The Trail Went Cold is a true crime podcast where writer Robin Warder examines unsolved mysteries and offers his own theories as to what really happened.
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October 8, 1976. Benton County, Indiana. A farmer discovers a large cardboard shipping box in his cornfield which contains the body of an elderly woman who has been shot through the head. Since the victim cannot be identified, she remains a Jane Doe and is nicknamed “The Box Lady of Benton County”. Nearly 50 years later, genetic genealogy finally identifies the victim as 69-year old Jane Hart, who lived in Chicago around the time of her death, but the identity of her killer and the motive for the crime remain unknown. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved mur
January 26, 1980. Nantucket, Massachusetts. The brother of 49-year old Margaret Kilcoyne wakes up and discovers that she is missing from her vacation home, even though her car, coat and winter boots have been left behind. Prior to her disappearance, Margaret had completed a scientific research breakthrough at her job in New York City, but was also displaying erratic behaviour to suggest she was suffering from mental health issues. Over one week later, some of Margaret’s personal items, including her wallet and passport, are discovered in a swamp area about a mile from her residence, though the
April 26, 1970. East Pikeland Township, Pennsylvania. While on a weekend camping trip with his Boy Scout troop, eleven-year old Terry Bowers is discovered dead inside his sleeping bag after having been stabbed four times during the early morning hours. Even though Terry was sleeping outside and there were nearly 30 other people at the campsite, no one reported seeing or hearing anything unusual and the murder weapon cannot be found. An extensive investigation turns up some leads, but no solid suspects, so Terry’s murder is never solved and the motive for the crime remains unclear. On this week
June 6, 1993. Windsor, North Carolina. After a Be-Lo supermarket closes for the night, a gunman emerges from a hiding spot and forces the two employees - 47-year old manager Grover “Bud” Cecil and 36-year old casher Joyce Coburn Reason - to hand over $3,000 from the safe. The gunman then orders the employees and four members of an after-hours cleaning crew - 48-year old Johnnie Rankins, 40-year old Sylvester “Tony” Welch”, 48-year old Thomas Hardy and his 50-year old brother Jasper Hardy - to the back of the store, where they are bound and stacked on top of each other before they are shot. Whi
June 24, 1974. Burlington, New Jersey. 14-year old Margaret Ellen Fox boards a bus to travel to the nearby township of Mount Holly in order to meet a man named John Marshall and never returns home. Days earlier, Margaret had placed an ad in the newspaper offering her services as a babysitter and received a phone call from Marshall, who offered her a job babysitting his son, but it seems apparent this was a set-up. Margaret’s family receives a phone call and a pair of letters demanding a $10,000 ransom for her safe return, but the kidnapper eventually ceases all communication and Margaret is ne
August 25, 1973 Adelaide, Australia. While attending a football match at the Adelaide Oval stadium alongside their respective families, 11-year old Joanne Ratcliffe and four-year old Kirste Gordon leave their seats to go to the toilet together, but never return. After Joanne and Kirste are reported missing, numerous eyewitnesses report having seen them in the company of a middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and since the two girls appeared to be in distress, they were likely the victims of an abduction. Over the years, a number of known pedophiles are looked at as potential suspects in
January 26, 1966. Adelaide, Australia. Three children from the Beaumont family – nine-year old Jane, seven-year old Arnna and four-year old Grant – leave their residence in order to travel to the beach in the suburb of Glenelg, but they never return home. A number of eyewitnesses report having seen the children in the company of an unidentified man before they went missing and this person is believed to be responsible for their disappearances. Over the years, investigators explore a number of potential suspects and perform excavations at various locations, but no trace of Jane, Arnna or Grant
May 24, 2012. Dickinson, North Dakota. After making a 100-mile commute to a worksite alongside a construction crew from Cofell’s Plumbing & Heating, 30-year old Eric Haider disappears in the middle of his shift and his crew returns back home without him. Nearly three years later, Eric’s remains are found buried at the former construction site in Dickinson inside a trench where he had last been seen working on a pipeline during his final shift. While it is suspected that Eric’s co-workers buried him alive and orchestrated a cover-up, the authorities do not believe they have the necessary eviden
August 1, 1989. Prince George, British Columbia. After meeting an unidentified bearded man at a local pub, 26-year old Ronnie Jack is supposedly offered a temporary job at a remote logging camp located about 40 kilometres away. Later that night, Ronnie, his 26-year old spouse Doreen Jack, and their two children – nine-year old Russell and four-year old Ryan – are seen climbing into this man’s pick-up truck, but after they drive away, the family is never heard from again. Over the years, investigators explore some leads, including an anonymous phone tip about the victims’ remains being buried o
June 28, 2004. Newberry Springs, California. After experiencing a rough six months living in California, 30-year old April Pitzer makes plans to return to her home state of Arkansas to live with her mother, but before she can make the trip, she vanishes without explanation. Shortly before she went missing, April had crossed paths with the wife of a man who had gone to prison years earlier after she testified as an informant in a federal drug case, leading April to fear that her life might be in danger. A year-and-a-half later, some of April’s personal belongings are found scattered in a remote
May 9, 2013. Bowling Green, Ohio. The body of 66-year old Dawn Glanz, a retired art professor from Bowling Green State University, is discovered inside her bathroom by her husband, Bob Brown, and the authorities initially believe that she suffered a fatal stroke and died of natural causes. However, before Dawn’s body can be cremated, police receive an anonymous tip expressing concern that Bob may have killed Dawn in order to inherit her $2 million estate and a new autopsy reveals that she received a stab wound to the head and the shock caused her to succumb to a heart attack. After Dawn’s deat
March 21, 2008. Cowan, Indiana. After leaving his job at Ball State University, 48-year old Garth Rector returns to his rented farmhouse before he is shot five times inside the kitchen by an intruder who presumably broke into the residence. While there is initial speculation that the crime was a burglary gone wrong, the only item which appears to be stolen is Garth’s wedding ring. At the time of the murder, Garth was separated from his wife and had conducted affairs with some other women who had spouses of their own, but while there are a number of persons of interest, investigators do not hav
May 20, 2005. North Charleston, South Carolina. After returning to her apartment from work, 32-year old Brandy Hanna vanishes without a trace and after she fails to answer repeated calls to her cell phone over the course of the weekend, she is officially reported missing. One of Brandy’s neighbours report having seen her climbing into a red truck on the night she vanished and while it happens to match the description of trucks which are owned by two of Brandy’s ex-boyfriends, there is no evidence to implicate either of them. Eleven years later, one of Brandy’s former boyfriends is charged with
February 26, 2010. Broome, Australia. After spending the night out drinking with friends, 21-year old Josh Warneke starts to walk home, but he is soon found dead by the side of the road with a fatal head injury. Two-and-a-half years later, a young Aboriginal man named Gene Gibson is charged with Josh’s murder after confessing that he bludgeoned him to death with a metal pole, but since his confession is thrown out before trial, Gene winds up pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and is sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison. However, since the police used a number of ques
March 14, 1988. Union Township, Ohio. 18-year old Scott Hilbert leaves a note on his parents’ refrigerator to say that he is borrowing the family car to go visit a friend at Ohio State University, but he never returns and vanishes without a trace. Three-and-a-half weeks later, the abandoned car is discovered 1,700 miles away on the slope of a remote canyon in Mohave County, Arizona and while some of Scott’s belongings are missing, others are scattered outside the vehicle. The odometer shows an additional 2,000 miles which cannot be accounted for and while it seems apparent that someone made a
June 4, 2019. Fairview Park, Ohio. 40-year old Carnell Sledge and his 33-year old friend, Kate Brown, agree to meet up at the Rocky River Reservation in the Cleveland Metroparks and they each drive there in their respective vehicles. Within 15 minutes of their arrival, Carnell and Kate are both fatally shot in the head near a park bench and the perpetrator manages to flee the scene without anyone seeing or hearing anything. Investigators look into the backgrounds of both victims to see if anyone had a motive to harm them, but are unable to turn up any evidence to implicate anyone and the crime
July 11, 2006. Snohomish County, Washington. 56-year old Mary Cooper and her 27-year old daughter, Susanna Stodden, leave their homes in Seattle in order to go hiking on the Pinnacle Lake Trail over 60 miles away. Later that day, Mary and Susanna’s bodies are found alongside the trail after they have both been shot in the head and even though some of their clothing was removed, neither of them were sexually assaulted. For years, Mary’s husband is looked at as a potential suspect before he is officially ruled out, but even though a partial male DNA profile is eventually found under Susanna’s fi
July 26, 1988. Jackson, Mississippi. After getting into an argument with her mother, seven-year old Daffany Tullos leaves her grandparents’ residence and is last seen walking down the street by neighbours before she disappears. Suspicion turns towards Ernest Lee Epps, the boyfriend of Daffany’s mother, who was charged with sexual battery for allegedly molesting Daffany and released from jail on bond the same day she went missing. However, there is no evidence to implicate Ernest and even though a shirt belonging to Daffany is found in a neighbour’s yard a year-and-a-half later, no trace of her
December 13, 1976. Fairfield, Maine. The daughter of 31-year old Pauline Rourke kisses her sleeping mother goodbye before leaving for school, but when she returns home later that day, Pauline has vanished without a trace. Suspicion turns towards Pauline’s live-in friend, Albert Pat Cochran, who frequently fought with her and had developed an odd obsession with the recent murder of another woman from the area named Janet Baxter. Two decades later, Pat is charged and convicted of Janet’s murder, but even though he is suspected of being responsible for Pauline’s disappearance, there is not enough
July 29, 1965. Gothenburg, Sweden. After meeting together at a café, 21-year old Jan Olof Dahlsjo, 22-year old Gay Roger Karlsson and 16-year old Kjell-Ake Johansson all climb into a Volvo belonging to Jan Olof’s brother, but the three men and the car soon vanish without a trace. That very same day, 18-year old Hubner “Hymme” Lundquist also disappears after travelling from his family’s cottage in Torekov to Gothenburg Central Station. There is speculation that the two cases might be connected to each other, as well as a bank robbery which also took place in Gothenburg that same afternoon, but
May 29, 2011. Florence, Kentucky. After missing their morning church service, 74-year old Bill Stephenson and his 74-year old wife, Peggy Stephenson, are found murdered inside their condo. Their causes of death are listed as blunt force trauma and sharp force trauma and while few details about the crime scene are released to the public, it’s reported that the victims’ bodies and a number of items in the condo were moved around and staged in a specific fashion in order to send some sort of message. It’s believed that the killer remained at the scene for hours after committing the murders and ev
August 7, 1973. Fontana, California. A CB radio operator hears a broadcast from a crying boy calling himself “Larry”, who claims that his father is dead and he needs help. Other CB operators throughout the United States start receiving broadcasts from Larry on their radios and he eventually reveals that he was involved in an accident in a remote part of New Mexico and is trapped inside an overturned pick-up truck alongside his father’s body. While Larry claims that he is using the truck’s CB radio to communicate, he fails to provide many specific details about his location or his background. E
December 14, 2000. Callahan, Florida. After picking up a prescription from a pharmacy, 51-year old Jackie Markham returns home from work, but she soon vanishes without a trace and the prescription is found on the front seat of her car inside the garage. Jackie’s boyfriend, Archie Carroll, claims she phoned him to say that a drunk man named “Richard” had unexpectedly shown up at her house, but by the time Archie drove over there to check on her, Jackie was gone. Investigators explore a number of different leads, including the possibility that Jackie was harmed by a suspected serial killer or th
March 16, 1990. San Francisco County, California. 17-year old Toni Clark, who happens to be two months pregnant, leaves her cousin’s residence in Oakland to drive back to her apartment in San Bruno in her boyfriend’s Chevrolet Camaro. Shortly thereafter, the stalled Camaro is discovered on the Bay Bridge and after another motorist crashes into it, investigators conclude that Toni was likely propelled off the bridge into San Francisco Bay. However, Toni’s body is never recovered and there are a number of odd discrepancies, such as reported sightings of a black male next to the Camaro shortly be
March 1, 1932. East Amwell Township, New Jersey. 20-month old Charles Lindbergh Jr., the son of renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh, is abducted from his crib in the nursery of his home and a note is left behind demanding a $50,000 ransom for the baby’s safe return. Even though the ransom is eventually paid out to an unidentified man at a cemetery in the Bronx, the child is not returned and his body is found in a wooded area located just over four miles from the Lindbergh residence. His cause of death is a fractured skull and it is believed that he was killed on the very same night he was kidna
