The Trail Went Cold

April 16, 1987. Union City, Tennessee. Four-year old Marlena Childress vanishes from her front yard after her mother, Pamela Bailey, claims she saw a red car driving away from their house. Two months later, Pam confesses that she accidentally killed Marlena and tossed her body into the Obion River. Pam soon recants her confession and claims it was coerced and since Marlena’s body cannot be found a...

August 16, 1983. Idaho Springs, Colorado. 14-year old Beth Miller leaves her home to go jogging, but never returns. The investigation uncovers some promising leads, including eyewitness accounts of a man in a red pick-up truck who was seen flirting with Beth in the days prior to her disappearance. Ten years later, the former girlfriend of a deceased suspect leads the authorities towards an alleged...

October 12, 1982. Los Angeles, California. 35-year old Sol Salomon, his 39-year old wife Elaine, his 15-year old stepdaughter Michelle, and their 9-year old son Mitchell all vanish without explanation from their home. Evidence suggests they were victims of foul play and pieces of their identification are found scattered alongside a freeway. The investigation leads to Harvey Rader, a business acqua...

November 6, 1976. Rome, New York. 59-year old Stanley Gryziec and his wife, Esther, are attacked in their home by two masked intruders, who tie up Esther, ransack the place, and murder Stanley. Even though the original autopsy report states that Stanley was stabbed to death, his son finds a shell casing inside the house which was overlooked by police, and an exhumation of Stanley’s body reveals th...

March 24, 1991. Victoria, British Columbia. Four-year old Michael Dunahee accompanies his family to a football game at a local elementary school and after they park their car, Michael asks if he can go to a nearby playground. Within minutes, Michael’s parents notice that he is not at the playground and has vanished without a trace, leading to speculation that he was abducted during a very narrow t...

August 18, 1949. Los Angeles, California. After finishing a phone call with a friend, 48-year old widowed socialite Mimi Boomhower is not heard from for days. When police eventually check Mimi’s house, they discover that her lights are still on, an uneaten salad is sitting on the table, and her car is still parked in the garage. Mimi herself has vanished without explanation and her purse is soon f...

November 24, 1956. LaPlace, Louisiana. 46-year old married family man Thomas Hotard and 31-year old single mother Audrey Moate meet up to continue their secret affair, which they have been carrying on for years. The following day, Thomas’ body is discovered inside his vehicle at a remote swamp area with a shotgun blast to the back of his head. Even though most of Audrey’s clothing has been left be...

May 6, 1988. Burbank, California. Crystal Spencer, a 28-year old aspiring actress working as a topless dancer, phones her sister and mentions that she is feeling ill. This is the last time anyone ever hears from Crystal and one week later, her decomposing body is discovered in a corner of her apartment. She is nude from the waist down and entangled in her telephone cord, but the coroner is unable...

December 3, 2003. Baltimore, Maryland. While working on a plea agreement, 38-year old prosecutor Jonathan Luna leaves his office at the Federal District Court Building shortly before midnight. The following morning, Luna’s vehicle is discovered over 90 miles away in a rural creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and his body is lying in the water. He has been stabbed 36 times with his own penknif...

October 23, 1986. Dublin, Ireland. After going home for lunch, 13-year old Philip Cairns leaves in order to return to school. He never arrives and vanishes without a trace. Six days later, Philip’s school bag appears in a laneway which had previously been searched, leading to speculation that it was planted there by the person who abducted him. In 2016, a witness implicates a former radio host and...

June 25, 2001. Hood River, Oregon. During a date with a friend, 41-year old Eric Tamiyasu hears strange noises outside his home and discovers an unidentified shoeprint. After his friend leaves for the night, Eric is not heard from for five days. His decomposing body is eventually discovered in his bed and it turns out he has been shot three times in the head. The investigation would uncover a numb...

March 11, 1985. Waverly, Georgia. While holding a Bible class at the Rising Daughters Baptist Church, 66-year old deacon Harold Swain is summoned to the vestibule by an unidentified man. Harold is soon shot to death and when his 63-year old wife, Thelma Swain, goes to check on him, she is fatally shot as well. Eighteen years later, a suspect named Dennis Perry is convicted of the murders and recei...

February 3, 1964. Manchester, New Hampshire. The burned body of 54-year old Rena Paquette is discovered inside a pigsty on her family’s farm. Even though there are no containers for flammable substances at the scene, investigators believe that Rena set herself on fire and rule her death to be a suicide. However, many people suspect that Rena’s death was connected to the recent murder of a local te...

March 22, 2010. Huixquilucan, Mexico. Paulette Gebara Farah, a four-year girl with developmental disabilities, vanishes from her bedroom and a massive search campaign fails to turn up any trace of her. Nine days later, Paulette’s decomposing body is discovered wedged between her mattress and the footboard of her bed, and a police inquiry rules that she got stuck there accidentally and died of asph...

June 27, 1994. Tacoma, Washington. 25-year old Michael Johnston and 19-year old Rochelle Robinson leave a get-together at a friend’s house. Later that morning, Michael is found shot to death outside Rochelle’s vehicle with his throat slashed. Rochelle is soon found stabbed to death on a remote road with her own throat slashed. Even though Michael was married, it turned out the two victims had been...

October 13, 1997. Gillette, Wyoming. 14-year old Amanda Gallion leaves her home for school, but never arrives and is reported missing. Suspicion turns towards Amanda’s 20-year old boyfriend, Patrick Ghering, who denies any knowledge of her disappearance. Six days later, Patrick goes missing himself after his abandoned vehicle is discovered by the side of the road. Over the next several years, Aman...

January 4, 1991. Lake Havasu City, Arizona. 42-year old audio designer John Iverson disappears from his home after a meeting with a machinist named Jack Weber. According to Iverson’s spouse, Kathy Munro, Weber had robbed her at gunpoint before kidnapping Iverson. After being a wanted fugitive for three months, Weber turns himself in, but there is no sign of Iverson. Weber claims Munro’s story isn’...

November 19, 1985. Dawson County, Montana. After leaving his son’s farm in Oregon the previous day to take a lengthy road trip back to his home in Wisconsin, 67-year old Dexter Stefonek disappears and his burning car is discovered at an isolated rest area. Only a half hour earlier, a witness had seen an unidentified man driving Dexter’s car into the rest area and he appeared to be carrying two con...

July 11, 1996. Knoxville, Tennessee. The body of 31-year old Blair Adams is discovered in a parking lot. He is nude from the waist down with $4,000 worth of American, Canadian and German currency scattered around his body, and the cause of death is determined to be a violent blow which ruptured his stomach. Blair hails from Surrey, British Columbia and had suddenly quit his job three days earlier...

October 18, 1987. Rochester, New Hampshire. 34-year old Alene “Lulu” Courchesne is found strangled to death next to a turnpike outside of town. Even though Lulu is engaged to someone else, she had gone out on a date the previous night with a man named Rick McCue. Rick is eventually charged with Lulu’s murder and found guilty at trial, even though compelling evidence seems to point to the brother o...

April 29, 2003. Nashville, Tennessee. 13-year old Tabitha Tuders leaves her house for school and is last seen walking through her neighbourhood towards her bus stop. Tabitha never boards the bus or arrives at school and when she fails to return home that evening, she is reported missing. Less than four months later, another young girl goes missing when 11-year old Heaven LaShae Ross also disappear...

November 18, 1995. Vicksburg, Mississippi. 62-year old Jacqueline Levitz, the wealthy widowed heiress to a furniture empire, vanishes from her home. Two days later, blood stains and evidence of a violent struggle are discovered inside her bedroom, creating the impression that Jacqueline met with foul play. Over the years, numerous suspects would be investigated, including members of Jacqueline’s f...

December 2, 1919. Toronto, Ontario. Ambrose Small, a wealthy 56-year old theater tycoon, has just completed a deal to sell off all his holdings for $1.7 million. After having a meeting with his lawyer at his office at the Grand Opera House, Small vanishes without a trace. Over the years, suspicion would be directed at numerous suspects, including Small’s wife and his personal secretary, who fled t...

May 7, 1988. Mountainair, New Mexico. Steve Sandlin, a 21-year old rookie with the local police department, is found dead inside the station. He has been shot in the head and since the police chief pushes forward the theory that Steve’s death was either suicide or an accident, it is officially classified as “undetermined”. However, Steve’s family becomes suspicious when they discover several bags...

May 7, 1988. Mountainair, New Mexico. Steve Sandlin, a 21-year old rookie with the local police department, is found dead inside the station. He has been shot in the head and since the police chief pushes forward the theory that Steve’s death was either suicide or an accident, it is officially classified as “undetermined”. However, Steve’s family becomes suspicious when they discover several bags...