The Trail Went Cold

April 24, 1981. Miami County, Ohio. The body of a young woman wearing a buckskin poncho is discovered in a ditch alongside a remote road. She has been severely beaten and strangled to death, but since she carries no identification, she remains a Jane Doe and is given the nickname, “Buckskin Girl”. 37 years later, DNA analysis and genetic genealogy identify Buckskin Girl as a 21-year old Arkansas r...

July 31, 1986. Silver Spring, Maryland. The body of 19-year old Keith Warren is found in a wooded area, hanging from a tree in a noose. Even though there are some unexplained discrepancies, as well as suspicious behaviour from the authorities, Keith’s death is ruled to be a suicide. Nearly six years later, Keith’s mother receives an envelope containing never-before-seen photos of the crime scene,...

July 22, 1985. Nolensville, Tennessee. After failing to pick up his wife from the bus station, 79-year old George Owens and his car are discovered to be missing from his home. One week later, George’s abandoned vehicle is found on a hilltop in a rural wooded area over 100 miles away and piles of kindling are found outside and in the back seat. Eyewitnesses report having seen George in the area loo...

April 23, 1995. New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Eight-year old Dimitric Moore tells his mother, Ora Lee Moore, that is he going out to visit a friend, but he fails to return home that night. The following afternoon, Dimitric’s nude body is discovered inside the trunk of his mother’s car and his cause of death is determined to be asphyxiation. Months later, Ora is indicted for voluntarily manslaughter a...

August 3, 1980. AuSable Township, Michigan. 20-year old Cherita Thomas borrows her friend’s car in order to pick up her daughter from a babysitter, but the vehicle breaks down before she arrives. Witnesses see Cherita climbing into a blue pick-up truck driven by a white male, but she is never heard from again. Jimmie Allen Nelson, the babysitter’s brother-in-law, is suspected of harming Cherita in...

July 5, 2004. Regina, Saskatchewan. Five-year old Tamra Keepness heads for bed while her mother, Lorena Keepness, goes out drinking, leaving Tamra and her five siblings alone at their house. Lorena eventually returns home, but when she wakes up later that morning, she discovers that Tamra is missing. Since Tamra lives in a dysfunctional home alongside adults who have substance abuse issues and a h...

July 12, 1964. Vidalia, Louisiana. 25-year old Joseph “Joe-Ed” Edwards is seen leaving his place of employment, the Shamrock Motel. Shortly thereafter, an eyewitness sees Joe-Ed’s vehicle pulled over by the side of the highway and three white males and what appears to be an unmarked police car are also at the scene. Joe-Ed is never heard from again and his abandoned vehicle is discovered one week...

December 6, 1975. Teaneck, New Jersey. After spending the night in New York City, 40-year old bar owner Wesley Diggs returns to his suburban home and discovers that his entire family has been murdered. Wesley’s 39-year old wife, Jean, and their four children – 17-year old Audrey, 16-year old Allison, 12-year old Wesley Jr. and 5-year old Roger – have each been shot multiple times and there are no...

June 11, 1930. New York City. While parked inside his car with his mistress at a secluded lover’s lane area, 39-year old Joseph Mozynski is shot to death by an unidentified assailant, who leaves Joseph’s female companion alive and gives her a cryptic note. Five days later, 26-year old Noel Sowley is fatally shot inside his car under similar circumstances and the gunman also leaves Noel’s girlfrien...

January 31, 1993. Amarillo, Texas. The wife and daughter of 39-year old David Lewis return home from a weekend trip and discover that David is not at the house and has left his watch and wedding ring behind. David’s abandoned car is soon discovered in the downtown area with his identification and many other personal items inside, but even though investigators turn up a series of bizarre clues, inc...

October 24, 1992. Marietta, Georgia. 22-year old Heather Uffelman and her 22-year old fiancée, Jeremy Rolfs, make a lengthy drive from Tennessee in order to sell expensive computer equipment to a man calling himself “Tom Johnson”. After meeting Johnson in a motel room, he bludgeons the couple with a hammer before stealing the equipment. While Jeremy survives the ordeal, Heather succumbs to her inj...

June 12, 1962. Worthington, Minnesota. 20-year old Marlys Gross gives birth to a baby daughter named Mary Agnes, but is told by the hospital staff that the child died shortly after she was born. Mary Agnes is given a funeral and buried in a grave, but months later, Marlys is mailed a photograph of an unidentified family holding a baby whom she believes is her daughter. Over the next three decades,...

February 26, 1980. Berkeley, California. 51-year old Al Mills, his 40-year old wife, Jeannie, and Jeannie’s 16-year old daughter, Daphene, are all shot to death, execution-style, in their home. Jeannie’s 17-year old son, Eddie, is left unharmed inside his bedroom, but claims he did not hear the murders take place. Years earlier, the Mills family had defected from the Reverend Jim Jones’ infamous c...

May 19, 1990. Madison, Wisconsin. After coming home from his job at a bicycle shop to grab food during his lunch break, 19-year old Chad Maurer tells his parents that he is going to return to his workplace, but he soon turns up missing. Two days later, Chad’s body is found in his car inside a garage on the South Side of Chicago and his cause of death is determined to be carbon monoxide poisoning....

May 27, 2000. Negril, Jamaica. After she is denied entry into Cuba for a junket, 29-year old travel writer Claudia Kirschhoch is rerouted to a Sandals beach resort in Jamaica while she waits for a flight back home to New York. After last being seen walking along a beach, Claudia vanishes without a trace and most of her personal items are left behind in her hotel room. The investigation leads to a...

March 18, 2009. York, England. 35-year old Claudia Lawrence speaks on the phone with her parents and texts her best friend about meeting for drinks the following evening. When Claudia fails to show up for work the next morning and misses her meet-up with her friend, she is subsequently reported missing. The investigation would uncover allegations that Claudia was involved in some secret relationsh...

June 13, 2001. Dallas, Texas. 51-year old teacher Sharon Davis drops her daughter off at a bus depot, but fails to show up for a scheduled training session at her school later that morning. Five days later, Sharon’s abandoned minivan is discovered in the parking lot of a local fitness club. Suspicion turns towards Sharon’s estranged husband, Ron Davis, as Sharon had filed for divorce from him only...

May 19, 1996. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. 24-year old Julianne “Julie” Williams and her 26-year old girlfriend, Laura “Lollie” Winans, leave on a backpacking trip, but are eventually reported missing when they fail to return home. Nearly two weeks later, Julie and Lollie are found dead at a campsite inside the park and have been bound, gagged and had their throats slashed. The murders are...

February 24, 1983. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. After receiving a temporary furlough from the county jail, 21-year old Don Decker attends his grandfather’s funeral and goes to stay at a friend’s house. It isn’t long before Don appears to go into a trance and water starts materializing from the house’s walls, ceiling and floor. Over the course of the next several days, Don seemingly has the ability t...

November 29, 1987. Millions of people tune in to NBC to watch a television special about unsolved mysteries which is hosted by a legendary, well-respected Hollywood actor. The special is eventually turned into a full-time series and this actor becomes the permanent host. Three decades later, after this TV show and the host have become pop culture icons, they inspire a true-crime podcast called “Th...

November 22, 1997. Aiken County, South Carolina. The daughter of 47-year old Janice Wessinger returns home to discover that her mother is missing. The following morning, Janice’s body is found in a wooded area near her house and she has been raped and stabbed to death. It is theorized that Janice was attacked after going out for a walk the previous morning, but her killer is never identified. At t...

July 2, 1966. Porter County, Indiana. 21-year old Ann Miller, 19-year old Patricia Blough and 19-year old Renee Bruhl leave their homes in Illinois in order to travel to the Indiana Dunes State Park. After taking a spot on the beach next to Lake Michigan, the three women venture into the water, leaving all of their belongings behind. Eyewitnesses would recall seeing them climb into a boat with an...

August 18, 1987. Manatee County, Florida. Todd McAfee, the 27-year old manager of a tomato farm, is discovered to be missing from his trailer after his employees arrive for work. Todd’s body is soon found in a nearby drainage ditch and he has been shot four times. Since a valuable gun collection was stolen from Todd’s trailer, he was apparently killed during a botched burglary, and police investig...

October 7, 1949. Los Angeles, California. 26-year old actress Jean Spangler leaves her home and asks her sister-in-law to watch over her daughter. Jean says she is planning to meet with her ex-husband and spend the night working on a film shoot, but she soon vanishes without a trace. Two days later, Jean’s purse is discovered in Griffith Park, containing a cryptic note addressed to someone named “...

June 29, 1991. New York City. Su-Ya Kim leaves her children with their grandmother to go shopping, but never returns. Ten hours later, Su-Ya’s nude body is discovered in a dumpster after she has been stabbed nine times. A security guard reports interacting with an unidentified white male who drove away from the dumpster before the body’s discovery, but even though his vehicle’s licence number is c...