The Color of Death: The Rainbow Murders
The Rainbow Murders In 1980, a remote area of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, became the scene of a haunting mystery that has captured the curiosity and intrigue of many for decades. Known as the Rainbow Murders , the case involved the brutal deaths of two young women, Nancy Santomero and Vicki Durian, who had been on their way to attend a Rainbow Family Gathering —an annual festival focused on peace, unity, and an alternative lifestyle rooted in nature and community. Who Were Nancy Santomero and Vicki Durian? Nancy Santomero, 19, and Vicki Durian, 26, were free-spirited young women drawn to the ideals promoted by the Rainbow Family, a loosely organized community that gathered each summer to celebrate countercultural values like love, harmony, and environmentalism. In June 1980, they hitchhiked from their homes, hoping to join thousands of others in a secluded area of West Virginia for that year’s Rainbow Gathering. Unfortunately, they would never make it. Instead, they were f