The Trail Went Cold

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 464 - Russell & Shirley Dermond

May 6, 2014. Putnam County, Georgia. After he is not heard from for over four days, the beheaded body of 88-year old Russell Dermond is discovered inside his garage and his 87-year old wife, Shirley Dermond, is missing. Ten days later, Shirley’s body is discovered five miles away in Lake Oconee after she was weighed down in the water with some cinder blocks. Her cause of death is determined to blunt force trauma, but Russell’s head is never recovered. Investigators are unable to uncover any strong suspects and there is nothing in the Dermonds’ background to indicate why they would be the victims of such a brutal crime. In recent years, traces of unidentified touch DNA has been found on Russell’s clothing, but the murders continue to remain unsolved. For our first episode of 2026, “The Trail Went Cold” explores the unsolved double homicide of an elderly couple, which is considered to be one of the most baffling cold cases of the modern era.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killings_of_Russell_and_Shirley_Dermond
https://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article228972684.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/autopsy-elderly-georgia-man-dead-when-head-was-cut-off/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-have-person-of-interest-in-murder-of-georgia-elderly-couple/
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/beheading-mystery-upscale-community-still-confounds-georgia-sheriff/FfLXS5am2RgITlUbahtphO/
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold-the-murders-at-lake-oconee-4-years-later-elderly-couples-son-opens-up/67-549362307
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/5-years-later-murders-of-lake-oconee-couple-continue-to-confound/946649166/
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/years-later-murders-lake-oconee-couple-continue-confound/TozzJXuLvXXbu8f7zbWcPL/
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold/gone-cold-the-murders-at-lake-oconee-4-years-later-elderly-couples-son-opens-up/85-548449019
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/lake-oconee-beheading-mystery-russell-shirley-dermond-putnam-county
https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/community/more-than-a-number/sheriff-private-lab-finds-dna-in-dermond-murders-9-year-old-cold-case-3/93-007e80f5-99d4-4e50-adb0-5fabeaa17380
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/cold-cases/fbi-new-leads-cellphone-data-dna-evidence-brutal-killings-elderly-georgia-couple-lake-oconee/85-9de921b0-385c-4305-9ebe-615ab3031eb4
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/03/01/georgia-sheriff-expecting-dna-results-2014-double-murder-atlvault/
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Bonus Episode - Below the Surface

“Below the Surface” is a true crime podcast covering a variety of strange and bizarre cases with one common theme; a water connection. The show features both solved and unsolved cases, some of which are well known, while others have received little attention.
In this special preview of Episode 1, we explore the puzzling case of journalist Kim Wall who was best known for her articles in the Guardian, New York Times, and Vice. She disappeared in a submarine beneath the Oresund Strait after interviewing inventor Peter Madsen on August 10, 2017. We can only speculate on what exactly happened below the surface, but upon the submarine’s resurface, Kim was missing, but Peter Madsen was not. 
Below the Surface is hosted by Olivia McKenzie (co-host of True Crime Society). It's produced by Mike Morford of AbJack Entertainment (co-host of Criminology). Research and writing by Abagail Belcastro (Campus Killings). You can find Below the Surface on your favourite social media outlets.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 463 - Update, Part 7

Since “The Trail Went Cold” originally launched in February 2016, we have featured over 500 cold cases on the podcast, a number of which have wound up being solved or  experienced major developments. As a result, we have now released a total of seven special “update” episodes. In this particular episode, we’ll share a number of major updates which occurred in 2025, such as a resolution in the 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, Tommy Zeigler’s most recent attempts to overturn his conviction for the 1975 Winter Garden Furniture Store Murders, the potential discovery of three missing victims from the 1958 Martin Family Disappearance, and the identification of a 1971 murder victim formerly known as “Little Miss Panasoffkee”. These are just some of the cases we’ll be discussing on our most recent “update” episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
Here are the links to our six previous “update” episodes: 
https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-155-update/ 
https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-257-update-part-2/ 
https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-310-update-part-3/ 
https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-359-update-part-4/
https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-369-update-part-5/
https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-412-update-part-6/
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Bonus Episode - True Crime Convos 2025

For the month of December, True Crime creators are getting together for a series titled “True Crime Convos” in which we have conversations about podcasting, true crime, and the nexus between the two. We discuss creating our shows, behind-the-scenes moments, fears and hopes, the cases that have gripped us, and more. In this episode, I will be joined by Nina Innsted from “Already Gone” and John from “Sins & Survivors”, as we discuss how we got into podcasting, our passion projects, what we have in store for 2026, our favourite holiday traditions, and also things you might not know about us! Enjoy this conversation and be sure to check out the rest of the “True Crime Convos” series:
• Jessie (Love Murder), Bob (Buried), Joshua (Somewhere in the Pines)• Javier (Pretend), Kristen (Murder, She Told), Shaun (Sins & Survivors)• Patrick (True Crime Obsessed), Josh (True Crime Bullshit), Eric (True Consequences)• Gillian (True Crime Obsessed), Alvin (Affirmative Murder), Lanie (True Crime Cases with Lanie)• Aaron (Generation Why), Lucy (Wine & Crime), Kristen (Murder, She Told)• Amanda (Wine & Crime), Josh (True Crime Bullshit), Andie (Love Murder), Charlie (Crimelines)
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 462 - Lucille Rinaldi

Christmas Eve 1963. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 34-year old Lucille Rinaldi, who happens to be five months pregnant, is bludgeoned and suffocated to death inside an apartment belonging to her husband, Frank Rinaldi. Even though Frank was supposedly out Christmas shopping when the crime took place, he is charged and convicted of Lucille’s murder after investigators learn that Frank took out a life insurance policy on his wife and there are also allegations surface that he was a closeted gay man. However, after the Supreme Court of North Carolina rules that the jury was unfairly prejudiced at Frank’s trial, his conviction is overturned and he is acquitted at his retrial. Was Lucille Rinaldi actually murdered by her husband or did the real killer manage to get away with it? On this week’s holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a controversial and sensationalist Christmas Eve murder case.
Join us on Saturday, December 20 at 8:00pm ET for an online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link.
Additional Reading:
"Time of Death: The True Tale of a Quest for Justice in 1960s Chapel Hill" by Nora Gaskin
https://www.newspapers.com/image/652430172/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/939529735/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/791770654/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1026944384/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/463569154/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/463569188/
https://indyweek.com/news/archives-news/cautionary-tale-d-a-jim-hardin/
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 461 - Rilya Wilson

January 18, 2001. Miami, Florida. Geralyn Graham, the foster mother of four-year old Rilya Wilson, claims that a female caseworker from the Florida Department of Children and Families took Rilya from her residence for a medical evaluation, but never returned. Rilya is not officially reported missing until 15 months later, but the authorities become convinced that Geralyn fabricated her story and is personally responsible for Rilya’s disappearance. Geralyn is eventually charged with numerous crimes and receives a lengthy prison sentence after she is convicted of kidnapping and child abuse at her trial. Since the jury is unable to convict Geralyn of murder and Rilya’s remains are never found, there are a lot of unanswered questions about what actually happened. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a heartbreaking and controversial missing children’s case which came about as the result of a major scandal within Florida’s foster care system. Special thanks to listener Jaclyn Collins for narrating the opening of this episode.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Miami-Dade County Police Department at (305) 418-7302.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Rilya_Wilson
https://charleyproject.org/case/rilya-shenise-wilson
https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/652361189/
https://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/18/fla.missing.girl/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7210798
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proving-murder-in-case-of-missing-girl/
https://www.tampabay.com/incoming/informer-testifies-caretaker-confessed-to-killing-rilya-wilson/1266933/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/25/woman-convicted-missing-girl/1865543/
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/geralyn-graham-faces-sentencing-in-rilya-wilson-case/2015825/
https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/rilya-wilson
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 460 - Leichia Reilly

January 31, 1985. West Seneca, New York. 21-year old Leichia Reilly spends the night hanging out at a nightclub called the Pierce Arrow, but she never returns home and vanishes without a trace. Numerous witnesses recall having seen Leichia leaving the club during the early morning hours with an off-duty state trooper named Daniel Rose, but he denies this and stops cooperating with the investigation. Even though Rose is soon fired by the New York State Police and there appear to be some holes in his story, there is no evidence to implicate him in Leichia’s disappearance and she is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the controversial disappearance of Leichia Reilly, which has gone unsolved for more than 40 years. In addition, we will also discuss the unsolved 1982 murder of James Adamski, who went missing during the early morning hours of Halloween after leaving a bar in the nearby village of Depew before he was found in a shallow grave in a wooded area just under two months later.
Additional Reading:
https://charleyproject.org/case/leichia-m-reilly
https://www.newspapers.com/image/875577695/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/875582162/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/875637060/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/875577847/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/875673768/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/874757072/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/877043776/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/875897927/
https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/cold-case-crime-west-seneca-missing-person-wny/71-ad11d332-e29e-44b4-a933-90d8c33edebe
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/article_b226ae35-9eb5-5afa-8c9d-64ed07491fc5.html
https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/investigations/2-investigates/cold-case-leichia-reilly-disappeared-1985/71-a0527b9d-fda9-4ae4-817b-9ceb49af06e0
https://www.wivb.com/news/36-year-old-cold-case-still-haunts-lancaster-cheektowaga/
https://www.wkbw.com/news/who-killed-james-adamski
https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/unsolved-37-years-later-investigators-still-search-for-clues-in-lancaster-murder/71-ba70ad6f-195d-4bf6-b3bd-e47f3cd94590
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 459 - Gregory MaComb

September 17, 1954. Salt Lake City, Utah. Five-year old Gregory MaComb is abducted from his apartment and found dead in a creek bed after he has been sexually assaulted, strangled and bludgeoned to death. A witness reports having seen a man carrying Gregory out of the apartment house and placing him inside his car and he seems to match the description of Norman Ash Fackrell, a friend of Gregory’s mother. Nearly three years later, Fackrell is charged with Gregory’s murder, but winds up being acquitted at trial, so the truth about who was responsible for the crime remains shrouded in mystery. Was Norman Ash Fackrell the right perpetrator all along or did someone else kill Gregory? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we look at both sides of this controversial case. Special thanks to listener Fran Krause for narrating the opening of the episode.
Additional Reading:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/595549367/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/599289443/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/599195293/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/597692336/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/598548447/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/595867589/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/599418869/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/595866911/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/599233507/
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 458 - Stephanie Stewart and Shelley-Anne Bacsu

August 26, 2006. Hinton, Alberta. After failing to reach her on the radio or the telephone, the supervisor of 70-year old Stephanie Stewart travels to the Athabasca Lookout Tower in the province’s foothills, where Stephanie is posted as a seasonal fire spotter. When he arrives, the supervisor finds a smear of blood on the front steps of Stephanie’s cabin and a pot of water on the stove, but there is no sign of her anywhere. Since bed sheets and other items are also missing from the cabin, there is speculation that Stephanie was murdered by someone who transported her body from the scene and disposed of it, but she cannot be found and there are no solid suspects or a known motive for her disappearance. 
May 3, 1983. Hinton, Alberta. After spending the evening with her boyfriend at the Sunset Trailer Court, 16-year old Shelley-Anne Bacsu phones her mother to let her know that an unnamed friend will be picking her up and driving her home. Shelley-Anne never arrives, but a number of witnesses report having seen her walking down Alberta Highway 16 before she disappeared. Some of Shelley-Anne’s clothing and personal items are found scattered on a road next to the Athabasca River, but while her family suspects that she was harmed by someone who gave her a ride, no trace of Shelley-Anne is ever found.
On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to the same region of Alberta to cover a pair of unsolved Canadian missing persons cases.
If you have any information about either fo these cases, please contact the Hinton branch of the RCMP at (780) 865-2455 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Additional Reading:
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/a-pot-of-boiling-water-and-a-smear-of-blood-12-years-later-fresh-clues-sought-in-stephanie-stewarts-disappearance
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ten-years-later-disappearance-of-senior-at-alberta-fire-lookout-still-a-mystery-1.3735252
https://globalnews.ca/news/63106/fourth-anniversary-of-stephanie-stewarts-disappearance/
https://globalnews.ca/news/2902724/10-years-since-wildfire-spotter-stephanie-stewart-vanished-near-hinton-alta/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/police-renew-calls-for-information-to-help-locate-wildfire-tower-worker-missing-for-15-years/
https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/stephanie-stewart
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/rcmp-historical-homicide-unit-races-against-time-to-solve-alberta-cold-cases
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/28dfab.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/30-years-since-hinton-teen-disappearance-1.1412716
https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/mother-still-desperate-answers-37-years-after-teen-daughter-shelley-n1199006
https://www.newspapers.com/image/740158386/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/494480089/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/472635703/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/475905572/
https://poig57.wordpress.com/
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 457 - Scott and Amy Fandel

September 5, 1978. Sterling, Alaska. 13-year old Scott Fandel and his 8-year old half-sister, Amy Fandel, are dropped off at their cabin by their mother, Margaret Fandel, who then goes out to some bars with her own sister. When Margaret and her sister return home during the early morning hours of September 6, they discover a pot of warm water on the stove next to some macaroni and tomato sauce. This suggests that Scott had been in the midst of preparing a late-night snack before he was interrupted, but both he and Amy are missing. There is speculation that the two children were abducted and while investigators explore a number of different leads - including the possibility that some carnival workers or Margaret’s estranged husband could have been responsible for the disappearances - no trace of Scott and Amy is ever found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to Alaska to explore a baffling missing children’s case which has gone unsolved for 47 years. 
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Alaska State Troopers at (907) 262-4453.
Additional Reading:
https://charleyproject.org/case/scott-curtis-fandel
https://charleyproject.org/case/amy-lee-fandel
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138216282/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1054276130/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138206372/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138456110/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138456273/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1054286770/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1054286791/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138280231/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138204917/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138204935/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138204963/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1057007859/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1057007991/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1057008009/
“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.