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A trucker’s random murder puzzles investigators.
CASE DETAILS  Dwayne was killed and then robbed On November 12, 1988, in Chandler, Oklahoma, an anonymous caller reported a body lying beside a phone booth at a highway rest stop. At approximately 8 PM, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol arrived on the scene. The man had been murdered. Coins were scattered around his body. The dead man was Dwayne McCorkendale, a 27-year-old truck driver and father of twin girls. He had been killed by a single shotgun blast, fired at close range into his back. The apparent motive was robbery. Joan McCorkendale was shocked when she heard that her husband had been killed for money:  A suspicious woman was seen
Every day thousands of big rigs travel the highways of America. C.B. radios are their life line to the rest of the world. But for Dwayne McCorkendale, a casual conversation over the air waves may have signed his death warrant. Dwayne’s final run began like any other. On November 10, 1988, he left Detroit, Michigan, on his way to Oklahoma City. Paul Renfrow of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was a lead investigator on the case:
According to Investigator Renfrow, Dwayne pulled into a Chandler rest stop to call his wife:
 A gunshot to the back killed him The only items missing were Dwayne’s keys and his wallet. Investigator Renfrow estimated that the killer’s take was no more than $25:
Within days, several truckers called about a brown Ford Pinto, equipped with a C.B. radio. According to Investigator Renfrow, Dwayne was caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse:
Three weeks later, authorities received a call from another trucker, Ed Heitkamp. He was breaking for lunch at a rest stop when he was approached by a young woman who was acting strangely:
The next day, just thirteen miles south on the same highway, Dwayne McCorkendale was gunned down. Today, authorities are no closer to finding the Pinto and Dwayne McCorkendale’s killer than they were the night his body was discovered. Their only lead is the brown Pinto. The occupants of the car are described as a white male and a black male, sometimes accompanied by a white woman. Dwayne McCorkendale was murdered doing the thing he loved best. But for him, the freedom of the road ended in one senseless and violent split second. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season three with Robert Stack and in season three with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
Unknown
The murder might have been drug related!!!
Brad
Dwayne and his family deserve justice. Poor bloke working hard for his family unnecessarily murdered probably by no hopers. It sickens me that hard honest working folk can’t even go to work without being murdered
Kelly was a nigger lover
James McAlphin and Kelly Woods (previously known as El Dorado Jane Doe) committed this murder. There are pictures of her sitting on a brown pinto.
Trisha Theriot
@willis smith
Sounds like your referring to the light blue Cadillac these people were also using. There’s a photo out there somewheres, she’s sitting on car posing. In another photo of them, you can see a brown pinto and blue car.
Joannie
Thank you to the driver that offered to stop with him. I never heard that. I was married to Dwayne and still have so many unanswered questions.
Johny
You was his wife that was shown in the unsolved mysteries Epsiode ?
Petaa Motex
I strongly believe that the El Dorado Jane Doe is connected to the case and is the strange female who approached the trucker. If she was the “strange female” then she could have been involved in Dwayne’s murder. She is said to have told a story about killing and robbing a trucker in a story identical to Dwayne’s murder, ssooooo…..
jeffery boswell
willis you would think they would have a database on pintos owed in a hundred mile radius this hit close to home because im a retited driver myself and no family man should be done this way i do remember a rest area there wish we could team and solve this
Heather Callahan
My dad played the role of one of the truck drivers in the taping of the episode for this case. He passed away a year ago. It’s good to see that this is still out there.
nm
Alot of people think that the El Dorado Jane Doe was involved in this case.
You can read more about her here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado_Jane_Doe
Shawn
Sounds legit. Hmmm
Black Bieber
So sad how the truck driver Dwayne McCorkendale got killed. I think the killer was either that White Woman who was acting strangely or one of those guys who were described as the “Occupants”.
Clarence M C Mercer
I have questions still these years after you shot this piece. I was just an extra. It was shot in the North bound rest though it happened in the South bound rest? Wouldn’t anyone familiar with trucking know that go to money is gone as a truck approaches end of the run? It reminds me of the MO of the fellow they executed for murdering a family on Interstate 35, near Purcell a couple of decades ago, as well as massacring the employees at a steakhouse. His female accomplice got a lesser sentence on a plea deal. Hmmmm…
Willis Smith
I was one of the truck driver that was talking to him on the CB and I was also approached by the girl for a couple cigarettes… want proof? That car was not brown. It was light blue. The two guys was about 18 or 19 and the white guy was driving the girl was in the middle and the black guy was in the passenger seat.the girl was maybe 16 or at least young looking. We tried to talk him out of stopping and even offered to stop and wait but he said no this was a regular stop and it’s not a problem. I was one of the trucks and I don’t know why they didn’t kill me to.
Autumn Taylor
You should tell this to the detective’s because right now the case has gone cold and this info could really help them.
Shawn
Willis, did you tell this info to the authorities?
Johny
Oh wow.. U shud really go to the police about this
Elaine
Just read the article about Hazel Head. Kinda similar – truck driver, shot in head……