Another victim of the man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a pregnant Virginia woman missing since 2011 hopes her ordeal helps bring closure to Bethany Anne Decker’s family.
The last person known to have seen Decker was her boyfriend, Ronald Roldan, on Jan. 29, 2011, at her apartment in Ashburn. Roldan was the father of Decker's unborn child and lived at her apartment while her husband, Emile Decker, who was the father of Decker's toddler, was away at military training, according to court documents.
When Decker missed her husband's Feb. 2, 2011, deployment to Afghanistan, her family became concerned. Her car was left behind in the parking lot of her apartment. After being unable to contact her for weeks, Decker's family reported her missing.
Her remains were never found.
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It helps me to realize that maybe God used me in this crazy way to make sure that Bethany got her peace.
Vickey Willoughby
In 2014, Roldan almost killed Vickey Willoughby in North Carolina, beating her, breaking her neck and shooting her in the head. She lost an eye.
“I’ve seen the look in his face when he came back at me the second time that evening to kill me, and he was smiling so I do believe he cannot control it,” Willoughby said. “That’s what he does. He kills things.”
Willoughby said right after the attack, she told police she thought Roldan killed Decker.
“He told me he could make people disappear,” she said. “He told me."
Roldan was convicted and jailed for the attack on Willoughby in 2016, buying the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office more time to build its case. When Roldan was released in November 2020, he was charged
in Decker’s case. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Thursday.
Willoughby said she feels relief and thankfulness.
“It helps me to realize that maybe God used me in this crazy way to make sure that Bethany got her peace,” she said.
Roldan faces up to 40 years in prison when he’s sentence in February. Willoughby said she plans to be there to watch, hoping he gets the maximum term, unlike the light sentence she believes he received for almost killing her.
“I’m standing in for Bethany … I believe that they’ll do the right thing this time,” she said.
Willoughby also hopes that through the plea agreement, investigators
will finally learn where to find Decker to bring her family that closure.
Willoughby and the Loudoun County commonwealth’s attorney both credit Detective Mark Bush for his years of work on the investigation.
