Unsolved Virginia: Virginia State Police looking for clue in Bobby Dillon homicide

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - A father and husband were killed at a rest stop on the side of Interstate 81, and almost 50 years later, the family is still waiting for justice.

On the night of February 19, 1977, Bobby Dillon was a truck driver just doing his job.

He was sometimes away from his family, because of his job, but his son, Bobby Dillon, Jr., always cherished the time he had with his dad.

“I could always say I got my sense of humor from him,” said Bobby Dillon, Jr.

Decades later, that night back in February is one Dillion, Jr. says he will never forget.

When we last spoke to him in 2024, he took us back to that evening.

“We were actually watching a John Wayne movie that night and my dad would always try to get home in time to watch John Wayne when he was on TV. I kept telling my mom and my dad might want to hurry up because he’s, he’s gonna miss the movie, if he didn’t hurry up and get home,” said Dillon, Jr.

But his dad never made it home that night.

“And the movie was probably about halfway through, and there was a knock at the door. And when mom got up, it was state trooper, my buddy’s mother, and my, my dad’s boss’s wife was at the door. And of course, mom immediately knew something was wrong and that’s when we found out,” said Dillon, Jr.

According to Virginia State Police, Dillon had stopped at the Fairfield Rest area in Rockbridge County and was later found shot to death near his truck.

Investigators immediately started looking for Dillon’s killer, recovering bullets and conducting interviews.

Law enforcement located a possible suspect in the ’70s and according to State Police, law enforcement believed Dillion was killed by a complete stranger.

But in the end there was just not enough evidence to prosecute.

In 2022, the case was handed over to Virginia State Police to take a new look at it, but by that time, the suspect they had intended to re-interview had died.

Despite all that’s happened up to this point, VSP and Dillon’s son are still hopeful this case will be solved.

“I’m hoping they finally find out who done it, why they done it and it’s brought to an end. I don’t like to use the word closure, because for myself, I’ve already done that,” said Dillon, Jr.

If you have any information about the Bobby Dillon case, you can submit a tip on the Cold Case Database.