All prints signed by Daniel Shippey

Giant Skeletons & Truck Stop Serial Killers - This is a long-exposure of a remote dirt road leading into the backcountry of Pershing County, Nevada at night time.

After settling into a 1960s era motel in Lovelock, NV my buddy Austin and I decided to go out for a drink. We had driven across I-80 from Utah and were road weary. After receiving our drinks I asked the bartender, "Do you know of any odd or interesting stories about the area that you could tell me?" The first thing out of her mouth was, "Well, we have O.J. Simpson in prison here." I immediately recalled the memory of watching the infamous "white Bronco" chase that Simpson lead police on through the freeways of LA. His case is arguably the most high profile murder trial America has ever had. It even helped give us the Kardashians in a way... Which is weird to think. We chatted with the bartender for a few more brief moments about our travels and the weather. The topic of mysterious local murders and missing persons came up briefly but wasn't delved into. OJ Simpson was released from the prison in October 2017, a little over a year after we stayed in the town.

I learned some other interesting things after visiting:

• Giant skeletons were supposedly found in a cave near Lovelock. Although they have now been proven to be normal sized skeletons it is believed that early entrepreneurs in the region exaggerated the size of the bones they found. Either way, Lovelock Cave is an historic site for the findings of ancient skeletal remains and artifacts.

• The I-80 corridor through Northern Nevada is known by some as the "Highway of Death" due to the high number of missing persons and murders in the vicinity of the Interstate. I also learned that the FBI has a task force investigating potential serial killers in Northern Nevada along the highway. One hypothesis is that serial killers working as long haul truck drivers may be stalking vulnerable motorists along the remote section of highway. "Thrill Kills" are what these sort of crimes are called. After doing some research I indeed found multiple sources related to the subject: ARTICLE 1; ARTICLE 2; ARTICLE 3; ARTICLE 4.

I wondered what stories the bartender elected not to share with us that night about the mysteries. It also made me think twice about our night time adventure down that backcountry road by ourselves. Would I go back again? Definitely.

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