Ontario Cold Cases - The Podcast

Toronto’s Forgotten Five: The Sex Trade Worker Stranglings Benita, Susan, Donna, Lori, Lyle – Was One Man Hunting Them All? Over fifteen years, five sex trade workers were found strangled in and around downtown Toronto. Benita ‘Bonnie’ Tarantino, Susan Siegel, Donna Oglive, Lori Pinkus, and Lyle Ford. Each taken from where they were last seen. Each left in a different corner of the city. For decad...

Thornhill’s Dark Secret: Who Killed Tracy Kundinger? From Ontario Cold Cases - Canada’s True Crime Podcast, a chilling journey into the unsolved murder of 18-year-old Tracy Kundinger in 1970s Thornhill, Ontario. Strangled in a park just steps from home, her death points to a jealous ex, serial rapists, or a shadowy bus passenger. Secrets, alibis, and a family’s enduring grief haunt this case. Dive...

The Brutal Slaying of Harold and Florence Fagan A Cold Case That Still Grips Toronto A Deadly Silence on Dewbourne Avenue On a cold March morning in 1978, Toronto’s North York was shattered by a brutal double murder. Harold and Florence Fagan, a beloved couple in their sixties, were gunned down in their home—Harold shot in the chest and head, Florence executed with a single bullet to the head. The...

The Unsolved Tragedy of the Airst Family: A Chilling Triple Murder A Blood-Soaked Mystery That Haunts Toronto In the dead of a foggy September night in 1979, the Airst family—Ike, Celia, and their son Avrom—met a gruesome fate in their North York home. Bludgeoned to death with chilling precision, their blood-drenched bodies were discovered by their daughter, Simmie, in a scene that would scar Toro...

Thornhill’s Dark Secret: Who Killed Tracy Kundinger? In the quiet suburbs of 1970s Toronto, 18-year-old Tracy Kundinger vanishes on her walk home. Strangled in a park just steps from safety. No sexual assault, but signs of a brutal fight. Suspects abound: Her jealous ex-boyfriend Jamie, serial rapist Raymond Wallace, or a stranger from the bus? Police arrests fizzle, alibis hold—but secrets linger...

The Unsolved Murder of Lisa Anstey A Murder Unsolved. A City in Shadows. A Truth Waiting to Be Uncovered. In the gritty heart of Toronto’s underbelly, 21-year-old Lisa Anstey fought to survive. A First Nations mother of two, known as “Jemma” or “Terri,” she was a fierce spirit trapped in a world of addiction and danger, working the streets since age 11. On May 12, 1997, her life was brutally cut s...

The Triple Slaying of the Airst Family and the Fagans Two Families. Two Crimes. One Killer—or Two? On September 30th, 1979, three members of the Airst family were found brutally beaten to death inside their quiet North York home. Ike, Celia, and their son Avrom had been attacked with unimaginable violence. There was no forced entry. No robbery. No suspects. No answers. Just 18 months earlier and o...

The Triple Slaying of the Airst Family and the Fagans Two Families. Two Crimes. One Killer—or Two? In the fall of 1979, a daughter walked into her family home and found three loved ones murdered. No forced entry. No weapon. No suspects. Just eighteen months earlier, another couple was killed in the same neighbourhood, also without a sign of break-in. The police ruled the cases separate. But the si...

The Murder of Lisa Anstey Killer in Uniform? The Cop Suspect Police had the killer's DNA profile and suspected serial killer Peter Dale MacDonald—but the DNA didn't match. The street workers had a different suspect: a cop, K.L., known to use his position to threaten and assault the girls he was supposed to protect. One victim told me: 'If you didn't fight him you'd be okay.' Was Lisa's "scrapper"...

The Unsolved Murder of Lisa Anstey: The Street City Mystery DNA and Doubt: The search for Lisa Anstey's killer leads from a serial predator to a predator with a badge On May 12, 1997, the body of 21-year-old Lisa Anstey was found strangled in a downtown Toronto laneway, near the notorious homeless camp "Street City." Known as a "scrapper, tough as nails," Lisa was a small First Nations woman and s...

The Unsolved Murder of Lisa Anstey: The Street City Mystery DNA and Doubt: The search for Lisa Anstey's killer leads from a serial predator to a predator with a badge In 1997, Lisa Anstey was a fighter. But even a fighter can't win against a killer with a plan. Strangled, dumped in a high-traffic area. Her missing shoe—a sign of struggle, or a trophy? The investigation points to a serial predator....

A Mother’s Tragic End - The Unsolved Murder of Sophie Filion In the shadows of Ottawa’s streets, a mother’s desperate fight for her children ended in tragedy. Sophie Filion, a 23-year-old with wavy brown hair and a fierce love for her two young kids, was found strangled in December 1993, her body stuffed into garbage bags in a Westboro parking lot. Clad only in a slip, she had been left for days—a...

Unresolved: The Tragic Case of Melinda Sheppit  A single snakeskin stiletto lies abandoned in an Ottawa parking lot. Beside a dumpster, the lifeless body of 16-year-old Melinda Sheppit tells a story of heartbreak and horror. Strangled and left for dead on September 30, 1990, the beautiful high school student had been drawn into a dangerous world, working the streets for just three weeks. Over thre...

Shadows in the Smoke - Where is Eli Wood? In the pre-dawn chill of October 19, flames devoured a quiet Kitchener apartment, leaving nothing but ash and echoes. Wilfrid Laurier University social work student Eli Wood—4'10" of fierce spirit, crowned with white hair and inked with defiant tattoos of flowers, seahorses, and rainbows—vanished into the inferno. Arson, the police whisper. Targeted. No bo...

The Vanishing of Justin Pollari: A Trail Gone Cold In the quiet town of Hilton Beach, Ontario, a 14-year-old boy named Justin Pollari walked through his front door on December 7, 2001... and vanished into the night. Troubled by a broken home and carrying the weight of a fight he wouldn’t explain, Justin grabbed his skateboard, stuffed a backpack with clothes, and ran. A scrape on his lip. A six-in...

An Ottawa Serial Killer? The Unsolved Cases of Melinda Sheppit & Sophie Fillion Melinda Sheppit A single snakeskin stiletto lies abandoned in an Ottawa parking lot. Beside a dumpster, the lifeless body of 16-year-old Melinda Sheppit tells a story of heartbreak and horror. Strangled and left for dead on September 30, 1990, the beautiful high school student had been drawn into a dangerous world,...

The Enduring Mystery of Richard "Peewee" Marlow A Child Vanished. A Mystery Endures. On a chilly July evening in 1944, nine-year-old Richard “Peewee” Marlow pedaled his sister’s bicycle into the twilight of south Etobicoke’s Beta Street—and vanished without a trace. At just 3’8” and 50 pounds, the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy with a scar on his temple was too small to disappear unnoticed. Yet, desp...

The Missing Stiletto: Who Killed Melinda Sheppit & Sophie Fillion Tracing the Ottawa Serial Killer Since 1990 The capital had a predator. For over 30 years, police warned of a pattern. The perpetrator remains unidentified. September 30th, 1990. 16-year-old Melinda Sheppit. Strangled. Stiletto missing. The killer left a signature. Three years later, Sophie Filion, 23. Also strangled. Stuffed in...

The Mysterious Disappearance of Ingrid Bauer: A Cold Case That Haunts Ontario August 16, 1972. Kleinburg, Ontario. Fourteen-year-old Ingrid Bauer steps out of her family’s home, barefoot, to visit her boyfriend just miles away. She promises to return by 10:30 p.m.—but vanishes without a trace. No wallet, no purse, no clues. In a new episode of Ontario Cold Cases - Canada’s True Crime Podcast, dive...

2001 Cold Case: Where is Justin Pollari? In 2001, 14-year-old Justin Pollari was troubled and upset when he grabbed his skateboard and ran away from home. Sightings put him getting on a truck heading south to Toronto. Was he going by the name 'Woody' or 'Joe'? From 1944 to 2001, two Ontario boys, two baffling disappearances. Is there a connection? Tune in to Ontario Cold Cases for this enduring my...

Vanished in 1944: The Peewee Marlow Mystery Seventy-nine years ago, little Richard "Peewee" Marlow went out to ride his sister's bike on Beta Street. He was just 3'8" and 50 pounds. The bike was found in the yard. Peewee was gone. Decades later, another Ontario boy vanished. Hear the full story on Ontario Cold Cases. Because every case deserves answers—and every victim deserves justice. Subscribe...

The Mysterious Disappearance of Ingrid Bauer: A Cold Case That Haunts Ontario Ingrid Bauer vanished in the quiet streets of Kleinburg, leaving behind a family and a community still searching for answers. August 16, 1972. Kleinburg, Ontario. Fourteen-year-old Ingrid Bauer steps out of her family’s home, barefoot, to visit her boyfriend just miles away. She promises to return by 10:30 p.m.—but vanis...

A Christmas Mystery: The Unsolved Disappearance of Cheryl Rowe It was just days before Christmas, a time of family and celebration. But on December 22, 2011, a mother disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a home with unopened presents and a family consumed by dread. For over a decade, the case of Cheryl Rowe has remained a chilling holiday mystery. The last person to see her alive was her da...

The Son Who Never Came Home: The Unsolved Disappearance of Pierre Mercon He made a phone call to his mother asking for a ride home. He was just a few feet away, but when she arrived, Pierre Mercon had vanished. The only thing left behind was a single piece of his Halloween costume—a camouflage poncho found under a table inside a Richmond Hill sports bar. It was November 1, 1996, and 21-year-old Pi...

Vanished Without a Trace: The Mysterious Disappearance of Wendy Smith It was supposed to be a new beginning. On April 13, 1995, Wendy Renee Smith was heading to her first shift at a new job. She never arrived. Police believe she was murdered, but for nearly 30 years, her case has remained a cold, silent mystery. A mother of four who had faced a life of struggle, Wendy's disappearance left her fami...