BookBrowse Reviews The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg

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A frightening investigation into a brutal double murder in West Virginia and its lingering impact on the isolated community that experienced it.

More than 250,000 unsolved murder cases have amassed in the United States since 1980, according to the Christian Science Monitor. These crimes, known as cold cases, are investigations destined to languish in uncertainty due to a lack of evidence and witness testimony. Besides causing emotional anguish for the victims' loved ones, cold cases can also create ripples of distrust and anxiety among communities. It is these lasting effects that Emma Copley Eisenberg endeavors to analyze in The Third Rainbow Girl. The book is the culmination of Eisenberg's five years of research on the unsolved murder of two young women in West Virginia during the summer of 1980. Through illuminating facts and hard-hitting personal accounts, Eisenberg crafts a compelling narrative that turns a forgotten incident into something relevant and timely.

To immerse herself in the case's history, Eisenberg conducted her research across seven states while also living for a time in Pocahontas County, the location of the murder. Her inquiries led her to uncover multiple court documents, police reports and newspaper articles that shed a light on the events. She was also able to conduct her own personal interviews with residents, although not as many as she'd hoped; several people declined her interview requests. Despite these setbacks, she discovered a common theme among those who experienced the events; each had been shaped and influenced by the murder, and often in subtle ways. Because the crime was committed in such a remote area, the local citizens were convinced that the killer had to be one of them. Neighbors became suspicious of each other, and a sudden fear crept into the sleepy town:

In the restaurant of the Marlinton Motor Inn, at Miss Kitty's beer joint, at Dorie's lunch counter…the story spread: two girls had been found on Briery Knob shot to death.

The fact that the victims were outsiders on their way to a festival also fueled powerful feelings of collective guilt and revulsion in the residents regarding such an atrocity having been committed in their town.

Chapters are interlaced with interesting diversions into the history of the area, as well as other noteworthy crimes that highlight the region's complicated relationship to race, gender and class. While these diversions are interesting in themselves, they can occasionally feel a bit scattered and unclear as to how separate events ultimately relate to the double murder of Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero. However, Eisenberg does draw some intriguing parallels that the reader might not otherwise be aware of. For example, she examines what's known as "missing white woman syndrome," a phrase coined by Gwen Ifill of PBS. Eisenberg argues that this tendency of the media to give greater coverage to crimes in which the victim is a white woman, along with the subconscious bias it creates in viewers, is largely responsible for the strong national attention that the "Rainbow Murders" received. The rugged, masculine Appalachian ideal contrasted against the innocence of two vulnerable young white women captured the region and the nation like wildfire.

There's also an unexpected but heartwarming relationship that develops between Eisenberg and Elizabeth or "Liz" Johndrow, known as the third rainbow girl. Liz was hitchhiking with Vicki and Nancy before she ultimately decided to separate from the two girls and go to her father's wedding in Vermont. Her reason? A strong feeling of dread: "...I just had a very strong feeling that led me away from continuing traveling with them."

Such intimate details become the catalyst for lengthy discussions on the nature of fate and the concept of letting go. Liz's story is a powerful example of the mental anguish that can result from narrowly escaping tragedy. Eisenberg's book as a whole uncovers how important it is for those who have had this experience to seek guidance and support in overcoming their inevitable feelings of guilt.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in February 2020, and has been updated for the January 2021 edition. Click here to go to this issue.