The Trail Went Cold

August 14, 1986. Myrtle Point, Oregon. 14-year old Jeremy Bright attends a county fair with his younger sister, but after promising to meet her at a scheduled time, he does not show up and is never heard from again. After Jeremy is reported missing, it isn’t long before rumours start circulating throughout the community and many of them involve a group of local troublemakers causing Jeremy’s death and disposing of his body. Two years later, one of these alleged suspects would go to prison for an unrelated murder, but it still fails to turn up any answers about Jeremy’s disappearance. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover a frustrating missing persons case which has gone unsolved for three decades, even though there are people out there who might still know the truth about what happened. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Jeremy_Bright https://unsolved.com/gallery/jeremy-bright/ http://charleyproject.org/case/jeremy-doland-bright https://theworldlink.com/news/local/still-missing-after-years/article_2d8d4350-bd7f-5629-adb9-c8f0fed9ad05.html “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

April 12, 1981. Keddie, California. 36-year old Sue Sharp, her 15-year old son John Sharp, and John’s 17-year old friend, Dana Wingate, are found brutally murdered inside Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort. Sue’s 12-year old daughter, Tina Sharp, is missing and her skeletal remains would be discovered in a remote area three years later. Sue’s two youngest sons, along with a 12-year old family friend named Justin Smartt spent the night in a separate bedroom and were left unharmed. Over the years, the investigation would uncover two promising suspects who happened to live in another cabin at the resort. Were these two men responsible for the Keddie Cabin Murders? Was there was a cover-up by law enforcement which allowed them to escape justice? Did Justin Smartt witness the murders and block the event from his memory? Were other suspects involved in the crime? For our special Halloween episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be examining an infamous case which was voted on by our listeners. Special thanks to listeners Kelly Campbell, Stuart Davis, William McCormick and Stephanie Kurtz for narrating sections of today’s episode. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keddie_murders http://keddie28.com https://www.plumasnews.com/keddie-murders-revisited/ https://www.plumasnews.com/keddie-murders-revisited-following-the-clues/ https://www.plumasnews.com/keddie-murders-revisited-part-3-hypnosis-counselors-revelations-mob-connections/ “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grows out of their control, as they discover that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace. Worse, there may be a reason why no one has ever uncovered the truth before. Someone is watching them, willing to do whatever it takes to keep the secret. Their recordings have finally been released. In this bonus episode, Robin introduces Blackwood and offers up a preview of the show. Click here to subscribe to Blackwood.

October 31, 2002. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 21-year old university student Chris Jenkins celebrates Halloween by going to a local bar with friends. After he is ejected from the establishment, Chris vanishes without a trace and his body is found in the Mississippi River four months later. While police initially believe that Chris’ death was an accidental drowning, his family uncovers disturbing discrepancies to suggest his body was not in the river the entire time he was missing and that he was a victim of foul play. After four years, the Minneapolis police chief reopens the investigation, reclassifies Chris’ death as a homicide, and issues an apology to the Jenkins family. What actually happened to Chris Jenkins after he left the bar? Could his death somehow be connected to the infamous “Smiley face murder theory”? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” examines a truly baffling Halloween night mystery. Additional Reading: http://www.startribune.com/strange-case-of-son-s-death-propels-mom-on-tireless-quest/82751737/ https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/11/20/jenkins https://www.twincities.com/2007/07/31/no-charges-for-now-against-suspect-in-college-students-02-death/ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/38601514/ns/solve_my_mystery/t/investigators-notes/#.W8jIv2hKhO- "Case Studies in Drowning Forensics" by Kevin Gannon & D. Lee Gilbertson "Footprints of Courage: Our Family's Struggle for Justice - Inside the Chris Jenkins Murder Investigation" by Jan Jenkins “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 24, 1953. La Crosse, Wisconsin. The father of 15-year old Evelyn Hartley attempts to phone her while she is babysitting an infant child, but there is no answer at the house. After travelling there to check on her, he discovers that Evelyn has disappeared and the evidence suggests she was the victim of a violent abduction by an intruder. Days later, pieces of blood-stained clothing are found outside of town which are believed to belong to Evelyn and her abductor. Over the next several decades, there would be a number of developments, including a possible connection to notorious murderer Ed Gein and the discovery of a tape-recorded confession implicating multiple suspects in the crime, but Evelyn is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine what is considered to be one of the most terrifying unsolved missing persons cases of all time. For more information on the Evelyn Hartley case, please visit this blog: http://crimeblogger1983.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-kidnapping-and-murder-of-evelyn.html Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Evelyn_Hartley http://charleyproject.org/case/evelyn-grace-hartley http://jg-tc.com/news/old-tape-gives-new-clues-in-half-century-old-death/article_39f757c9-23d6-5f35-ae47-56809db3483c.html “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. We would like to thank Shudder for supporting The Trail Went Cold. Try Shudder free for 30 days by visiting www.shudder.com/podcast and using the promo code “cold”. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 31, 1979. Williamson County, Texas. The nude body of a young woman is discovered in a concrete culvert next to Interstate 35. She has been strangled to death and is only clad in a pair of orange socks, but since she cannot be identified, “Orange Socks” becomes her nickname. Notorious serial killer Henry Lee Lucas eventually confesses to her murder and is sentenced to death, but there is strong evidence to suggest he was not actually responsible. November 1, 1980. Walker County, Texas. The nude body of another young woman is discovered next to Interstate 45. She has also been strangled to death and sexually assaulted with a blunt instrument. Witnesses would recognize the victim and recall speaking with her the previous night as she asked for directions to the Ellis Prison Unit. In spite of some promising clues, investigators are unable to uncover the victim’s identity, so she simply becomes known as the “Walker County Jane Doe”. Could the same perpetrator have been responsible for both these crimes? On this week’s episode of "The Trail Went Cold", we examine two unsolved cold cases about young women who were murdered in Texas one year apart, but have never been identified. Please check out the Doe Network profile pages for “Orange Socks” and the “Walker County Jane Doe”, which contain facial reconstructions for both victims, their vital statistics, and contact information for the proper authorities should you happen to know who they are… Orange Socks: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/33uftx.html Walker County Jane Doe: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/91uftx.html Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Socks https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Identity-of-Orange-Socks-remains-a-mystery-1972763.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_County_Jane_Doe “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The courtroom can be a battlefield over money, people’s rights, and even their lives. For some cases, the consequences can affect us long after the verdict is read. Based on extensive interviews and court transcripts, Wondery’s new podcast LEGAL WARS puts you inside the jury box of some of the most famous court cases in American history, including Hulk Hogan’s courtroom wrestling match with Gawker, the battle for free speech on the internet, and the Rodney King trial that set off the LA Riots. Host Hill Harper, actor and Harvard Law School graduate, brings you the drama, the larger-than-life characters, and the real-world impact these cases had on our society. In this bonus episode, Robin introduces Legal Wars and offers up a preview of the show. To subscribe to Legal Wars on Apple Podcasts, click here.

November 1, 2001. State College, Pennsylvania. After spending Halloween night partying at a club with friends, 21-year old Penn State student Cindy Song is dropped off at her apartment complex at 4:00 AM. She is never heard from again, but some of her personal items and a piece of her Halloween costume are found inside her apartment. Years later, an informant tells police that Cindy was abducted and murdered by pair of suspects named Hugo Selenski and Michael Kerkowski. A search of Selenski’s property uncovers the remains of several murder victims, including Michael Kerkowski, but no trace of Cindy is found. Was Hugo Selenski actually responsible for Cindy Song’s disappearance, or was it another suspect who has yet to show up on the radar? We shall explore an unsolved missing persons case in this month’s first Halloween-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/hyun-jong-song https://unsolved.com/gallery/cindy-song/ https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/11/8_years_after_penn_state_stude.html “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 14, 2000. Jonesboro, Arkansas. 20-year old Amanda Tusing leaves her fiancee’s apartment to drive home to her parents’ house, but never arrives. Her abandoned car is soon discovered by the side of the highway, but there is no sign of Amanda. Days later, her body is found in a waterlogged ditch over 12 miles away, but there are no signs of sexual assault and the exact cause of death cannot be determined. The identity of Amanda’s killer, as well as the motive for the crime, remain unknown. July 25, 1989. Bella Vista, Arkansas. After driving away from a grocery store, 17-year old Dana Stidham fails to return to her parents’ house and her abandoned vehicle is found next to the highway the following morning. Less than two months later, Dana’s skeletal remains are discovered in a shallow grave in a remote wooded area. The investigation focuses on a high school classmate of Dana’s who was infatuated with her and displayed suspicious behaviour after her death, but there is not enough evidence to implicate him. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine two unsolved murders involving young women from Arkansas whose vehicles were found abandoned by the side of the highway. Could these crimes possibly be connected? Special thanks to listener Jamie Winn for providing the opening narration for this episode. Additional Reading: https://www.aymag.com/why-mandy-the-case-of-a-murder-without-motive-part-2/ http://www.kait8.com/story/19881165/region-8-cold-case-amanda-tusing https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/no-answers-29-years-after-murder-arkansas-teen-dana-stidham-n893546 https://www.tulsaworld.com/archive/hair-sample-triggers-dispute/article_05fb6d8e-3b06-5de7-98a3-f0d327d49860.html “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

April 16, 1987. Union City, Tennessee. Four-year old Marlena Childress vanishes from her front yard after her mother, Pamela Bailey, claims she saw a red car driving away from their house. Two months later, Pam confesses that she accidentally killed Marlena and tossed her body into the Obion River. Pam soon recants her confession and claims it was coerced and since Marlena’s body cannot be found and there is no other evidence to implicate Pam, she is not indicted for her daughter’s death. Over the next several years, there would be a number of twists and turns, including some seemingly credible eyewitness sightings to suggest Marlena is still alive, and Pam would also face legal trouble for another violent crime involving her children. Was Pam responsible for her daughter’s disappearance, or was Marlena actually abducted? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine a very controversial and divisive missing children’s case which has yet to find a resolution. Additional Reading: http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Marlena_Childress http://charleyproject.org/case/marlena-danyele-childress https://www.nwtntoday.com/2012/04/12/cold-case-investigation-to-focus-on-disappearance/ “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. We would like to thank our sponsor, Winc, for supporting this week’s episode. To receive a $20 credit and free shipping on 4 bottles of wine on your first order, go to trywinc.com/cold. 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. Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

August 16, 1983. Idaho Springs, Colorado. 14-year old Beth Miller leaves her home to go jogging, but never returns. The investigation uncovers some promising leads, including eyewitness accounts of a man in a red pick-up truck who was seen flirting with Beth in the days prior to her disappearance. Ten years later, the former girlfriend of a deceased suspect leads the authorities towards an alleged burial location for Beth’s body, but nothing is found. February 9, 1989. Gainesville, Florida. 20-year old university student Tiffany Sessions leaves her condo to go for a power walk, but does not return. 24 years later, after a convicted murderer named Paul Rowles dies in prison, investigators uncover evidence in his possessions which seems to implicate him in Tiffany’s disappearance, but her remains cannot be found. August 5, 1989. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. 17-year old Tracy Kroh leaves her house to visit her sister, who turns out not to be home. When Tracy does not return, her abandoned car is eventually discovered in a nearby town square, but Tracy is nowhere to be found. Four years later, some of Tracy’s possessions are found next to a remote creek, but she continues to remain a missing person. While these three cases do not seem to have any connection to each other, they would unexpectedly be linked together in 1994 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a bizarre anonymous tip which alleged that all three victims were still alive. For the first time, “The Trail Went Cold” is going to tackle three unsolved missing persons cases in the same episode and explore the likelihood of them being connected. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/elizabeth-ann-miller http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases/2012/04/21/elizabeth-ann-miller-missing-kidnapped-buried/3767/ https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2017/02/07/unsolved-disappearance-beth-miller-idaho-springs-colorado/97585604/ http://charleyproject.org/case/tracy-marie-kroh http://charleyproject.org/case/tiffany-louise-sessions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Tiffany_Sessions https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1994-05-07-9405070051-story.html “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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.

October 12, 1982. Los Angeles, California. 35-year old Sol Salomon, his 39-year old wife Elaine, his 15-year old stepdaughter Michelle, and their 9-year old son Mitchell all vanish without explanation from their home. Evidence suggests they were victims of foul play and pieces of their identification are found scattered alongside a freeway. The investigation leads to Harvey Rader, a business acquaintance of Sol’s who is accused of killing the entire family and burying their bodies in the desert, and is also considered a potential suspect in the unsolved disappearance of a California couple named Peter and Joan Davis. Rader is eventually charged with murdering the Salomons, but after two mistrials, he is acquitted at his third trial in 1992. Did Harvey Rader get away with the murders of the Salomon family, or was someone else responsible? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles the harrowing unsolved disappearance of an entire family who have still never been found. Additional Reading: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/salomon-unsolved-murder/ http://charleyproject.org/case/sol-salomon http://charleyproject.org/case/elaine-salomon http://charleyproject.org/case/michelle-houchman http://charleyproject.org/case/mitchel-salomon http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/salomon-family “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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.

November 6, 1976. Rome, New York. 59-year old Stanley Gryziec and his wife, Esther, are attacked in their home by two masked intruders, who tie up Esther, ransack the place, and murder Stanley. Even though the original autopsy report states that Stanley was stabbed to death, his son finds a shell casing inside the house which was overlooked by police, and an exhumation of Stanley’s body reveals that he was actually shot through the chest. Over a decade later, a new investigation uncovers evidence that the two perpetrators were hired to break into Stanley’s house and that his death may have been connected to illegal activities at a local bar and a secret confession Stanley heard from his dying brother. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles a baffling unsolved home invasion murder and an alleged cover-up. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/stanley-gryziec/ http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Stanley_Gryziec “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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.

March 24, 1991. Victoria, British Columbia. Four-year old Michael Dunahee accompanies his family to a football game at a local elementary school and after they park their car, Michael asks if he can go to a nearby playground. Within minutes, Michael’s parents notice that he is not at the playground and has vanished without a trace, leading to speculation that he was abducted during a very narrow timeframe. Over the next two decades, there would be reported sightings of Michael, the surprising discovery of his missing poster in a deceased individual’s home, and a couple of young adults who were briefly suspected of being Michael himself, but he is never found. August 5, 1989. North Delta, British Columbia. After spending the night in the same bedroom as her baby sister, three-year old Casey Bohun vanishes without explanation from her home. Casey is last seen playing on the front porch by a neighbour and police dogs are able to track her scent down the street to a nearby park, but there is no sign of the missing child. Casey’s family would suffer a number of personal tragedies in subsequent years, but there are still no answers about what actually happened to her. This week, we will be presenting a special double feature episode of “The Trail Went Cold” about two unsolved missing children’s cases from Western Canada. Special thanks to one of our listeners, Julie, for providing the opening narration on today’s episode. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Michael_Dunahee http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/148dmbc.html https://michaeldunahee.ca/app/en/ "Vanished: The Michael Dunahee Story" by Valerie Green http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/310dfbc.html “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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.

August 18, 1949. Los Angeles, California. After finishing a phone call with a friend, 48-year old widowed socialite Mimi Boomhower is not heard from for days. When police eventually check Mimi’s house, they discover that her lights are still on, an uneaten salad is sitting on the table, and her car is still parked in the garage. Mimi herself has vanished without explanation and her purse is soon found inside a phone booth containing a message that it was found on a beach. It would also turn out that Mimi was suffering from financial problems at this time and had told her business manager she was planning to meet a gentleman on the evening she went missing. Did Mimi elope and run off voluntarily, or was she the victim of foul play? Could her disappearance be connected to the infamous "Black Dahlia" murder from two years earlier? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles a baffling missing persons cases which would become known as “The Disappearance of the Merry Widow”. Thanks to Warby Parker for supporting "The Trail Went Cold". Visit http://www.warbyparker.com/cold to order your own FREE Home Try-On Kit with free shipping! Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/mimi-boomhower "Black Dahlia Avenger: One of the Most Notorious Murders of the Twentieth Century... Solved!" by Steve Hodel “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. 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.