Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

Managing editor of the Clifton Record, W. Leon Smith, continued working both Judy Whitley and Mickey Bryan’s cases for years. In 1999, when ex-Clifton policeman Dennis Murry Dunlap was officially named Judy’s killer, Leon was almost certain Joe Bryan hadn’t murdered his wife Mickey but couldn’t find the evidence to exonerate him. A few years later, a Waco attorney began looking into Joe’s case and...

In 1991, Don Whitley visited the editor of the local newspaper with a plea: help him get justice for his daughter, slain Clifton, Texas teenager Judy Whitley. He had a suspect in mind who might also be responsible for another crime – the murder of 44-year-old Clifton Elementary School Teacher Mickey Bryan. The newspaperman knew that Mickey’s husband Joe Bryan had been convicted of the crime, and h...

In August of 1984, just five months after 13-year-old Helen Kilgore was found murdered on the side the road, authorities in Bosque County, Texas had another body – that of 19-year-old Hood County woman Shelia Vandygriff. Though Shelia was murdered, the friend with whom she was abducted was set free after being assaulted. She went to Hood County authorities with what had happened, but they struggle...

When it was time for the defense to present their case in the State of Texas V. Joe Dale Bryan, for the murder of Mickey Marlene Bryan, attorney Charles McDonald was confident he’d get his client off. Not only did he truly believe in Joe’s innocence, but also, the prosecution simply had no evidence. Certainly nothing scientific. But, did the fact that the state presented what they had as forensic...

As the State of Texas V. Joe Dale Bryan got underway, the prosecution was pulling no punches. Witnesses from Texas Ranger Joe Wiley to victim Mickey Bryan’s brother Charlie Blue had damning indictments of Joe Bryan. But on cross-examination, defense attorney Charles McDonald, during these two witnesses particularly, didn’t hold back and pointed out at least some of the big holes in the state’s cas...

A few months before Clifton Elementary fourth grade teacher Mickey Bryan was slain, another unimaginable and heinous crime took place less than a mile away. There were rampant whispers going around what the small city’s newspaper referred to as “The Famous Clifton Rumor Mill,” and when Joe Bryan was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder, the chatter grew louder and more intricately weaved. I...

Before the 1985 murder of 4th grade teacher Mickey Bryan in Clifton, there were several other murders, including the April 1984 murder of 13-year-old Helen Kilgore, whose body was found in Bosque County. After she was identified, at least for a while, authorities were theorizing the killing was an occult ritual or sacrifice to Satan because of a tattoo Helen had. It’s unclear how much time and evi...

In October 1985, the seemingly idyllic life of small-town educators Mickey and Joe Bryan came crashing down when she was shot and killed in their home. Joe, who was out of town for a work conference, appeared devastated and though they could find no signs the Bryan home had been forcibly entered, the Clifton, Texas Police first theorized the crime was a burglary gone wrong. But when Mickey’s broth...

34-year-old Alton Peek, Red River County Precinct 4 Commissioner, had everything going for him. He’d been working his way into local politics since high school and was moving up. He had the admiration and respect of the community, particularly in his hometown, Boxelder, Texas. Alton had a beautiful family, a wife and two young boys. So, when he was shot to death while feeding his cattle in August...

26-year-old Luara Pippin Danka had everything going for her in 1980 – a solid job, a nice little bungalow not far from Corpus Christi Bay, and most importantly, her two children. She’d come to Texas several years before with her husband, but they’d since divorced and were splitting up there time with the kids cooperatively and amicably, by all indications. But in April of that year, on a day seemi...

Soon after the murder of 28-year-old Bridgette Gearen at Crystal Beach, Texas, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigators came upon a lead that would be the impetus and direction of their investigation. A dark colored SUV was reported as the vehicle driven by Bridgette’s abductor(s). Throughout the past one and a half decades, Lt. Tommy Hansen, who has continued to work the case almost 15 yea...

In July of 2007, 28-year-old Bridgette Gearen took her little girl to Crystal Beach, located on the Bolivar Peninsula on the Texas coast. A few couples from the law firm where she worked had rented a beach house for the weekend, and as a hard-working mother, Bridgette was looking forward to the down time. At about the weekend’s halfway point, the young mother left the house alone to wait outside f...

As the Fort Worth Police investigated the murder of 24-year-old Hurst, Texas resident Paula Jean Puckett Davenport, evidence and leads ran out fast. But it didn’t mean they were short of a suspect. In fact, the cops were almost certain they knew exactly who killed Paula in the parking lot of the Brunswick Bowlerland. Everything led back to her physically and psychologically abusive ex-husband. He...

On April 25th, 1978, 24-year-old Hurst, Texas resident Paula Jean Puckett Davenport left home to go bowling with her company’s league. Though she made it to the parking lot, Paula never made it inside the Brunswick Bowlerland. And more troubling, she never made it back home that night. Paula’s parents reported her missing to authorities in Hurst, but a couple days later another jurisdiction, the F...

In late August of 1971 11-year-old Johnnye Henderson should have been entering the sixth grade alongside her peers. One morning, however, her mother returned home from a short trip to the store to find Johnnye had vanished. The Odessa Police Juvenile Division didn’t seem too worried about the disappearance, since there were no signs of foul play and civilians who’d searched the large field behind...

As the search for Kimberly continued, more folks who craved the spotlight emerged. There was Dallas psychic extraordinaire John Catchings, whose “visions” resulted in nothing more than heartache and wasted time and resources. There were well-meaning folks who came to help, of course, like the Heidi Search Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Unfortunately their altrui...

When The Shreveport Times released verbatim portions of troubling letters Kimberly Norwood had written months before her disappearance, it was the first time her parents, Bobby and Janice Norwood, had read them. It was another blow, they said, like the many they felt they’d been hit with at the hands of Harrison County Sheriff Bill Oldham. Out of desperation, the family brought in a Dallas psychic...

In early May 1989, sixteen-year-old Michelle Lee Richardson vanished from East Texas, the city of Palestine specifically. Just weeks later, on May 20th, another East Texas girl turned up missing under similar circumstances. Kimberly Norwood was a twelve-year-old who loved life and, believe it or not, school. She was experiencing the normal throes of being a preteen, but Kimberly was a good kid who...

Case updates. If you have information that might further help authorities secure a conviction against David Paul Cady for the murder of Mary Moore Searight, please call the Paris Police Department at (903)784-6688 or contact Lamar County District Attorney Gary Young (903) 737-2458. You can support Gone Cold – Texas True Crime and listen to the show ad-free at patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast Find us at...

After 18-year-old Caleb Ray Diehl disappeared from Nocona, Texas, one person, and one person only, began an attempt to steer the missing person investigation in a particular way. Only, this individual – close family friend Ricky Dale Howard – was a terrible director whose statements and actions were far-fetched and downright bizarre. Though he tried to make Caleb’s family and law enforcement inves...

On the outside, 18-year-old Caleb Ray Diehl was a normal teenager living a relatively normal teenage life. He was born and raised in a small town – Nocona, Texas – and extremely close to his family. After celebrating his 18th birthday party at his Mom’s house, Caleb prepared to make the hour and a half drive to his sister’s house in Bedford, where he was living while he finished high school. He ne...

The people of Paris, Texas and Lamar County mourned the loss of hermit 79-year-old Auvord Bevans Braithwaite Jones, many in an…unconventional way. On February 1st – just a few days after Auvord’s body was found, tourists of the macabre descended upon his series of shacks on the outskirts of town, looking, likely, for his hidden fortune as if he were some kind of exiled leprechaun. “Keep out by ord...

On January 24th, 1963, A. Jones, as the townsfolk of Paris, Texas knew him, picked up a couple things at the grocery store. Then, he stopped by the drugstore on his way home. Auvord, his actual name, lived on the northeast outskirts of town. Though he could be seen around town plenty, and was a friendly, intelligent, and gracious man to speak with, he was as much a stranger as he was a local. That...

In June of 2001, 51-year-old Sharon Ware Davis dropped off her daughter at a bus stop near the Red Bird Neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. They exchanged “I love yous,” and Sharon went on her way. She was supposed to get ready for a training class for her job, which was an elementary school teacher. She never made it. In fact, Sharon hasn’t been seen since. Her husband Ron Davis avoided speaking with...

After the initial investigators working the murder of 18-year-old Cheryl Ann Callaway moved on, and the case had long gone cold, the voluminous file fell on the lap of Arlington, Texas Police Sgt. Dennis Rhoten. Rhoten hit the ground running, but eventually, like Sgt. Mike Adair and Detective Mike Leyman before him, began grasping at straws. In 1981, he looked at recently arrested serial killer Te...