Tracy Rollins Jr.: Texas Man Charged in Murder of Model Found on Interstate

Tracy Ray Rollins

Connecticut State Police/Rebecca Landrith website Tracy Ray Rollins/Rebecca Landrith

Tracy Ray Rollins Jr. of Dallas, Texas has been arrested and charged in the death of former model Rebecca Landrith. Landrith, who previously walked the runway at New York Fashion Week and modeled at charity events, was found dumped along a Pennsylvania interstate with 18 bullets in her body, police said.

Rollins, 28, was arrested at a truck stop in Connecticut, where he is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania, state police said. He is charged with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse in West Buffalo Township, Union County, according to the docket sheet filed in his case.

A snow plow driver found Landrith’s body early in the morning on Sunday, February 7, along the off-ramp of I-80 east near mile marker 199. Landrith had a Virginia address and had ties to Utah and South Dakota, state police said. She was 47.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. Rollins Was Identified as a Suspect Because Landrith Had His Name & Contact Information Written on a Piece of Paper in Her Jacket

Landrith had written down the name of her alleged killer, along with his address and phone number, and kept it inside the leather jacket she was found wearing when she died, the Daily Item reported. While she did not have identification on her body, investigators believe she identified the man who murdered her. She also had fast food and gas station receipts that gave a timeline of her cross-country travels. Those receipts were also used to identify her using fingerprints.

Pennsylvania State Police made a timeline of her last days through the receipts and located surveillance footage which showed Landrith with a man matching Rollins’ description in Wisconsin and Ohio, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in his case. Cellphone data also helped corroborate the timeline, and gave police information on Rollins’ whereabouts before and after the murder. That evidence showed him in the area where Landrith’s body was found for about 15 minutes just after midnight Sunday, from 12:11 a.m. through 12:26 a.m., police said. He then drove east to Pittston, and then headed north to Maine, where he spent the night at a truck stop, police said.

On Tuesday, he picked up a load for delivery from a paper mill in Woodland, Maine, and wrote his name on a COVID-19 questionnaire, court documents said. His 2007 Honda Civic with South Dakota license plates was towed from a CITGO gas station four days earlier, after the owner told Milford Police in Connecticut it had been abandoned there for several days. An employee at the Pilot Travel Center adjacent to CITGO told investigators she recognized Landrith from her image, and said she is often at the truck stop with truck drivers.


2. Rollins Was Arrested Without Incident at a Truck Stop in Connecticut

Pennsylvania State Police in Milton identified Rollins as the suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest Wednesday, February 10. The same day, Connecticut State Police and Pennsylvania State Police apprehended him in Milldale, Connecticut, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Troopers told Eyewitness News 3 they learned Rollins was driving a tractor trailer, and located him at the TA Truck Stop on the Meriden Waterbury Turnpike in Southington shortly before 11 p.m. He was taken into custody without incident and taken to the Hartford Correctional Center. His bail was set at $1 million, and he was scheduled for arraignment at the New Britain Superior Court Thursday, February 11.

Police allege Rollins shot Landrith at least 18 times in the cab of his 2018 Volvo tractor-trailer. An autopsy recovered 18 bullets from her body, including from her head and neck. She also suffered wounds to her hands which indicated she was trying to protect herself, according to court documents filed in the case. Rollins’ charges were filed at the office of Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey Mensch, Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. He is being held on $1 million bail at the Hartford Correctional Center in Connecticut.


3. Rollins Told Police He Met a Woman Named ‘Leslie’ When Her Car Broke Down in Connecticut

Rollins agreed to be interviewed by state police after he was apprehended during a traffic stop driving a tractor trailer truck, police said. He was spotted behind the wheel at a truck stop in Connecticut and taken into custody, according to the Daily Item. Police could see a cleaning solution in his truck during the traffic stop, they said.

Rollins denied knowing Landrith to police, but said he met a woman named “Leslie” when her car broke down in Connecticut. 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 was using the name “Leslie Myers” when she booked a hotel in Milford, Connecticut in December, according to court documents.

Police obtained a search warrant for Rollins’ truck, and said they discovered blood and other evidence that indicated someone had been killed inside. Six 9-mm shell casings and bullet strikes were found in the cab, indicating someone fired shots inside the cab. Blood and other human evidence was found on the top stair outside the passenger door, court documents said.


4. Rollins Told Troopers He Did Not Want to Lie During a Murder Investigation Without Being Told That’s Why He Was Being Questioned

Rollins agreed to speak to troopers, and told them he did not want to lie during a murder investigation, state police wrote in court documents. However, he had not been told that was why he was being questioned, police said.

“When asking Rollins information pertaining to his travels, Rollins stated ‘I hate to start lying to you because this is a murder investigation.’ It should be noted that at no time during the interview leading up to this statement was Rollins advised nor presented any information that this was a murder investigation,” Trooper Tyler Watson wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed in Rollins’ case.

Landrith was a native of Virginia and raised in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, D.C., her website says.


5. Landrith Was a Finalist for Miss Manhattan in 2014 & Was a Runway Model at New York Fashion Week

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.

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.”

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