The Trail Went Cold

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...

June 13, 1977. Mayes County, Oklahoma. While attending a summer camp for Girl Scouts, 10-year Denise Milner, 9-year Michelle Guse, and 8-year old Lori Farmer spend the night together in a tent. When morning hits, the murdered bodies of the three girls are discovered 150 yards away in the woods. Michelle and Lori have been bludgeoned to death while Denise’s cause of death is strangulation. Evidence...

December 7, 1958. Portland, Oregon. 54-year old Kenneth Martin, his 48-year old wife Barbara and their three daughters – 14-year old Barbie, 12-year old Virginia and 10-year old Susan – leave their home in their station wagon to take a trip to the Columbia River Gorge. When the family fails to return, they are reported missing the following evening. Just under five months later, the bodies of Susa...

February 14, 1986. Sugar Land, Texas. 43-year old insurance agent Stephen Geri phones the mother of his 33-year old wife, Marilu Geri, and asks her to visit Marilu at their house to help her prepare for a party. When Marilu’s mother arrives, she discovers that her daughter has been shot four times. Since there were troubles with the marriage and Stephen stands to collect on a substantial life insu...

December 1, 1987. Chicago, Illinois. While speaking with his mother on the phone, 39-year old Charles Southern shares his plans about taking a trip to India. After not hearing from him for weeks, Charles’ parents check his house and discover he is missing, but they find what appears to be a Last Will and Testament naming a woman named Terri Hoffman as executor of Charles’ estate. Hoffman is the fo...

May 20, 1982. Kendall, Florida. A fire breaks out at the home of 30-year old Ezzat Aboul-Hosn and a badly burned body is found pinned underneath a car inside his garage. The body is tentatively identified as Ezzat and after it is determined that a leaky fuel line caused the fire, his death is ruled to be accidental. However, after Ezzat’s sister collects on a substantial life insurance policy, inv...

February 8, 2002. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After closing up the bar she manages and drinking at various clubs in the downtown area, 33-year old Jamie Stickle drives back home to her apartment. Shortly thereafter, Jamie’s Jeep Wrangler is found engulfed in flames near her front door and her badly burned body is in the driver’s seat. Since some of Jamie’s personal items are scattered on the ground...

May 16, 1987. Denver, Colorado. After a collision with another vehicle, the unidentified driver of a pick-up truck runs away from the accident scene. Police discover that the man was registered at a local motel under the name “Larry Monroe” and the truck is registered to a 55-year old California resident named Don Smith. Five days earlier, Don had left on a road trip to visit relatives and his mur...

Since “The Trail Went Cold” originally launched in February 2016, we have featured over 200 unsolved cold cases on the podcast, but a decent number of these cases have either wound up being solved or had some significant developments take place. Examples include the disappearance of Pamela Butler, the murder of Jodine Serrin, the disappearance of 12-year old Jonelle Matthews, and the murder of an...

December 19, 1959. Osprey, Florida. After spending the day running errands and visiting a family friend, 25-year old Cliff Walker, his 24-year old wife Christine, and their two children, three-year old Jimmie and 23-month old Debbie, head back to their rural home in separate vehicles. The following morning, the family’s bodies are discovered inside their house. They were each shot in the head befo...