This isn’t just a story from the highway — it’s what happens when silence hides the truth.

In this episode of The Grimes Files, Joey Grimes traces the violent trail of long-haul trucker Doug Sager, whose life on the road stretched from the mountains of West Virginia to the Deep South. Behind the wheel of his rig, Doug carried more than freight — he carried the kind of darkness that left fear, silence, and unanswered questions scattered across America’s highways.

Through survivor testimony and firsthand accounts, we revisit the stories of the women whose lives crossed paths with Doug — including Ellen, who endured years of abuse; Peaches, a woman who never came home from a Mississippi motel; and a survivor in New Jersey who couldn’t speak until she was shown proof that Doug was dead. Their stories connect through time, geography, and the interstates that defined the 1980s trucking world.

As Joey digs deeper, the investigation leads to a truck stop that no longer exists — the Panhandler Truck Stop and Restaurant near Martinsburg, West Virginia — where witnesses remembered a young woman found strangled in 1985. The records are gone, the site bulldozed, but the silence remains. From there, the story threads into the Redhead Murders and the unsolved killings that haunted I-81 and I-95, the same routes Doug drove every week.

This episode is about more than one man — it’s about the women who vanished, the ones who survived, and the investigators still trying to connect the dots before the last traces of evidence fade away.

Because the files may be gone, but the stories aren’t.

If you’d like to help keep these investigations going, you can support The Grimes Files directly through this link.

https://app.redcircle.com/shows/cef31eb2-a731-4b09-b2e4-f6b293fd4f4a/donations

Every donation helps fund records requests, interviews, and outreach to families still waiting for answers.

If you have information about Patty Vaughan, Doug Sager, or any of the women who disappeared along his routes, please reach out. Even the smallest detail could help bring answers.

If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, help is available. In the U.S., call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.

If you are thinking about suicide, dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

You are not alone.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-grimes-files-gone-not-silent/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy