Timothy Jay Vafeades, also known as the Vampire Trucker, is not a creepy killer as far as anyone knows. Rather, he was a truck-driving kidnapper who abducted multiple women over the years, holding them in the sleeper berth of his truck and sexually assaulting them. He also beat them, filed some of their teeth into fangs, and forced some of them to marry him. Vafeades was reportedly obsessed with the Twilight movie and book series, and he even had a fake set of fangs made for himself, hence the name "Vampire Trucker." This gruesome true story continues with the terrifying facts below.
He Kidnapped A 19-Year-Old Female Relative
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- Clay County Jail
- Clay County Minnesota
In 2013, Timothy Jay Vafeades invited an unnamed 19-year-old female relative to come stay with him and help with his trucking company. Instead of following through on that, he raped her and began beating her on a regular basis. Eventually, these beatings turned into strangulation, with him choking her until she lost consciousness. The sexual assaults continued the entire time that she remained with him, unable to escape, because he had confiscated her driver's license. social security card, cell phone, and SIM card. Her nightmare finally ended when a state trooper recognized her in Clay County, Minnesota.
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He Was Obsessed With Vampires And The Twilight Series
Timothy Jay Vafeades was reportedly obsessed with the Twilight movies and with vampires in general - to the point of wearing a set of false fangs. He also named his trucking company after the book and movie series, calling it Twilight Express Trucking. Despite the company's name, it consisted of one truck: his. The fangs and vampire obsessions are what earned Vafeades the nickname the "Vampire Trucker."
He Filed Down His Victim's Teeth For Maximum Vampire Effect
Timothy Jay Vafeades pushed his vampire obsession to the point of filing down some of his victim's teeth with a Dremel power tool in order to make them as pointy and fang-like as possible. He had ordered several sets of fake fangs for himself, and he also purchased some for one of his victims - the 19-year-old female relative that he held hostage. One of his other victims referred to Vafeades as the "dentist" because of his passion for teeth.
He Picked Up A Woman At A Truck Stop And Forced Her To Marry Him
In 2012, Vafeades picked up a woman at a truck stop. From there, what was supposed to be a simple dinner date turned into a kidnapping. He forced her to dye and cut her hair, beat her with a belt, and later, made her marry him. Over the course of her captivity, he also had her do his trucking company paperwork without proper compensation. The unnamed woman's unfortunate time with the pseudo undead ended when officials at a trucking weigh station noticed bruises on her face and separated her from Vafeades. She later pressed charges against him in Florida for domestic abuse.
He Beat Up His Ex-Wife
In the late 1990s, when Timothy Jay Vafeades attempted to live some semblance of a normal life, he married a woman named Dana Platt. At the time, he was working as a nurse, despite the fact that he had been previously charged with domestic violence. Platt had two children, both of whom lived with their grandmother, Platt's mother. She took them with her when she eloped with Vafeades in Idaho in 1998. Their marriage didn't last long, however. Platt was charged with parental abduction for taking her children and served some time in prison. At the time of her arrest, she had told her mother that Vafeades was violent with her.
He Ran A Fairly Successful Trucking Company
The company that Timothy Jay Vafeades ran - Twilight Express Trucking - had one truck, his, but it had clients located throughout the country. He (and the women he held captive) made trips to various states, including Nebraska, Idaho, and Florida. According to official interstate trucking records, the business was based in Elizabeth, Colorado, and it once transported a water well. Running a small, one-man trucking company provided Vafeades with a great way to cover up his activities. No one noticed the women that he kidnapped, at least not like his neighbors likely would've done if he had a house in a regular neighborhood.
He Was Caught With Child Pornography
After Timothy Jay Vafeades was arrested in May of 2013 for violating a restraining/protective order, authorities searched his truck. They found a computer and separate hard drive filled with child pornography. There were reportedly hundreds of videos on the computer, as well as pictures. As if it weren't enough that he kept sex slaves in his truck, Vafeades is also a pedophile.
He Had At Least Six Victims
Although the timeline is unclear, Timothy Jay Vafeades had at least six victims that police know of over the years. Each of the women was forced to live in his truck, shower with him, and not leave his side at truck stops. He raped and beat all of them. Four of the women married him at various points during their ordeals (it is unknown if his acknowledged ex-wife, Dana Platt, is considered to be one of these six.) Two of his victims were very young, just 18 and 19 years old.
He Had Step-Children, At Least At One Point
In 1998, Timothy Jay Vafeades married Dana Platt, who had two daughters, a 6-year-old named Kayla and a 3-year-old named Tabitha Rose. Both children lived with their grandmother, who had primary custody of them. This led to Platt's arrest, as she took the children with her when she ran off with Vafeades. The children were in foster case while Platt spent two years in prison, which was the catalyst for her divorce from the abusive Vafeades. It is unknown how much contact he had with the children afterwards.
He Had A Restraining Order Against Him
As it turns out, the 19-year-old female relative who traveled with Vafeades for several months also had a protective order against him. This meant that he should not have had any contact with her at all. He first lured her over to help him run the business and make a quick $10,000, but he quickly raped her and turned her into one of his victims, unable to leave the truck without him by her side.
In May 2013, officers working at a truck stop in Minnesota noticed the bruises on the woman and pulled her away from him. After questioning her, they realized that the protective order had been filed in 1999, and then they arrested him.
There May Be Other Victims Who Haven't Come Forward
According to authorities, Timothy Jay Vafeades allegedly assualted at least one woman that he met online, and he also spent some time on college campuses, no doubt casing potential co-ed victims. When he was arrested in 2013, several of his past victims came forward, putting his official victim count at 6. However, there is the possibility that other women are still afraid to admit that they were victimized by him. Now that he has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, they might come forward.
He Is Spending At Least 20 Years In Prison
In November 2016, Timothy Jay Vafeades was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was found guilty of one count of transporting child pornography and two counts of transporting people across state lines for illegal sexual activity. He pled guilty, and in exchange, other charges were dropped. When he is finally released from prison, he will be under close supervision for the rest of his life.
