The body of a woman found along a Pennsylvania interstate has now been identified as a former model: Rebecca Landrith. Pennsylvania State Police identified the suspect as Tracy Ray Rollins Jr., 28, of Dallas, Texas. The former New York Fashion Week and charity events model was shot at least 18 times and dumped alongside the road, police said.
Rollins was charged with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse in West Buffalo Township, Union County, according to the docket sheet filed in his case. State police said he was arrested in Connecticut, and he is now awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania.
Landrith, 47, had a Virginia address and ties to South Dakota and Utah, state police said. Her body was found along the off-ramp of I-80 east near mile marker 199 by a snow plow driver early in the morning on Sunday, February 7. Police believe she was killed a few hours earlier.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Landrith Was a Model Who Often Worked for Charity Events & Fundraisers
Pennsylvania State Police are continuing to investigate the fatal shooting of 47-year-old Rebecca Landrith.
Landrith identifies herself on her website as an “NYC Fashion Model and Humanitarian.”
“I adore fashion and the industry and am a warm weather person with a warm heart,” her website says. “I have worked with some really great photographers and fantastic people in this industry.”
She is a native of Virginia and raised in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, DC, her website says.
Her body was found by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) worker who was working on snow removal. She had suffered from gunshot wounds to the head, neck and throat, and did not have identification, according to the Philly Voice. Receipts found with her body indicated she had recently travelled through Wisconsin and Indiana. She was identified by fingerprints found on the receipts. A motive was not immediately released in the shooting.
Landrith was found in warm clothing but without shoes or socks. Her death was being investigated as a homicide after the body was found. A Pennsylvania State Police press release said her body was “left along the off ramp.”
2. Landrith Had the Name of Her Suspected Killer & His Contact Information Written on a Piece of Paper in Her Leather Jacket
Texas man arrested in Connecticut after woman’s body was found along highway in Pennsylvania
Tracy Rollins, 28, was arrested in the murder of professional model, Rebecca Landrith.
Landrith’s body was found without identification, but she did have a piece of crucial evidence in her leather jacket: the name and contact information for Rollins, who is the suspect in her murder case, police said. She also had receipts with her that helped police build a timeline of her last days. They used the gas station and fast food receipts to obtain fingerprints and identify her body, and obtained surveillance footage from locations in Wisconsin and Ohio. There, she was seen on surveillance video with a man matching Rollins’ description, according to the Daily Item.
Pennsylvania State Police alleged in court documents Rollins shot Landrith multiple times inside the cab of his 2018 Volvo tractor-trailer. Eighteen bullets were found in her body during an autopsy, including in her head and neck. Gunshot wounds to her hand indicated she tried to protect herself.
Charges were filed at the office of Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey Mensch, Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. Rollins is being held on $1 million bail at the Hartford Correctional Center in Connecticut. His arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, February 11.
3. Landrith Identified Herself as ‘Leslie Myers’ at a Hotel in Connecticut & Was No Longer in Contact With Her Family
The Union County Coroner said it was multiple gunshot wounds. The victim is Rebecca Landrith.
Rollins agreed to be interviewed by state police after he was apprehended during a traffic stop. He was spotted behind the wheel of a tractor trailer at a truck stop in Connecticut and taken into custody, according to the Daily Item. Police spotted a cleaning solution in his truck during the traffic stop, they said.
Rollins denied knowing Landrith, but said he met a woman named “Leslie” when her car broke down in Connecticut, police said. He said he was traveling with the woman, and they drove through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, sometimes stopping at travel plazas. Police learned Landrith used the name “Leslie Myers” to book a hotel in Milford, Connecticut in December, according to court documents.
Landrith’s brother, George Landrith, told PennLive she had separated from the rest of the family five years earlier.
“For that reason, he said he knows little about her life since then,” PennLive reported.
Landrith was the youngest of five children. She had never married. Her parents were divorced, and their father lived in Utah.
An employee at the Pilot Travel Center adjacent to CITGO told investigators she recognized Landrith from a photo, and said she was often at the truck stop with truck drivers, according to court documents. She was found wearing maternity jeans, according to CBS Dallas Forth Worth.
4. Landrith Had a Background in Law & Played Violin
A Texas man has been arrested in the death of Rebecca Landrith, whose body was found along Interstate 80 this past weekend — t.co/mEEkH2dLDU #NationalNews #Crime
Landrith had a diverse skillset, according to the bio on her website. She described herself as an “accomplished violinist,” “highly educated,” and said she previously worked in law.
“Little about me–,” she wrote. “I am a native born Virginian and raised in Alexandria, favorite color pink, love music, and am an accomplished violinist, enjoy performances and arts, cultured, bright and bubbly personality, energetic, easy going, vegetarian, healthy lifestyle, good skin, highly educated and have worked in the field of law.”
She walked the runway in Liberia, worked as a spokesmodel for businesses and appeared in advertisements in both print and video, her bio said.
“I love clothes and have a great wardrobe to style myself and bring to shoots. I know high fashion labels and have fabulous shoes with all my outfits,” she wrote.
5. Landrith Was a Finalist for Miss Manhattan in 2014 & Was a Runway Model at New York Fashion Week
Police have arrested a man in connection with the homicide of #RebeccaLandrith, found dead Sunday along an Interstate 80 interchange ramp in Union County. #NCPA
Landrith’s iStudio modeling page lists her credentials, which include both fashion and runway modeling. She was also a finalist in several pageants. In 2014, she was both a finalist for the Miss Manhattan contest in New York City and America’s It Girl Miss Lady Liberty. The page also includes dozens of modeling photos.
“Ms. Landrith has appeared in numerous product advertisements, video commercials, magazines, acted as a spokesmodel in videos for businesses and their websites, and multiple haute-couture Runway shows including Fashion Week,” her bio says.
The page said she was 5-feet 8-inches tall and 118 pounds with measurements of 34-26-36, blonde hair and blue eyes. She last used the page in 2014. Her bio describes her as “very experienced” and said she does bathing suit, editorial/print, glamour, runway, and high fashion modeling.
“Striking beauty,” one person commented on a close-up shot of Landrith.
READ NEXT: Tracy Rollins Jr.: Texas Man Charged in Murder of Model Found on Interstate