The body of Rebecca Landrith, 47, was found in a snowbank along I-80 in Union County, Pennsylvania, on February 7, 2021.
A year-and-a-half later, in September 2022, Texas truck driver Tracy Ray Rollins Jr., 30, pleaded guilty to killing Landrith and then shooting her body at least 20 times, PennLive reported. On Monday, Rollins was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in state prison.
The sentence was in accordance with Rollins’ plea agreement, which included a guilty plea to third-degree murder and 20 counts of abusing a corpse. Rollins received consecutive 20- to 40- year sentences for the murder charge and 1 to 2 years for each count of abusing a corpse. Snyder-Union County Judge Michael H. Sholley recommended Rollins not be paroled after he serves the minimum sentence.
Though he pleaded guilty, Rollins has never said why he killed Landrith, who had been apparently traveling with the truck driver when she was killed. Police determined that, based on the spent shells and biological material, Landrith was killed in the sleeper section of Rollins’ truck. He then dumped her body in the snowbank.
Her body was identified using fingerprints since she had no identification with her. Police did, however, find a note in her pocket that contained Rollins’s name, email address, and cell phone number, as well as receipts.
Landrith was seen with Rollins on a surveillance video at the Pilot Travel Center in Franksville, Wisconsin, around 6:00 p.m. local time on February 4, 2021 – three days before her body was found. Two days later, on February 6, Rollins and Landrith were also seen on surveillance video at a Pilot in Austintown, Ohio, at 6:44 p.m.
Cell phone data placed Rollins near where Landrith’s body was found at 11:48 p.m. on February 6, and again between 12:11 and 12:26 a.m. on February 7. He was arrested three days later.
Landrith was a professional model and finalist for Miss Manhattan in 2014. She was also an accomplished violinist and raised money for various charities. Three of her siblings and her mother spoke before Rollins’ sentencing, describing the trauma they have endured due to their loss. Her older brother, George Landrith III, told the judge that his youngest sister was brutally murdered and left in a snowbank like trash, but thanked those who “obtained justice for Becky.”
Landrith’s mother, Patricia McGinnis, noted that her daughter could be too kind, which led some to take advantage of her, PennLive reported.
“You can’t replace a child,” McGinnis said, adding that she would never see closure but has “peace in that when I die I know I will see Rebecca again.”
Following the family’s statements, Judge Sholley said that it “is these situations that make me feel totally inadequate.”
