Between 2005 and 2010, at least ten Black women disappeared from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and the surrounding Edgecombe and Halifax counties. Eight bodies were eventually recovered, most of them along or near a rural stretch known as Seven Bridges Road. Joyce Renee Durham has never been found. Most of the victims were navigating addiction, and several had histories of survival sex work — circumstances that, according to reporting and community accounts, contributed to a slower, less urgent police and media response than cases involving other victims in the same area.

The break in the case came through 28-year-old Taraha Shenice Nicholson, reported missing on February 22, 2009 and found less than two weeks later near Seven Bridges Road, strangled. DNA recovered from her body was matched to Antwan Maurice Pittman, a Rocky Mount native with a long prior criminal record. Pittman was arrested as a fugitive in Nash County in August 2009 and charged with Nicholson's murder that September. He admitted at trial to paying her for sex six days before her body was found. In September 2011, a jury convicted him of Nicholson's murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In this episode of The Last Known Moment, we walk through the case timeline, the ten women at the center of it, the investigation that finally produced a DNA match, and the systemic neglect — race, poverty, and addiction — that let this pattern continue for years with almost no national attention. Antwan Pittman has never been charged in the other nine deaths, though investigators have said on the record they believe he is connected, since the killings stopped after his arrest. As of this recording, Joyce Renee Durham remains missing, and no one has been held accountable for the deaths beyond Taraha Nicholson's.
In this episode we cover:

• Between 2005 and 2010, at least ten Black women disappeared from Rocky Mount, NC and surrounding Edgecombe/Halifax counties
• Eight bodies were recovered, many near a rural stretch known as Seven Bridges Road; Joyce Renee Durham has never been found
• DNA evidence linked Antwan Maurice Pittman to the 2009 murder of 28-year-old Taraha Shenice Nicholson
• Pittman was convicted of Nicholson's murder in September 2011 and sentenced to life without parole — the case's only conviction
• He has never been charged in the other nine deaths, though investigators believe he is connected since the killings stopped after his arrest
• A 2018 play, "Seven Bridges Road," was written to highlight the disparity in attention these cases received compared to others in the same town
• A 2012 charity motorcycle ride was held in Rocky Mount to raise awareness for the victims

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This podcast is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The content presented is based on publicly available information, news reports, court documents, and other open sources. Some details may be dramatized or condensed for narrative clarity. The views and opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the positions of law enforcement agencies, legal professionals, or the families of victims mentioned.

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