The Trail Went Cold

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 261 - Gracie Nash & John Davis Jr.

December 26, 1983. Austin, Texas. After leaving her workplace, 39-year old Gracie Nash vanishes without a trace and her abandoned car is soon discovered with a large amount of blood inside. Just over one month later, Gracie’s brother, 43-year old John Davis Jr., is fatally shot outside his residence. Suspicion falls upon a woman named Naomi Easley, who had launched a campaign of harassment and violence against the victims’ brother, Melvin Davis, after a tumultuous break-up. Even though Naomi eventually goes to prison for another murder, no evidence links her to Gracie’s disappearance or John’s death. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we detail the tragic story of a family who lost two siblings just over one month apart and never received conclusive answers about what happened.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Austin Police Department at (512) 974-5000.
Additional Reading:
https://charleyproject.org/case/gracie-nell-nash
https://www.newspapers.com/image/362884233/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/362884290/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/362860322/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/358405108/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/362873118/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/364024424/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/362860411/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/363972130/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/363974758/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/362918871/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/357461817/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/357461844/
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/third-court-of-appeals/1992/5184.html
“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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 260 - Kristen Modafferi

June 23, 1997. San Francisco, California. After completing her shift at a coffee shop at the Crocker Galleria, 18-year old Kristen Modafferi vanishes without a trace. Even though co-workers report seeing Kristen with a blonde woman at the mall, this woman is never identified, and a police bloodhound tracks Kristen’s scent to the edge of the Pacific Ocean at Lands End over six miles away. Weeks later, a man named Jon Onuma phones in a fake tip in which he falsely accuses two women of murdering Kristen, but even though Onuma does a number of suspicious things and multiple women accuse him of abuse, no conclusive evidence can be found to link him to Kristen’s disappearance. Was Kristen Modafferi harmed by Jon Onuma? If not, then how did she wind up going missing? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the perplexing disappearance of a young university student where all the pieces of the puzzle just don’t seem to fit together. Special thanks to listener Gretchen Piening for narrating the opening for this episode.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Oakland Police Department at (510) 238-3641.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Kristen_Modafferi
https://unsolved.com/gallery/kristen-modafferi/
http://charleyproject.org/case/kristen-deborah-modafferi
http://abc7news.com/news/kristen-modafferi-mystery-private-investigators-shed-light-on-cold-case/2134466/
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Kristen-Modafferi-cold-case-Oakland-Jayne-DNA-13005068.php
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Kristen-Modafferi-Dennis-Mahon-Onuma-missing-Lampo-12988187.php
http://www.findkristen.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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 259 - Laurie Depies

August 19, 1992. Menasha, Wisconsin. After leaving her workplace, 20-year old Laurie Depies drives to her boyfriend’s apartment complex and parks her car before she vanishes without a trace. Even though witnesses heard her vehicle pull into the lot, they do not report hearing or seeing anything unusual and the only evidence is a cup of soda left on top of the car’s roof. Eighteen years later, a convicted kidnapper named Larry DeWayne Hall confesses to abducting and murdering Laurie, but a search for her remains turns up nothing and no corroborating evidence is found to support his story. Was Larry DeWayne Hall actually responsible for Laurie Depies’ disappearance or could she have been abducted and harmed by someone she knew? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved disappearance of a young woman who seemingly vanished into thin air during a very narrow window of time.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Menasha Police Department at (920) 720-7109
Download Best Fiends FREE today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. That’s “friends” without the “r” – Best Fiends.
Additional Reading:
https://charleyproject.org/case/laurie-jean-depies
https://www.wbay.com/2021/08/19/laurie-depies-disappeared-29-years-ago/
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/laurie-depies-best-friend-says-080048936.html
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2019/04/22/laurie-depies-dr-phil-highlights-missing-appleton-woman/3511606002/
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/local/2015/08/21/laurie-depies-years-gone/32111947/
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2017/08/17/what-happened-laurie-depies-who-vanished-1992/551743001/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wisconsin-cold-case-cracked-inmate-confesses-laurie-depies/story?id=13622809
https://www.newspapers.com/image/360102981/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/360103075/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/290436962/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/360546240
https://www.newspapers.com/image/360546242/
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/ibf4qk/the_laurie_depies_disappearance_after_teresa/
“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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 258 - Shane Stewart & Sally McNelly

July 4, 1988. San Angelo, Texas. 16-year old Shane Stewart and his 18-year old girlfriend, Sally McNelly, go out to watch a fireworks show together, but never return home and Shane’s abandoned car is found in a park the following morning. Four months later, the couple’s skeletal remains are discovered in a remote pasture and they have both been murdered by shotgun blasts to the head. For years, rumours circulate that Shane and Sally were members of a Satanic cult and were killed for attempting to leave the group. In 2017, a person of interest is named after evidence which seems to be connected to the crime is found inside his residence, but no charges are ever filed in relation to Shane and Sally’s deaths. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved double murder of a young couple which was sometimes overshadowed by Satanic panic.
If you have any information about this case, please contact San Angelo Crime Stoppers at (325) 658-HELP (4357).
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Sally_McNelly_and_Shane_Stewart
https://unsolved.com/gallery/sally-mcnelly-shane-stewart/
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Shane_Stewart_and_Sally_McNelly
https://archive.gosanangelo.com/news/unsolved-murder-haunts-father-investigators-ep-440761552-357255691.html
https://archive.gosanangelo.com/news/dna-evidence-eyed-in-1988-slayings-ep-458032062-354911441.html
http://archive.gosanangelo.com/news/officials-make-developments-in-cold-case-ep-503215001-354714431.html
https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/local/2017/06/22/new-evidence-found-29-year-old-cold-case/421822001/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/06/25/blood-fingernail-found-at-home-of-texas-man-link-him-to-1988-slayings-of-2-teens-authorities-say/
https://sanangelolive.com/news/crime/2018-07-04/30th-anniversary-unsolved-murders-shane-and-sally-remembered
“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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
 
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
 
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.
 

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 257 - Update, Part 2

Since “The Trail Went Cold” originally launched in February 2016, we have featured over 300 cold cases and unsolved mysteries on the podcast and a decent amount of them have either wound up being solved or had significant developments take place. Two years ago, we released a special “update” episode which detailed a lot of these developments, but there have since been many more new updates to share. Examples include the identification of the Sumter County Does; an arrest in the murders of Bobbie Jo Oberholtzer and Annette Schnee, a.k.a. “The Orange Sock Murders”; the overturning of a wrongful conviction for the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain, and a number of shocking revelations in the murder of 12-year old Jonelle Matthews. These are just a few of the cases we are going to discuss in our second special “update” episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
To listen to our previous “update” episode from January 2020, click here:https://www.trailwentcold.com/2020/01/01/the-trail-went-cold-episode-155-update/
Additional Reading:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jonelle-matthews-murder-kidnapping-steve-pankey-person-of-interest-48-hours/
https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/steve-pankey-trial-verdict/73-48c6aa60-d61a-401d-ac43-d375ce25955e
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/10/13/steve-pankey-arrested-jonelle-matthews-murder-greeley-1984/
https://denver.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15909806/2020/10/Steve-Pankey-Indictment.pdf
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19735658.renee-macrae-murder-accused-face-trial-next-year/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-58719355
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/jose-rodriguez-cruz-sentenced-second-killing/2021/04/09/4dce72d6-995a-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/12/man-accused-of-lying-in-tracy-kroh-case-accepts-sentence-gets-immediate-parole.html
https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/dauphin-county/woman-charged-with-perjury-related-to-tracy-kroh-cold-case-sentenced/521-2c0a860a-f2d6-4fd7-a49b-680a8f911a3d
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/03/03/alan-lee-phillips-bobbie-jo-oberholtzer-annette-schnee-park-county-arrest-murder-breckenridge/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/us/phillips-colorado-sos-murder.html
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/04/09/cold-case-arrest-michael-jefferson-charged-murdering-roger-dean-1985/
https://people.com/crime/dna-taken-water-bottle-1985-cold-case-killing-arrest/
https://www.ktoo.org/2020/09/09/23-years-ago-the-state-of-alaska-tried-the-wrong-man-for-the-murder-of-a-sitka-teenager-now-police-say-theyve-found-the-real-killer-why-wasnt-he-a-suspect-all-along/
https://people.com/crime/bethany-decker-missing-virginia-woman-boyfriend-charged-murder/
https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-man-identified-44-years-after-being-found-dead-in-south-carolina-cold-case-reopened/article_951c9398-5cb5-11eb-bac3-5737c46afda3.html
https://www.twincities.com/2021/11/12/14-year-old-girl-identified-as-victim-in-1980-texas-cold-case-homicide-had-forest-lake-stillwater-connections/
https://meaww.com/angela-hammond-ransom-note-abduction-pregnant-mistaken-identity-informant
https://www.ajc.com/alibi-story/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/dennis-perry-charges-dropped-swain-murder-case.html
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/05/20/state-attorney-agrees-to-let-tommy-zeigler-perform-dna-testing/
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/10/20/debate-over-dna-testing-for-death-row-inmate-headed-to-florida-supreme-court/
“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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 256 - Mary Elizabeth Edens

Christmas Eve 1924. Babbs Switch, Oklahoma. A fire breaks out at a Christmas party taking place at a schoolhouse and claims the lives of 36 people. The remains of one of the presumed victims, three-year old Mary Elizabeth Edens, cannot be found and since Mary’s aunt recalls handing the child to an unknown person, her family believes Mary might have been abducted. Over 32 years later, evidence is found to suggest that a California woman named Grace Reynolds might be Mary and she winds up having a reunion with the Edens family. However, in 1999, it is revealed that additional evidence was uncovered to indicate that Grace was not actually Mary after all, so the actual fate of the missing child remains unknown. For this year’s final holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be exploring a tragic Christmas Eve mystery that has gone from unsolved to solved to back unsolved again over the course of a century.
Thanks Faherty. Get 20% off your first purchase by going to fahertybrand.com/COLD with promo code COLD at checkout.
Additional Reading:
https://oklahoman.com/article/2679856/journalist-honors-pledge-to-family-of-missing-girl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbs_Switch_fire
http://rebelcherokee.labdiva.com/babbsfire.html
http://genealogytrails.com/oka/kiowa/babbsfire.html
https://oklahoman.com/article/5378711/deadly-1924-christmas-eve-fire-in-oklahoma-brought-reform
https://www.newspapers.com/image/596063048/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/455386905/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/603696188/
“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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 255 - Colleen Wood

December 15, 2000. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The former boss of 53-year old Colleen Wood calls her on her cell phone to invite her to an upcoming Christmas party, but even though Colleen says she will attend, she never shows up and is not heard from again. At the time, Colleen and her boyfriend, John Paul, were planning to leave on a five-year sailing trip around the world on John’s boat, but when John is tracked down and questioned about this months later, he claims that Colleen broke up with him and he has no idea where she is. However, it turns out that John has an extensive criminal history and may have bilked Colleen out of her money, but he winds up fleeing the country and manages to elude the authorities for the next two decades. Was John Paul responsible for the disappearance of Colleen Wood? If so, what are his current whereabouts? In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore an unsolved cold case involving of a missing woman who may have fallen prey to a dangerous con artist.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Fort Lauderdale Police Department at (954) 828-5517.
Download Best Fiends FREE today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. That’s “friends” without the “r” – Best Fiends.
Thanks AcornTV. Get your first 30 days free by going to acorn.tv with promo code “cold” in all lowercase letters only.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/colleen-wood/
http://charleyproject.org/case/colleen-wood
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Colleen_Wood
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2001-06-12-0106120078-story.html
https://www.newspapers.com/image/667241663
https://www.newspapers.com/image/667283942/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Sr._(racing_driver)
https://chalicepaul.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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 254 - Derrick Engebretson & Kurt Newton

December 5, 1998. Klamath County, Oregon. Eight-year old Derrick Engebretson travels to Winema National Forest with his father and grandfather in order to get a Christmas tree, but winds up becoming separated from them. An extensive search effort fails to find Derrick, though an eyewitness reports having seen a boy matching Derrick’s description struggling with an unidentified man near the road. Years later, a convicted child predator named Frank Milligan confesses to Derrick’s murder, but he fails to lead authorities to his body and soon recants his confession, so Derrick remains a missing person.
August 31, 1975. Chain of Ponds, Maine. While on a camping trip with his family at the Natanis Point Campground, four-year old Kurt Newton sees his father driving away from the campsite to go chop some firewood and decides to follow him on his tricycle. A short time later, Kurt’s abandoned tricycle is found eight-tenths of a mile away next to a dumpsite, but Kurt himself has disappeared and an extensive search fails to turn up any trace of the boy. Since the campground is located only six miles from the United States-Canada border, Kurt’s family fears that he may have been abducted and taken into Quebec, but there is no evidence to indicate what happened.
On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover a pair of unsolved cold cases involving young boys who vanished without a trace in the wilderness.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Derrick Engebretson, please contact the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office at (541) 883-5130. If you have any information on the disappearance of Kurt Newton, please contact the Maine State Police at (207) 289-2155.
Thanks Faherty. Get 20% off your first purchase by going to fahertybrand.com/COLD with promo code COLD at checkout.
Join us on Saturday, December 11 at 8:00pm EST 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:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Derrick_Engebretson
https://charleyproject.org/case/derrick-james-engebretson
https://www.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2008/12/revisiting_a_tragic_tenyear_my.html
https://tdn.com/news/oregon-boy-still-missing-after-years/article_020033d5-6f82-54aa-aa3d-af560f05b8f5.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cruel-joke-or-mindless-scrawl/
https://ktvl.com/news/local/20-years-later-family-still-holding-out-hope-missing-boy-will-return-home
http://derrickengebretson.blogspot.com/
https://charleyproject.org/case/kurt-ronald-newton
https://newengland.com/today/living/new-england-history/kurt-newton-disappearance/
https://digitalmaine.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1003&context=warden_docs
https://www.sunjournal.com/2010/09/01/mystery-surrounds-boys-disappearance/
http://victimsnewsonline.com/missing-persons/dna-doesnt-match-in-case-of-woman-claiming-to-be-missing-jennifer-klein/
“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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 253 - Kathy Page

May 14, 1991. Vidor, Texas. 34-year old Kathy Page is found dead inside her car after an apparent crash into a drainage ditch just over 100 yards from her residence. While the scene resembles an accident, the evidence shows that Kathy was actually strangled to death before the crash was staged. Since Kathy’s marriage to her estranged husband, Steve Page, was falling apart and there were a number of suspicious actions on his part, Kathy’s family believe that Steve was responsible for her death. Out of frustration, they put up a series of billboards accusing Steve of murder and the local authorities of orchestrating a cover-up, but no charges are ever filed. Was Kathy Page killed by her husband? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a controversial cold case which was the inspiration for the critically acclaimed film, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”.
If you have any information about this case, please contact the Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas tip line at (409) 833-TIPS (8477).
Thanks, StoryWorth. Get $10 off your first purchase at StoryWorth.com/COLD
Listen and follow along to Toxic: The Britney Spears Story on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Pandora or wherever you find your podcasts.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/kathy-page/
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kathy_Page
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1406707.html
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Vidor-father-seeks-justice-20-years-after-1377056.php
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Latest-billboard-in-Kathy-Page-slaying-may-cause-4088141.php
https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/unsolved-vidor-murder-case-put-in-spotlight-with-oscar-nominated-movie/502-523896646
https://people.com/crime/real-life-three-billboards-inspired-texas-murder-case/
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Victim-s-daughter-hopes-for-breakthrough-in-13476118.php
https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Reward-for-Page-s-killer-raised-to-record-amount-16222583.php
http://texasbillboard.blogspot.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 now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

The Trail Went Cold - Bonus Episode - Kay Hall

September 30, 1987. Northumberland County, Virginia. The body of 45-year old Kay Hall is discovered on a back road underneath her pick-up truck. She has been run over and her husband, Bob Hall, immediately becomes the prime suspect. Even though Bob stood to collect on an inheritance Kay had just received and there are issues with his alibi, there is some question about whether he would have been able to track down Kay and commit the crime during a very narrow timeframe. Years later, Bob is charged and convicted of Kay’s murder, but has his conviction overturned and after agreeing to enter an Alford plea, he is released from prison. Was Bob Hall really responsible for the murder of his wife, or was she simply the victim of a tragic accident? This special bonus episode chronicles an “Unsolved Mysteries” segment in which there is debate about the ultimate resolution.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.