Katharina Buczek
Despite the case going cold for so long, though, Joy’s loved ones have never given up. First, they created a Facebook group to raise awareness about her murder.
And more recently, Grace Hayward, Joy’s youngest sister, created a Change.org petition urging Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to turn over the DNA recovered in Joy’s hotel room to Parabon Labs in Virginia.
Grace described how governors in Florida and Colorado have begun doing the same thing in hopes of finally getting answers using advanced technology.
“On behalf of Joy Hayward, we demand justice, and new advances in DNA technology can finally make this possible. Joy was not the only one who suffered at the hands of this murderer. There is a woman who was also assaulted a half mile away by the same monster,” she wrote.
“Governor Tom Wolf, you are the one person with enough power and independence in the state to put DNA testing decisions in the hands of a new agency that’s free from Chester with the case. While Joy’s case isn’t being marked a cold case because of the old DNA on file, her case is dead. We need your help!’
The petition has since gained just over two thousand and seven hundred signatures from people throughout the country. And after the petition began to pick up steam, Grace also posted a strange update.
Apparently, Grace had been researching assault and murder cases in neighboring states and came across a man known as the East Coast Rapist. The man is now serving a life sentence in a Virginia jail after being charged in seventeen cases.
And according to Grace, the similarities between the man’s background and modus operandi (M.O.) were striking.
For instance, the man grew up in Prince George County, Maryland– just ten miles away from Joy’s hometown. He was also known to park his work truck and use a bike to prey on women– which Grace believes is a solid link to the second victim’s case.
“And there is a timeline gap in the attacks. Where was he between 2001 and 2006? Was he striking Pennsylvania?” she added.
Finally, Grace noted how the man smoked Newport cigarettes, was known to be very neat, and once made a remark that he “could have just as well been a serial killer.”
