Heather Wendorf
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Heather Wendorf (born 1981) is an American citizen who earned wide media attention in the middle 1990s because of her participation in a vampire cult and the murders her group allegedly committed.
Wendorf is the daughter of Richard and Naoma Ruth Wendorf, a wealthy couple from Eustis, Florida. As a teenager, Wendorf became interested in vampires and vampirism. Her interest in vampirism was allegedly fueled by hate towards her parents, whose wealth had allowed her to grow up as a privileged society girl.
Wendorf met Rod Ferrell, whose passion for vampirism was similar, if not larger than Wendorf's. Ferrell was an expert player of a game called Vampire:The Masquerade. Ferrell was the leader of a group that included Wendorf, Dana Cooper, Scott Anderson and Sarah Remington, who used the aliases Charity Keesee and Shea Remington. Wendorf moved to Murray, Kentucky, joining the rest of the clan. Before their move to Kentucky, Wendorf dated Ferrell for two years; Ferrell is also alleged to have dated Remington.
The town had an arcade where Ferrell, Wendorf and their friends enjoyed playing "Vampire:The Masquerade". Overtime, Wendorf began to dye her hair purple, wear black fishnet stockings and a dog chain around her neck. According to friends, Wendorf spoke about drinking blood, talking to spirits during rituals and being a demon in past lives.
On November 25, 1996, Richard and Naoma Ruth Wendorf were murdered inside their home in Florida. Their 1994 Ford Explorer had disappeared from the crime scene, and the teenagers fled the scene. After four days of driving through four states, the group, along with the Ford Explorer, were found in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is believed that Ferrell liked a video arcade in New Orleans and they were headed there.
Sarah Remington placed a call to her mother in South Dakota. The group needed money and Remington thought her mother could help them. But Remington's mother informed the police about her whereabouts, and, after negotiations, Ferrell, Wendorf and the rest of the kids agreed to be arrested at a local Howard Johnson's hotel. The four were held at a Baton Rouge jail for a period of a week, during which legal hurdles about state extradition laws had to be battled before they were flown back to Florida, where they were initially booked at Lake County jail. From there, they were moved to a juvenile facility in Ocala.
Their case gained wide media attention: At the time, The Craft was a recent Hollywood hit which allowed many to gain insight on some occult practices, and gothic culture was enjoying a slow, but steady, revival. Vampirism has been viewed by many as part of occultism for years, and four major American broadcasting companies announced intentions to record made for television movies showcasing the Ferrell-Wendorf clan's case.
In 1997, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC planned to release their movies. ABC made "Twisted Desire", with Melissa Joan Hart playing "Jennifer Stanton". ABC's production was first shown on March of that year. Jenna Elfman also planned to participate in Twisted Desire, but she did not. The movie was based on Wendorf's case, and "Jennifer Stanton" was based on Wendorf.
By April, Fox had planned to release "Running With the Devil: The True Story of the Kentucky Vampire Thrill Kill Cult", in which Wendorf would have been played by Christine Taylor. The Fox film, however, was never released. NBC filmed a mini series, "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?", where Tori Spelling played "Laurel" opposite Ivan Serguei. The NBC series was partly based on the Ferrell-Wendorf story, and "Laurie" would have been Heather Wendorf. Finally, CBS showed interest in filming a project with either Heather Matarazzo, Drew Barrymore or Carla Guguni playing Wendorf or another character based on her.
Despite the fact that Ferrell was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in 1998, Heather Wendorf was found innocent on the grounds that there was no sufficient proof that she actually took part in her parents' murders, except for the fact she was found together with Ferrell and the rest of their friends four days after the murders. Wendorf currently leads a quiet life and has disappeared completely from media scrutinity.
