Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

After the murders of Wayne, Fae, Brian, and Kevin Joplin on February 23rd, 1976, both Blue Mound Police Chief Gary Erwin and Tarrant County Deputies who assisted at the scene thought the case was open and shut: a family friend, 17 year old Terry Trice, killed them all and was trying to make out with two vintage firearms when he was surprised, shot, and killed by Gregg Joplin after he came home. Wi...

Blue Mound, Texas in 1976 was a quaint and quiet working class family town, it’s low violent crime rate in stark contrast to the city directly to the south, Fort Worth. In February of 1976, however, Blue Mound forever changed when five people were slaughtered in a suburban home there. The sole surviving member of the Joplin Family, 20-year-old Gregg, told police that after visiting a relative, he...

Part 2 of 2. After moving back to her hometown of Paris, Texas at age 80, Mary Searight quickly became a beloved resident. Mary shot straight, had seemingly endless tales to tell, and always took care of the places she lived through philanthropic gestures. But 8 years after coming back home, when she was 87 years old, someone brutally raped and beat Mary Searight to death in her home. The investig...

Mary Searight came from a family of great means and influence in Texas law and state government. Her husband, too, came from a prominent Austin, Texas cattle ranching family. After he died, Mary spent 30 more years on their Austin ranch before realizing she could no longer handle the responsibility of raising cattle and keeping up with the land. Though moving back to her hometown of Paris, Texas s...

On November 11th, 1982, 20-year-old Kathy Mae Goad took the day off work to run some errands in the Fort Worth, Texas suburb of Hurst. She never made it back to the east Fort Worth home she shared with her husband, who reported her missing that evening. The Fort Worth Police believed that Kathy had simply left her husband and more or less refused to investigate the case. But authorities in her Ken...

This episode, we discuss developments in a few more Texas cases, including the 1992 murder of Shenda Denise Hayes, the identification of the remains of 16-year-old Sylvia Nicole Smith, the apprehension of a 75-year-old serial killer in Fort Worth, the murders of Heather Willms and Esmeralda Herrera in 2005 and 2011 respectively, and the 2002 robbery / murder of Subir Chatterjee. Also, a little abo...

This episode, we discuss developments in several Texas cases, including the 1989 murder of Mary Hague Kelly, the identification of the remains of Pamela Darlene Young, the 2002 slaying of Dannarriah Finley, the murders of Laura Smither, Jessica Cain, and Kelli Cox in 1997, the 1979 murder of Lesia Michelle Jackson, the 2006 Pizza Hut Murders of Patricia Ann Oferosky and Stephen Dale Mitchelltree,...

This is an excerpt from The Fall Line Podcast’s episode on the unsolved disappearance of Carlos Ariel Delgado Mancha. Carlos Delgado disappeared in 1997, but there’s no formal record of this fact—at least, not one his family can access. Although ICE allegedly holds that information in their internal records, there is no listing for Carlos, who was in the US on a temporary residency visa, with NamU...

During the course of John Palmer’s journey to see justice for his wife Katie, he’s gone up against the Grayson County District Attorney, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and even taken his fight to Texas State Congress. When House Bill 558 passed, it was a huge victory – not only for John but also for the family of Royce City’s Colten Carney, who was struck and killed by a pickup truck as he...

On an April 2020 morning in a country neighborhood of Denison, Texas, Katie and John Palmer set out for a walk and to hopefully spot some killdeer birds nesting down the street. When they headed back home on Glenwood Drive, walking on the left side of the road where they would face traffic should there be any, the couple was struck from behind without warning. John Palmer survived his injuries, bu...

Sunnyside, Houston, Texas was once a community of hope and prosperity. But by the 1990s, the community was riddled with dilapidated buildings and infrastructure, poverty, and crime. Track champion, basketball all-star, and honor student Trellis “Tree” Sykes was a light in the community. Everyone in Sunnyside was proud to have her as a local. In 1994, however, someone who can only be described as a...

San Antonio, Texas is known for the Alamo and the River Walk, among other things. Though the city is certainly set apart from other comparable Texas cities by the amazing culture and the interesting history, San Antonio’s violent crime rate isn’t any different. In 1988, as gang violence began to escalate, so did other terrible crimes involving juveniles, many in San Antonio’s west and southwest si...

In 1988, 27-year-old Carol Lee Preslar was enrolled at the University of Texas, working nights at Feather’s Lounge, and having fun with friends. She’d been back in Fort Worth for about 5 years after spending several with her sister in Utah. Carol had a lot going for her: a personality that drew folks in and hooked them, a successful boyfriend, and even a little dog named Georgie. But shortly after...

In 1982, 20-year-old aspiring model Sherry Ellen Rowland had taken work as a graveyard shift clerk at a 7-Eleven convenience store to supplement her lifestyle in-between modeling gigs. Almost immediately upon starting her shift on November 27th, Sherry began receiving obscene phone calls. Even though a Fort Worth Police Officer began patrolling the store to make sure Sherry was okay, and that the...

Part 2 of 2. The year 1984 was the most active year in the investigation of the September of 1981 abduction of 3-year-old Ryan Nicole Burton. Leads the FBI chased seemed like a major stretch, specifically one that appeared as though it was ripped from the script of a made for television movie. But the investigation didn’t begin as it should have until almost three years after Ryan disappeared. The...

In September of 1981, the missing child’s case of 3-year-old Ryan Nicole Burton shook the small town of Breckenridge, Texas. Abducted from her crib as her babysitter slept, Ryan’s disappearance spurred an immediate search by various law enforcement agencies and 1,000s of Breckenridge residents. But there was no sign of the missing little girl anywhere, not a single clue left behind by her kidnappe...

In late August 1981, after celebrating his 5th birthday only several days before, Burt Woodson disappeared in Mansfield, Texas. According to his uncle and guardian, Terry Lee Woodson, the sleeping boy was in the backseat of his car as he ran into a 7-11 convenience store to get a bite to eat in the early, dark morning hours. When he got close to home, Uncle Terry claimed, he noticed Burt was no lo...

Carla Walker’s Killer Appeals Conviction Last Tuesday, May 24th, 2022, I attended Glen Samuel McCurley's appeal hearing at Texas's 2nd Court of Appeals in downtown Fort Worth. Along with audio from the proceedings, this episode describes the arguments made by both McCurley's attorney and the State. #JusticeForCarlaWalker #CarlaWalker #FortWorth #FortWorthTX #TarrantCountyTexas #Texas #TX #TrueCrim...

At a little after 4 PM on August 21st, 1984, on the side of the road at East Loop 338 just outside Odessa, Texas city limits, a man thought he’d witnessed a hit and run involving a pedestrian and a gold Buick. But when Ector County Sheriff’s Deputy David Montgomery discovered it wasn’t a hit and run at all, rather, a woman had been stabbed and slashed repeatedly. The woman was Janet Eva Gregston,...

In late January of 2019, Tomball, Texas residents Liz and Sergio Barraza were scheduled to take a trip to Florida for their 5th wedding anniversary. At the last minute, Liz decided to hold a garage sale to make a little extra spending cash to take with them. As she set up for the sale on the early morning of January 25th, a mysterious figure emerged from a black pickup truck, walked over to Liz in...

After a night out at a Deep Ellum nightclub with friends, 20-year-old Christina “Chris” Gill vanished. Her car was discovered in the apartment complex in North Dallas, not far from another club Chris and her friends had also been to the last night she was seen. For months, the Gill Family spared no expense in their efforts to find the missing young woman but not even the Dallas Police could come u...

In January 1990, 19-year-old Ashley Reed was new to Dallas, Texas, having moved there only months before with her mom and young brother. Making new friends wasn’t difficult for Ashley, but it was winter and the process going a little slower than it would in summertime, perhaps. On the 13th, she was thrilled when she called her mother to tell her a man had asked her on a date. The man’s name was Ro...

The killing of 29-year-old single mother of two, Kathy Suckley, had the residents of Corpus Christi’s southside in a panic. Police felt the public pressure to solve the case. Although identifying a suspect, securing an indictment, and making an arrest took only about two weeks, the charges didn’t stick. Likely, because the person who witnessed the crime take place was a child and the accused’s law...

Kathleen Schleicher, better known as Kathy, grew up in both a Los Angeles suburb and later, a beach town 60 miles south of California’s most popular city. She was the youngest of the four children born to her parents and the only girl. Her childhood was normal; in junior high and high school, Kathy was athletic and became somewhat fashion obsessed, something that eventually landed her in the glitz...

After leading the Bloomington High School Bobcats to their first playoffs since he played ball there, twenty years before, Coach Kenneth Hilscher was even more valued and respected there than ever before. His students loved him anyway, as both a coach and a teacher since he was always there for them with encouraging and motivating advice no matter the issue. But in April of 1995, Coach Kenny vanis...