A Serial Killer in the Family Tree!?

Genealogy has been a hobby of mine for almost 20 years now. One name I research frequently is Mendenhall. So, I googled Mendenhall Murders-- thinking something might pop up- like a Mendenhall being murdered. I know it sounds gruesome. There is no ill-intent or disrespect with this search- just curiosity. 

That's when I found my first (and hopefully the only) serial killer in my family tree!

Bruce Delane Mendenhall 

(aka The Prosti-Shooter, The Rest Stop Killer, The Truck Stop Killer)

Born: 14 Apr 1951 in Crawford County, Illinois

Date Apprehended: 12 Jul 2007, Tennessee

Bruce was a truck driver, married with 2 children. He was found guilty in 2010 for the 26 Jun 2007 murder of Sara Hulbert. Total possible victims: (still being investigated)

• Tammy Zywicki, 21- a student who was found stabbed to death on 02 Sep 1992. She vanished from Interstate 80 near LaSalle, Illinois nine days before.
• Belinda Cartwright, 36- a hitchhiker who was run over at a truck stop in Georgia in 2001, died 22 Feb 2001.

• Deborah Ann Glover, 43- an Atlanta prostitute whose body was found near a Motel 6 in Suwanee, Georgia on 29 Jan 2007 (shot). 
• Sherry Drinkard- a prostitute from Gary, Indiana whose body was found naked in a snow embankment on 22 Feb 2007 (shot in the head).
• Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25- found dead, stuffed in a trashcan, with gunshot wounds on June 26 2007 at a truck stop along Interstate 24 in Nashville. (Mendenhall was found Guilty for the Murder of Sara Hulbert, her DNA was found in his truck).
• Robin Bishop- a prostitute who was run over at a Flying J truck stop on Interstate 40 in Fairview, Tennessee on 01 Jul 2007.

My heart goes out to all of these's women's family and friends. It's devastating to say the least. I hope they will get the answers they need and deserve.

~Finding a connection:

I have been researching the Mendenhall family for a long time- and not just my direct line because I like finding distant cousins, celebrities and notable people, people of interest. 

Finding Bruce Mendenhall's ancestry was a bit of a challenge. Of course, his parents name's aren't just displayed for the world to see on the internet, so I had to do some digging. I refuse to name his immediate family's names, but I did find his parents names and his grandfather Mendenhall's name through one of his daughter's birth announcement's in the newspaper. 

How I'm related to the Truck Stop Killer: 

5th cousin, 2x removed