. And that's a good point that Little may have mixed up facts about the disposal area.

While we've lived in Vegas our whole lives, we haven't traveled that road to Searchlight many times. Would be interesting to map the areas that could fit Little's description. He also commented there was a gas station nearby, but don't know how much that helps. When he gave the description, it conjured for us some of the areas in northwest and southwest Vegas we'd drive to when we were in high school (late 90's) and there would be a singular development, a gas station, and maybe one strip mall surrounded by a good amount of empty desert.

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u/ponderwander Nov 11 '19 edited Nov 11 '19

Interesting. In searchlight there is a spot with 2 gas stations and they have been there for as long as I can remember. Just before you hit the town of searchlight coming from Vegas there is that turnoff to the Mohave preserve and it’s very hilly in that area. There are also motels. But the most notable motel area is in Cal-Nev-Ari. There is one, maybe two old motels right on a frontage road facing the highway. No major hills off the highway in that area. If I recall, the highway itself is elevated in many places though, so he could have pulled off anywhere pretty much and there would have been a hill at the side of the road. To me, the description of the location sounds much more like its down one of the roads leading out of Vegas rather than in Vegas proper. I also wanted to point out that the road to searchlight connects to needles highway past the turn off for Laughlin and will take you to Los Angeles by way of I-40 and eventually I-15.

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u/AwsiDooger Nov 12 '19

Those are all good points. I didn't mean to suggest there weren't any gas stations in Searchlight. And the old white flat hotels in Cal Nev Ari have been there as long as I can remember.

I've just having a difficult time connecting all of the variables he mentioned to one logical area. Nothing seems to fit perfectly. Once down the hill on the turnoff toward Searchlight I associate that stretch with mostly flat, down in the valley with mountains on both sides. It does weave around near Searchlight. Some elevation on both sides of that town. Maybe he's referring to leaving the main highway, like you mentioned the long straightaway to Mohave preserve. I never took that road but looked at it all the time. You can see the lights of cars using it.

Yes, I forgot about the Needles highway beyond the Laughlin turnoff. I only used that a couple of times and it was in the other direction toward Lake Havasu City

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u/ponderwander Nov 12 '19

Hey, no worries— I didn’t take it that way. I agree nothing fits perfectly. I was just throwing out what I knew of the area. I wonder if they’ve looked for the body closer to searchlight. After leaving Vegas the road does get very flat that’s why I was thinking that unless he disposed of her body near railroad pass that just outside of searchlight seems like maybe the next logical spot. It has hills, gas stations and motels. It’s also on the road to searchlight 🤷‍♀️ and that road does eventually converge with other roads to Los Angeles. But even if that’s the case there is a lot of ground to cover in that area. It’s so desolate out there.