The television show “America’s Most Wanted” hopes tips from truckers will lead to the capture of three dangerous criminals.
Two women wanted for murder and one male escapee from jail may be hitching rides with unsuspecting truckers. Since truckers cover great distances in short times, the fugitives are keeping authorities at bay, but they are also putting truckers in danger.
Hazel Head has eluded authorities since 1998. She is wanted for the first-degree murder of retired trucker Charles Barker, 69, of Benton, La. She allegedly shot him in the back of the head as he sat at a kitchen counter of his mobile home. Barker had answered a personal ad that Head had put in the paper. His cash and gun were missing, and police found physical evidence linking Head to the murder.
Family members have confirmed that Head has hitched rides with truckers for years. She’s been married to at least 10 men, and it’s suspected that she prostitutes herself for rides and cash. Head is 50, 5 foot 2 inches, approximately 120 pounds, has green/hazel eyes and has been known to dye her reddish blond hair. Head uses many aliases including Hazel Foley, Willow Shields and Deianna Ray.
There have been six episodes on AMW that featured Head, and each episode has brought leads. Dectective Charles Scholz of the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Department says that sightings of Head at truckstops have stretched from California to Maine. Since there are no known addresses for her, she keeps dodging the authorities.
“The case is pretty much the same,” Scholz says. “I appreciate all leads and am working on a few now. The FBI has been a big help. When I get a lead, they have the manpower to run it down.”
In the latest AMW episode that recaps the case, on March 31, trucker Chuck Iman said he’d seen Head at an Atlanta Travel Plaza. “It’s not safe to pick anyone up anymore,” Iman said. “I saw her at another truck using someone’s CB.”
