The Trail Went Cold

November 8, 1988. Botany Bay, Australia. A radio operator receives three calls from Ken Jones, the skipper of a steel schooner called the Patanela. The yacht is currently in the midst of a month-long voyage to Airlie Beach, and Ken Jones’ wife, Noreen, and two crew members, John Blissett and Michael Calvin, are also on board. Ken claims the boat has run out of fuel, but after his final radio call is abruptly cut off, there is no more communication from the vessel. When the Patanela fails to arrive at its destination ten days later, a massive search comes up empty, and neither the yacht nor its four passengers are heard from again. There are enough suspicious things about the disappearance to fuel rumors that the boat was hijacked, but aside from a lifebuoy and a message in a bottle from one of the missing crew members, no trace of the Patanela is ever found. This week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles our very first mystery about a missing boat. A huge thank you to Audible for supporting our podcast. To thank you for your support, we’d like to invite you to get a free audiobook with a free 30 day trial at audible.com/cold. Additional Reading: http://strangeco.blogspot.ca/2016/05/the-last-voyage-of-patanela.html http://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/sailor-note-washes-up-on-beach/news-story/e9d5f977c483078b9bc9b124e9d07be6 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/02/08/1202234167137.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 12, 1985. 36-year old Mike Riemer and his 21-year old girlfriend Diana Robertson leave their home in Puyallup, Washington to take their two-year old daughter, Crystal, out for a day in the woods to get a Christmas tree. That afternoon, Crystal is discovered wandering alone outside a Kmart, but is unable to tell anyone where her parents are. Two months later, Diana is found murdered outside Mike’s truck on a remote logging road with a tube sock tied around her neck, but Mike himself has gone missing. Police begin to suspect that Mike killed Diana and could have been responsible for the murders of another couple from the area. In that case, a tube sock was also tied around the female victim’s neck. In 2011, a skull fragment belonging to Mike is found a mile away from where Diana was killed. Did Mike commit these murders, drop off his daughter, and return to the scene to commit suicide? Or was an unknown serial killer responsible for the deaths of all four of these victims? We attempt to answer these perplexing questions in this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral,_Washington_murders https://unsolved.com/gallery/diana-robertson/ http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/skull-discovery-revives-washington-murder-mystery/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

July 4, 1999. Travelers Rest, South Carolina. The parents of 20-year old Brooke Henson return home to find her sitting on the front porch at 2:00 AM. Brooke tells them she is going to walk to a nearby store to buy cigarettes, but she does not return home and is never heard from again. Years later, investigators are shocked to discover that Brooke is registered for classes at Columbia University in New York because a con artist named Esther Reed has stolen her identity. In spite of this revelation, Brooke’s disappearance continues to remain unsolved, but we will attempt to figure out what really happened to her on this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/brooke-leigh-henson http://www.sabrinaerdely.com/docs/IvyLeague.pdf http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicky-ward/esther-reed-how-an-ordina_b_166118.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

September 12, 1943. Los Angeles, California. David Bacon, a 29-year old actor who has just played the title character in the serial drama “The Masked Marvel”, tells his wife he is planning to go swimming and leaves their home. Later that afternoon, Bacon’s car is seen driving erratically before it jumps a curb and crashes into a bean field. After Bacon stumbles out of the car and dies, a fatal knife wound is discovered in his back. The investigation would uncover numerous clues to suggest Bacon was leading a secret double life, such as a coded diary, a rented apartment and unexplained trips to Venice Beach. However, there would be no answers about who actually murdered him. For our special one-year anniversary show of “The Trail Went Cold”, we shall be examining one of Hollywood`s most baffling unsolved mysteries. A special thanks to one of our listeners, Esther Gamez, for providing the cover art for this episode. Be sure to check out Esther’s Facebook and Tumblr pages to see more of her artwork. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bacon_(actor) http://www.tomchristopher.com/miscellaneous2/who-killed-the-masked-marvel/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

September 12, 1987. Bradford, Pennsylvania. 50-year old Dale Kerstetter shows up to work the overnight shift as a security guard at the Corning Glassworks plant. The following morning, Dale is discovered to be missing and he is never heard from again. A check of the security tape uncovers footage of Dale walking through the plant alongside an unidentified masked intruder and it turns out that $250,000 worth of platinum was stolen that night. The ambiguous nature of the footage causes some debate: was Dale an innocent victim of this masked stranger, or was he actually a willing participant in the theft before he decided to skip town? We shall explore both possibilities, as our latest minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles a very unique missing persons case. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/dale-kerstetter http://charleyproject.org/case/dale-kerstetter The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

April 9, 1992. 59-year old Jean Moore and her 70-year old fiancee, Al Henderson, have traveled from their hometown of Apple Valley, California for a vacation in Laughlin, Nevada. On the morning they were planning to return home, Al claims he dropped Jean off at a casino before she vanished without explanation. However, Jean does not show up on the casino’s surveillance footage, which contradicts many aspects of Al’s story. Investigators wonder if Jean even arrived in Laughlin to begin with and suspect her fiancee might be withholding information. Was Al responsible for what happened to Jean? We attempt to answer that question as we examine a baffling spousal disappearance in this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/jean-moore http://charleyproject.org/case/jean-marie-moore http://www.vvdailypress.com/article/20120410/NEWS/304109985 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

September 17, 1990. Davenport, Iowa. Jennifer Lewis, a nine-year old girl from nearby Rock Island, Illinois, is found murdered on a school playground and her body has been set on fire. A man named Stanley Liggins is soon convicted of the crime, but this would only be the beginning of a very controversial case in which Liggins’ conviction has overturned on two separate occasions. This story is chronicled on a brand new true crime podcast called “Suspect Convictions”, which examines the case from all angles and follows it in real time as Liggins prepares to go on trial for the third time this spring. In this episode, “The Trail Went Cold” is joined for an interview by veteran journalist Scott Reeder, who has covered this case since day one and thought it deserved to be turned into its own podcast. Click here to visit the official “Suspect Convictions” website and download the podcast. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Click here to listen to the podcast on Stitcher. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Google Play Music. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 20, 1984. Greeley, Colorado. After singing in a choir at a Christmas performance, 12-year old Jonelle Matthews is dropped off at her family’s house by a friend. When Jonelle’s father returns home later that evening, he is horrified to discover that Jonelle is missing and the evidence suggests she was abducted by an intruder. In spite of an extensive search, Jonelle is never found and investigators fail to uncover any potential suspects in her disappearance. Our newest minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” examines a baffling missing children’s case, as well as its possible connection to an unidentified Jane Doe who was killed in Huntington Beach, California in 1990. Click here to see Jonelle Matthews’ profile page at the Charley Project, and here to see the profile page for the Huntington Beach Jane Doe at the Doe Network. http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases/2012/11/02/greeley-kidnapped-vanished-declared-dead/5758/ http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/local/three-decades-after-she-disappeared-from-her-greeley-home-memories-of-jonelle-matthews-remain/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 2, 2007. San Francisco, California. Hugues de la Plaza, a 36-year old sound engineer with dual French and American citizenship, returns to his apartment after spending the evening at a club. When morning hits, Hugues is found stabbed to death. Since a security camera shows no one else heading in the direction of Hugues’ apartment that night, police explore the possibility that Hugues committed suicide and his death is classified as “undetermined”. However, Hugues’ family discover disturbing discrepancies which point to murder, so they are forced to bring in the National Police from France to seek justice for his death. In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine a very controversial case which prompted an international police force to take over an American investigation. Additional Reading: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-mystery-a-case-for-murder/ http://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/no-exit-san-francisco-police-have-ensured-that-hugues-de-la-plaza-will-dwell-eternally-in-bureaucratic-limbo/Content?oid=2826340 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Homicide-or-suicide-Man-s-death-a-mystery-3219748.php http://hoodline.com/2013/06/in-pursuit-of-justice-the-story-of-hugues-de-la-plaza The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

February 12, 2009. Washington, D.C.. 47-year old Pamela Butler phones her mother to say that she is planning to take her out on Valentine’s Day. Pam never shows up and after not hearing from her for several days, her family checks her house and discovers that she has vanished without explanation. Curiously, even though her home was covered with surveillance cameras, none of the footage shows Pam leaving during the time period she went missing, but her boyfriend can be seen entering and exiting the house on multiple occasions. In spite of this, there is no evidence of foul play or any trace of Pamela Butler. This week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles a bizarre mystery about a woman who somehow managed to disappear from a locked home which had 24-hour surveillance. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/pamela-j-butler http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/24/AR2009112404264.html https://crimewatchdaily.com/2016/04/15/cold-case-d-c-government-computer-specialist-still-missing/ Be sure to take part in our Facebook poll to help decide which case we will cover on our one-year anniversary show! The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 23, 1987. Arlington, Texas. 43-year old Patsy Wright phones up her sister in the middle of the night to complain that she has become nauseous after taking some NyQuil, but collapses during the call and soon passes away. An autopsy eventually reveals that Patsy was poisoned after strychnine was put in her NyQuil. The investigation would uncover multiple suspects with a motive to murder Patsy, but no evidence to implicate anyone. Our first “Trail Went Cold” episode of 2017 analyzes a real-life whodunit which resembles an Agatha Christie murder mystery. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/patsy-wright http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1989/august/t-h-e-wax-museum-murder-mystery/ http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1990/february/the-name-is-dear-bill-dear/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 4, 1989. Spokane, Washington. 13-year old Russell Evans heads home after spending the evening with friends, but is soon found seriously injured in the middle of the road. Russell eventually succumbs to his injuries and the official ruling by police is that he was the victim of a random hit-and-run accident. However, the nature of Russell’s injuries and evidence from the scene do not support a hit-and-run scenario. Russell’s parents come to believe he was attacked and murdered by multiple individuals and that one of his friends is withholding the truth about what happened. “The Trail Went Cold” concludes 2016 with a very important minisode which was personally requested by one of the victim’s relatives. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/russell-evans http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/mar/01/new-witnesses-come-forward-in-teens-death-parents/ The Idaho Spokesman-Review (April 20, 1990) The Idaho Spokesman-Review (Feb. 27, 1996) The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Christmas Eve 1945. Fayetteville, West Virginia. George and Jenny Sodder are preparing to celebrate the holidays with nine of their children, but shortly after they go to bed, their home burns completely to the ground. When the smoke clears, five of the Sodder children – whose ages range from five to fourteen years old – are nowhere to be found and a search of the rubble fails to turn up any trace of their remains. Due to a number of suspicious events surrounding the fire, the Sodders begin to suspect their five missing children were the victims of a bizarre kidnapping. Did the Sodder children really die in the fire that night or did they somehow survive and remain hidden from their family for the rest of their lives? And if the children did perish in the fire, who was responsible for starting it? In this week’s special holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we chronicle one of the most infamous Christmas mysteries of all time. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodder_children_disappearance http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-children-who-went-up-in-smoke-172429802/ http://charleyproject.org/case/jennie-irene-sodder http://charleyproject.org/case/maurice-antonio-sodder http://charleyproject.org/case/louis-erico-sodder http://charleyproject.org/case/betty-dolly-sodder http://charleyproject.org/case/martha-lee-sodder The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 28, 1981. Tilden Township, Michigan. After a night of drinking at a local club, 48-year old Helen Dymond and her husband Roy get into an argument in the parking lot. Roy drives home without his wife and Helen decides to walk from the club to her son’s house in order to spend the night. However, Helen never arrives and vanishes without a trace. Unfortunately, potential resolution for this case would be hampered by a faulty police investigation, contradictory stories from eyewitnesses, and the spread of misinformation. Join us for this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” as we examine the perplexing disappearance of Helen Dymond. Special thanks to Helen`s granddaughters, Holly Letson and April Lawer, whose Facebook page, “The Disappearance of Helen Dymond” is the source of most of the information you’ll hear on this podcast. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/helen-leone-dymond http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/granddaughters-missing-woman-helen-dymond-push-answers-decades-later-n609536 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

February 19, 1982. Woonsocket, Rhode Island. 27-year old Susan Laferte and 22-year old Doreen Picard are both attacked in the basement of their apartment house by an assailant who bludgeons them with a pipe. Doreen is killed and Susan remains in a coma for a month, but when she wakes up, she has no memory of the attack. Ten years later, a suspect named Raymond “Beaver” Tempest is convicted of Doreen’s murder and sentenced to 85 years in prison. However, since the prosecution’s case was fraught with problems, Tempest’s conviction is vacated in 2015 and the state is currently deciding whether or not to retry him. Is Beaver Tempest innocent of this horrific crime, or did they have the right guy all along? In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine a very controversial case which has still not reached its final resolution. Additional Reading: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Doreen_Picard https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/13/man-murder-conviction-vacated-after-years/fbbdnVyj0rVKmI1N0WLdUJ/story.html https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160714/ri-high-court-rules-beaver-tempest-is-entitled-to-new-murder-trial https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1935215/state-v-tempest/ http://caught.net/2018/beaver1.htm http://caught.net/pdf/tempestruling.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20141001230150/http://caught.net/cases/beaver1.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20150208032655/http://caught.net/cases/beaver2.htm The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

February 4, 1990. Orlando, Florida. 26-year old Deborah Poe shows up to work the graveyard shift at a Circle K convenience store. At around 4:00 AM, the store is discovered to be empty and Deborah is reported missing. Less than an hour beforehand, a customer had frequented the store, but for unknown reasons, an unidentified man was standing behind the counter and sold her some cigarettes. Did this mysterious man play a role in Deborah Poe’s unsolved disappearance or was someone else responsible? We attempt to answer this perplexing question in this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Deborah_Poe http://charleyproject.org/case/deborah-deann-poe http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-02-06/news/9002063308_1_poe-boyfriend-aunt http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2002-03-28/news/0203280229_1_grassy-field-human-remains-county-sheriff-detectives http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-deborah-poe-missing-anniversary-20150203-story.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

November 12, 1976. Inverness, Scotland. 36-year old Renee MacRae and her 3-year old son Andrew leave on a weekend trip, supposedly to visit Renee’s sister. Later that night, their flaming vehicle is discovered at an isolated lay-by next to the A9, but Renee and Andrew have disappeared. In a shocking twist, it turns out that Renee was actually planning to visit Bill MacDowell, a man she’d secretly been having an affair with for years and who also happens to be Andrew’s biological father. While the evidence suggests Renee and Andrew were murdered, their bodies have never been found. Join me for this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” as I examine one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the history of Scotland. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renee_MacRae http://www.scotsman.com/news/renee-macrae-are-police-nearing-the-truth-1-543570 http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/659663/A9-roadworks-uncover-bodies-Renee-MacRaeson-forensic-expert http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-37936116 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 1, 2008. Lawrenceville, Georgia. Millionaire real estate developer Hal Wenal returns home to discover that his 60-year old wife, Eva Kay Wenal, has been murdered. The only lead is an eyewitness sighting of a suspicious man in the neighbourhood around the time of Kay’s death. A newspaper soon receives an angry anonymous letter from someone who confesses to killing Kay because she wouldn’t leave her husband. When Hal passes away two years later, his family goes through his belongings and finds photographs of a man who bears a striking resemblance to the murder suspect. However, no one associated with the Wenals has any idea who this guy is. This week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores the unsolved murder of Eva Kay Wenal, who may have unknowingly had her killer’s photo stashed away in her home. If you think you recognize the man in this composite sketch or any of these photographs, please contact the Gwinnett County Police tip line at (770) 513-5480. Additional Reading: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/crime/2015/04/24/millionaire-model-murder-mystery/26298715/ http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/archive/years-later-clues-emerge-questions-remain-in-slaying-of-millionaire/article_bf4b49b5-bbd1-5297-9351-2c79da0740aa.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 18, 1977. Tucson, Arizona. After disappearing from his family for eleven days, the body of escrow company owner Charles “Chuck” Morgan is found outside his vehicle in the desert. He has been shot in the back of the head and is carrying a two-dollar bill which appears to have a coded message written on it. Even though Chuck had allegedly survived a kidnapping ordeal three months earlier and there are of lot suspicious things surrounding his death, the official police ruling is suicide. Thirteen years later, a Phoenix man named Doug Johnston is shot to death… but was his murder actually intended for a journalist investigating Chuck Morgan’s case? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine two cases featured on “Unsolved Mysteries” which may be linked together by a frightening conspiracy. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/chuck-morgan http://tucson.com/news/local/crime/cold-case-strange-evidence-found-in-on-near-man-s/article_e84a1034-c078-5a43-81a1-e602f52eda02.html https://www.cochise.az.gov/sites/default/files/treasurer/WillcoxMurder.pdf http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Doug_Johnston The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

February 14, 2000. Shelby, North Carolina. The parents of nine-year old Asha Degree wake up to discover that she has vanished from her bedroom. After she is reported missing, witnesses come forward to report having seen Asha walk down the highway earlier that morning. This seems to indicate that she voluntarily left her home in the middle of the night for unknown reasons. Eighteen months later, Asha’s book bag is found buried 26 miles away, but she is still nowhere to be found. In this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”, I examine one of the most baffling and unusual missing children’s cases of recent memory. Please check out the Charley Project profile page for Asha Degree, which contains her vital statistics, age-progressed photographs, and contact info for the proper authorities should you happen to have any information: http://charleyproject.org/case/asha-jaquilla-degree Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Asha_Degree About Finding Shelby’s Sweetheart: Asha Jaquilla Degree https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/new-clues-in-asha-degrees-disappearance/214961800 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

January 4, 1935. The nude body of a young man named Roland T. Owen is discovered inside Room 1046 of the Hotel President in Kansas City, Missouri. He has been tied up, beaten and stabbed and dies after being taken to the hospital. It turns out that “Roland T. Owen” is not the victim’s real name and after a mysterious anonymous benefactor sends money for his funeral, he is buried without anyone uncovering his true identity or the story behind his murder. Nearly two years later, a woman in Alabama recognizes the victim as her missing son, Artemus Ogletree, but then reveals that she was receiving letters from him months after he was murdered! In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, I shall examine the “Mysa January 4, 1935. The nude body of a young man named Roland T. Owen is discovered inside Room 1046 of the Hotel President in Kansas City, Missouri. He has been tied up, beaten and stabbed and dies after being taken to the hospital. It turns out that “Roland T. Owen” is not the victim’s real name and after a mysterious anonymous benefactor sends money for his funeral, he is buried without anyone uncovering his true identity or the story behind his murder. Nearly two years later, a woman in Alabama recognizes the victim as her missing son, Artemus Ogletree, but then reveals that she was receiving letters from him months after he was murdered! In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, I shall examine the “Mystery of Room 1046”, one of the most bizarre stories we’ve ever featured on this podcast. Additional Reading: https://kchistory.org/blog/mystery-room-1046-pt-1-roland-t-owen https://kchistory.org/blog/mystery-room-1046-pt-2-love-forever-louise https://www.historicmysteries.com/roland-t-owen-murder-room-1046/ http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/133934437 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro. tery of Room 1046”, one of the most bizarre stories we’ve ever featured on this podcast. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Click here to listen to the podcast on Stitcher. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Google Play Music. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

September 6, 1970. South Lake Tahoe, California. 25-year old nurse Donna Lass is nearing the end of her shift at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel-Casino when she vanishes without explanation. Her landlord and boss soon receive phone calls from an unidentified man, who claims that Donna will be absent for awhile because of a family emergency. However, this claim turns out to be false and Donna is never seen again. Months later, the San Francisco Chronicle receives a cryptic postcard which is allegedly sent by the infamous Zodiac killer, who implies that Donna Lass was one of his victims. Was the Zodiac responsible for Donna’s disappearance or was the postcard nothing more than a giant red herring? We attempt to answer that question in this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/donna-ann-lass https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/nov/15/was-tahoe-disappearance-linked-to-zodiac-killer/ http://www.zodiacciphers.com/lake-tahoe-disappearance.html http://www.zodiacciphers.com/zodiac-news/category/donna-lass “Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America’s Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed” by Robert Graysmith The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 8, 1989. Richmond, British Columbia. Two weeks after she disappeared, the body of 44-year old Cindy James is found in the yard of an abandoned house. Her hands and feet have been tied behind her back and her cause of death is determined to be an overdose. Cindy’s death brings an end to six-and-a-half-years of terror, where she reported nearly one hundred incidents of being stalked, tormented and attacked by an unknown assailant. However, police believe that Cindy was a mentally ill woman who staged all the attacks against herself before committing suicide. Did Cindy concoct an elaborate hoax before taking her own life or was she murdered by her mysterious tormentor? In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, I analyze one of Canada’s most baffling and hotly debated unsolved mysteries. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/cindy-james http://www.melaniehack.com/ “The Deaths of Cindy James” by Neal Hall “Who Killed Cindy James?” by Ian Mulgrew The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 5, 1968. After not hearing from him for three days, the fiancee of 62-year old character actor Albert Dekker (star of such films as “Dr. Cyclops”, “Kiss Me Deadly” and “The Wild Bunch”) enters his Hollywood apartment. She is horrified to discover him hanging dead inside the bathroom. The bizarre manner in which Dekker is found suggests that he was involved in some sort of sadomasochistic sexual activity when he died. The initial ruling is suicide before it is changed to accidental death via autoerotic asphyxiation, but since a large amount of money and valuables seem to be missing from the apartment, suspicion mounts that Dekker was a victim of foul play. On this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine one of the strangest unexplained deaths in Hollywood history. Additional Reading: “Tales of Hollywood: The Bizarre” by John Austin “The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals” by Michelle Morgan http://www.lauriejacobson.com/hollywood_heartbreak_ex.php The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

July 26, 1974. The nude decomposed body of a young woman is discovered at the Race Point Dunes outside of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The woman has been murdered via blunt force trauma to the head, but carries no identification. In spite of an extensive investigation, police are unable to uncover the identity of the victim or her killer, so she simply becomes known as the “Lady of the Dunes”. Over the years, there are a number of intriguing leads in the case, including a potential connection to a notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, and an alleged sighting of the victim in one of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of all time. Join me for this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” as I try to figure out the true identity of the “Lady of the Dunes” As a bonus, this episode will also contain a review of the true crime book, “The Blood on My Hands”, an autobiography written by Shannon O’Leary, which is available for purchase at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-My-Hands-Autobiography/dp/151969587X Also, please check out the Doe Network profile page for the “Lady of the Dunes”, which contains facial reconstructions for the victim, her vital statistics, and contact info for the proper authorities should you happen to know who she is: http://doenetwork.org/cases/119ufma.html Additional Reading: http://www.masslive.com/bostonspirit/2014/10/whitey_bulger_gays_and_the_lad.html https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2014/07/23/40-years-later-provincetowns-lady-of-the-dunes-remains-a-mystery “The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes” by Michael Newton The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 10, 1971. Middlebury, Vermont. 18-year old Middlebury College student Lynne Schulze is scheduled to take one of her final exams. While walking to the exam with her friends, Lynne remembers that she has forgotten her pen and returns to her dorm room to retrieve it. Lynne never shows up for the exam and vanishes without a trace. Four decades later, an unlikely connection is made between this case and one of the most sensational crime stories of the modern era. Was Lynne Schulze’s baffling unsolved disappearance somehow connected to notorious millionaire Robert Durst? We shall try to answer that question on our latest minsode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/lynne-kathryn-schulze https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/24/robert-durst-linked-disappearance-lynne-schulze-vermont-student-1971 http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/robert-durst/robert-durst-case-missing-student-lynne-schulze-shopped-his-business-n329551 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Christmas Eve 1975. Winter Garden, Florida. Police respond to call for help at the W.T. Zeigler Furniture Store and find one of the store’s owners, 30-year old Tommy Zeigler, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Inside, they discover that four people have been murdered: Tommy’s wife, Eunice Zeigler; her parents, Perry and Virginia Edwards; and a customer named Charlie Mays. Tommy claims he was attacked and shot by unknown intruders, but authorities believe Tommy committed the murders himself and that his gunshot wound is self-inflicted. Months later, he is put on trial and sentenced to death. In Part 1 of this convoluted story, we chronicled this horrific crime and Tommy Zeigler’s trial. Now, in Part 2, we shall examine the many shocking developments from the past four decades which have cast doubt on the conviction. Did Tommy Zeigler actually commit these murders or has an innocent man spent 40 years on death row? For this episode, we have consulted with Tommy’s full time pro bono private investigator, Lynn-Marie Carty, who has spent the past five-and-a-half years uncovering new evidence in her attempts to get Tommy out of prison. Be sure to check out her website about the case, “Tommy Zeigler is Innocent”, along with her personal website about her investigation services, “Reunite People”. We thank Lynn-Marie for her assistance at helping us put together our most extensive episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: “Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town” by Philip Finch http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-tommy-zeigler-medill-justice-project-20160308-story.html http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/defense-seeks-touch-dna-to-question-death-row-inmates-guilt/2236115 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 28, 1991. An elderly couple named Gord and Jackie McAllister drive their motor home into an isolated rest stop near Blind River, Ontario, in order to spend the night. They are awakened by an armed man, who robs them before shooting Jackie to death and wounding Gord. When a motorist named Brian Major pulls into the rest stop, the suspect fatally shoots him as well before fleeing the scene. Years later, a former Blind River resident is tied to two unsolved murders from 1970 and becomes a potential suspect in the rest stop killings. This terrifying case was featured on “Unsolved Mysteries” and is our first Canadian story. Join us for the very first minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/gordon-jackie-mcallister http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/dna-leads-to-arrest-in-30-year-old-sex-slayings-1.176374 “Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder” by Lee Mellor The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Christmas Eve 1975. Winter Garden, Florida. Police respond to call for help at the W.T. Zeigler Furniture Store and find one of the store’s owners, 30-year old Tommy Zeigler, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Inside, they discover that four people have been murdered: Tommy’s wife, Eunice Zeigler; her parents, Perry and Virginia Edwards; and a customer named Charlie Mays. Tommy claims he was attacked and shot by unknown intruders, but authorities believe Tommy committed the murders himself and that his gunshot wound is self-inflicted. Months later, he is put on trial and sentenced to death. However, the prosecution’s case was shaky at best and over the years, evidence has emerged to cast doubt on the conviction. Tommy Zeigler has remained on death row for over 40 years, but has never stopped maintaining his innocence and his supporters continue to fight to get him released. This is undoubtedly the most convoluted case “The Trail Went Cold” has ever profiled, so we will be making this a two-part episode. This week, Part 1 will chronicle the incredible series of events surrounding this horrific crime and the controversial trial of Tommy Zeigler. Additional Reading: “Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town” by Philip Finch http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-tommy-zeigler-medill-justice-project-20160308-story.html http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/defense-seeks-touch-dna-to-question-death-row-inmates-guilt/2236115 http://tommyzeiglerisinnocent.com The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

January 21, 1962. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Authorities arrive at the burning home of Edward Maps to discover that his wife, Christine, has been bludgeoned to death and their four-month old daughter, Julie Louise, has died of smoke inhalation. Edward Maps himself has disappeared and a warrant is issued for his arrest. Maps is soon placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, but to this day, he has never been found. However, over the years, allegations have surfaced that another suspect might have been the real perpetrator and disposed of Maps’ body to frame him for the crime. Did Edward Maps get away with the murder of his family or was he actually an innocent victim all along? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, I analyze one of the most baffling wanted fugitive cases ever. Additional Reading: http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20080121/NEWS/801210331 http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20080128/NEWS/801280322 http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20080211/NEWS/802110332 http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20080413/NEWS/804130349 http://articles.mcall.com/1992-05-03/news/2858965_1_christine-fine-artist-murders The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

August 7, 1982. Santa Fe, New Mexico. A Catholic priest named Father Reynaldo Rivera receives a phone call from a man asking him to administer last rites to a dying relative. After leaving to meet this man at a rest stop, Father Rivera disappears and is soon found murdered. Two years later, another Catholic priest named Father John Kerrigan disappears from the community of Ronan, Montana and though his body is never found, the evidence suggests he was also murdered. There are enough similarities between the two crimes that investigators start wondering if they might be connected and committed by a serial killer targeting Catholic priests. However, allegations have surfaced to suggest that one of the priests may have been harboring dark secrets which contributed to his death. I will be analyzing two unsolved cases on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I attempt to figure out what happened to both Father Rivera and Father Kerrigan. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/fr-reynaldo-rivera/ http://charleyproject.org/case/john-patrick-kerrigan https://missoulian.com/news/local/list-of-priests-accused-of-sex-abuse-includes-believed-to/article_260a2a21-8c7f-5b29-ad6a-2cbc8583426d.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

March 18, 1990. Augusta, Georgia. Fifteen-year old twin sisters, Jeannette and Dannette Millbrook, are heading back to their family’s apartment when they decide to stop off at a gas station to buy some food. After leaving the store, the twins never return home and vanish without a trace. Over the next two decades, the twins’ family would be trapped in a trapped in bureaucratic nightmare, as law enforcement would inexplicably close the case without informing them. The disappearance would not receive a proper investigation or any media coverage for 23 years! This week’s episode of The Trail Went Cold is our most important one yet, as we were personally contacted by Jeannette and Dannette’s half-sister, Shanta Sturgis, who asked us to cover their story. Please check out the Charley Project profile pages for Jeannette and Dannette Millbrook, which contain their vital statistics, age-progressed photographs, and contact info for the proper authorities should you happen to have any information: http://charleyproject.org/case/jeannette-latressa-millbrook http://charleyproject.org/case/dannette-latonia-millbrook Also, click here to hear an interview with Shanta Sturgis on an episode about this case from the true crime podcast, “Thin Air.” Additional Reading: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/08/16/dannette-jeannette-millbrooks-missing_n_3762972.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

February 14, 1980. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While recovering from a bad drug hangover, 25-year old Michael Rosenblum drives off in his girlfriend’s car and vanishes without a trace. The vehicle is soon found abandoned by the Baldwin Borough Police Department, but even though Michael’s family reports him missing, the police inexplicably keep the car impounded for three months without informing anyone. As the years go by, Michael’s father uncovers disturbing evidence to suggest that the Baldwin police chief helped orchestrate an elaborate cover-up involving his son’s disappearance. Even when a skull fragment belonging to Michael is found in 1992, there are no answers about what happened to him. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles the unexplained disappearance and death of Michael Rosenblum, which is perhaps our most convoluted and controversial case to date. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/michael-rosenblum http://coldcaseshardcopy.blogspot.com/2011/10/who-murdered-michael-rosenblum.html Pittsburgh Magazine (April 1988) The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

January 13, 1976. Beaumaris, Australia. The family of eight-year old Eloise Worledge wake up to discover she has mysteriously vanished from their suburban home and that an opening has been cut in the flyscreen window inside Eloise’s bedroom. Eyewitnesses report a lot of strange activity in the neighbourhood throughout the night, which seems to suggest that Eloise was abducted by an intruder. However, other evidence seems to suggest the abduction scene might have been staged. Since Eloise’s parents were going through a separation and her father was planning to move out of the house that very same morning, investigators start eyeing the family as possible suspects. Who was actually responsible for Eloise Worledge’s disappearance? Join us for the first international episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I analyze one of the most controversial unsolved cases in the history of Australia. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Eloise_Worledge http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/04/1057179154768.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/07/1057430137175.html http://www.australianmissingpersonsregister.com/Worledge.htm The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

November 16, 1982. An abandoned SUV is discovered in the middle of a desolate Wyoming prairie and numerous possessions are scattered all over the highway. The vehicle belongs to Don Kemp, a former New York City ad executive who has left his old life behind and vanished without a trace. In spite of an extensive search of the area, it is four years before Don’s skeletal remains are found on the prairie. However, five months after Don originally disappeared, one of his friends allegedly received a series of bizarre phone calls from him. Did Don die of exposure shortly after abandoning his vehicle? Or was he killed elsewhere before his remains were somehow returned to the prairie years later? Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I analyze the very first case to ever be featured on “Unsolved Mysteries”. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/don-kemp/ https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Donald_Kemp The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

July 10, 1991. El Dorado, Arkansas. A young blonde woman known to her friends as “Mercedes” is shot to death by her estranged ex-boyfriend at a seedy motel. It turns out Mercedes has been living under a stolen identity and no one in her life – not even the man who murdered her – knows who she really is. An extensive check into the woman’s background turns up many pieces of a puzzle which does not fit together and investigators are unable to uncover her true identity. However, it is possible she might be connected to some other unsolved cold cases… including one we have previously featured on this very podcast! Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I share the story of the mysterious unidentified woman known as “El Dorado Jane Doe”. Please check out the Doe Network profile page for El Dorado Jane Doe, which contains her vital statistics, numerous photographs, and contact info for the proper authorities should you happen to recognize her: http://doenetwork.org/cases/81ufar.html Additional Reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eldorado-jane-doe_us_56e6d679e4b0b25c918276a3 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

On April 9, 1997, Judy Smith, a 50-year old wife and mother from Newton, Massachusetts, decided to accompany her husband, Jeff, on a business trip to Philadelphia. The following day, Judy set out to do some sightseeing in the city while her husband attended a conference. When Jeff returned to their hotel that night, Judy was not there and she could not be found anywhere in the city. Five months later, Judy’s skeletal remains would be discovered in a mountainous area… 600 miles away in North Carolina! The evidence indicated foul play, but eyewitness sightings seemed to suggest that Judy had traveled to the area voluntarily. Did Judy take an impromptu 600-mile trip without telling her family and if so, how did she wind up dead in the Appalachian Mountains? Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I analyze the truly baffling unexplained death of Judy Smith. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/judy-smith http://citypaper.net/articles/071797/article010.shtml http://citypaper.net/articles/072497/article015.shtml http://citypaper.net/articles/100297/cb.smith.shtml http://citypaper.net/articles/100997/cb.buncombe.shtml http://articles.philly.com/1997-10-05/news/25540618_1_detectives-medical-examiner-crime-scene The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

April 26, 1980. Manchester, New Hampshire. Judith Rahn goes out of town, leaving her 14-year old daughter, Laureen, alone at their apartment. When Judith returns home late that night, she discovers that one of Laureen’s friends is sleeping in her bed, but Laureen herself is missing without explanation. Over the next few years, there would be several strange leads to suggest that Laureen somehow wound up in California, including some unexplained calls on Judith’s phone bill and an unlikely connection to a notable porn star. Each clue in this case seems to be a piece of a large jigsaw puzzle which doesn’t quite fit together. Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I attempt to analyze the truly bizarre unsolved disappearance of Laureen Rahn Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/laureen-ann-rahn The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 1, 2003. Naples, Florida. A Mexican national named Felipe Santos gets into a minor traffic accident and mysteriously disappears after being taken into custody by the police. Three months later, another Naples man named Terrance Williams also vanishes without explanation after being pulled over for a routine traffic stop. What makes this story so unusual is that both men were last seen being taken into custody by the same police officer: Corporal Steve Calkins. Was this all just a very bizarre coincidence or was Calkins responsible for the disappearance of both men? Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I examine one of the most controversial missing persons cases of recent memory. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Terrance_Williams_and_Felipe_Santos http://charleyproject.org/case/terrance-deon-williams http://charleyproject.org/case/felipe-santos https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/11/tyler-perry-reward-missing-men/1826873/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 22, 1981. 19-year old Rhonda Hinson attends an office Christmas party in Hickory, North Carolina. Sometime after midnight, Rhonda is driving back home when she is struck by a bullet fired from a high-powered rifle, killing her instantly and causing her car to crash into the ditch. Incredibly, the bullet manages to travel through the vehicle’s trunk, back seat, and driver’s seat, striking Rhonda in the heart and killing her instantly. The seemingly impossible fatal shot, along with a strange eyewitness sighting of an unidentified man at the scene, has led to debate about whether Rhonda was deliberately targeted or the unfortunate victim of a freak accident. Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I analyze the baffling murder of Rhonda Hinson. Additional Reading: http://unsolved.com/archives/rhonda-hinson http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/12/22/who-killed-rhonda-family-looks-for-answers-in-34-year-old-cold-case-murder.html http://www.morganton.com/news/rhonda-hinson-s-murder-turns/article_4c9fab6e-95be-5084-99af-44a4f7e9e7bc.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

January 5, 1994. A former Marine named David Cox vanishes from his home in Medfield, Massachusetts and is found shot to death three months later. In 1986, Cox had been involved in a controversial “Code Red” hazing incident while stationed at Guantanamo Bay, which would inspire the hit movie, “A Few Good Men”. When Cox saw the movie, he organized a lawsuit and became an outspoken critic of both the film and the U.S. military’s activities in Cuba. Did Cox’s actions eventually lead to his death? Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I analyze the unsolved murder of David Cox. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/david-cox/ https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-04-10-1994100064-story.html The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 23, 1974. 17-year old Mary Rachel Trlica, 14-year old Lisa Renee Wilson and 9-year old Julie Ann Moseley, a.k.a. the “Fort Worth Three”, head on a shopping trip to a mall in Fort Worth, Texas. The three girls never return home and their abandoned car is found in the mall parking lot. The next morning, Rachel’s husband finds a strange mysterious letter in his mailbox which throws the whole case for a loop. Did Rachel actually write this letter and stage her own disappearance, or did something much more sinister happen? Join me for a new episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as I analyze the baffling unsolved disappearance of the “Fort Worth Three.” Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/mary-rachel-trlica http://charleyproject.org/case/lisa-renee-wilson http://charleyproject.org/case/julie-ann-moseley http://www.missingtrio.com/TRIO/index.aspx https://cw33.com/2014/12/24/40-years-later-vigil-for-missing-fort-worth-girls/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

April 29, 1986. Lawton Oklahoma. A fifty-year-old housewife is killed in a flaming car crash, which is initially ruled to be accident. However, her husband uncovers strange evidence, suggesting that her death might be something far more sinister. After that, the trail went cold… Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/aileen-conway/ The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.