The Trail Went Cold - The Unsolved Mysteries Podcast Thread [Archive] - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

RobinW

04-27-2016, 10:56 AM

Hello again, folks. Many of you know that I've recently started a new true crime podcast called "The Trail Went Cold" in which I analyze Unsolved Mysteries cases. To save me the trouble of starting a new thread every time I release a new episode, I figured I'd just organize them all together in one thread and update it whenever a new episode comes out.

I always like to alternate between doing UM and non-UM cases, so I'll list them in separate categories...

UM Episodes:

Aeileen Conway:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/02/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-1-aeileen-conway/

David Cox:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/03/16/the-trail-went-cold-episode-3-david-cox/

Rhonda Hinson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/03/30/the-trail-went-cold-episode-4-rhonda-hinson/

Judy Smith:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/05/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-7-judy-smith/

Don Kemp:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/06/08/the-trail-went-cold-episode-9-don-kemp/

Michael Rosenblum:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/07/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-11-michael-rosenblum/

Father Reynaldo Rivera & Father John Kerrigan:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/08/03/the-trail-went-cold-episode-13-father-rivera-and-father-kerrigan/

Tommy Zeigler:
Part 1: http://trailwentcold.com/2016/08/31/the-trail-went-cold-episode-15-tommy-zeigler-part-1/
Part 2: http://trailwentcold.com/2016/09/14/the-trail-went-cold-episode-16-tommy-zeigler-part-2/

Cindy James:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/10/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-18-cindy-james/

Chuck Morgan & Doug Johnston:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/11/09/the-trail-went-cold-episode-20-chuck-morgan-and-doug-johnston/

Doreen Picard & Susan Laferte:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/12/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-22-doreen-picard-and-susan-laferte/

Patsy Wright:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/01/04/the-trail-went-cold-episode-24-patsy-wright/

Jean Moore:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/02/01/the-trail-went-cold-episode-26-jean-moore/

Mike Riemer & Diana Robertson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/03/01/the-trail-went-cold-episode-28-mike-riemer-and-diana-robertson/

Kurt Sova:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/03/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-30-kurt-sova/

Terri McClure:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/04/26/the-trail-went-cold-episode-32-terri-mcclure/

The Orange Sock Murders:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/05/10/the-trail-went-cold-episode-33-the-orange-sock-murders/

Cindy Anderson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/06/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-35-cindy-anderson/

Clarence & Geneva Roberts:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/06/21/the-trail-went-cold-episode-36-clarence-and-geneva-roberts/

L'Enfant:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/07/05/the-trail-went-cold-episode-37-lenfant/

Dub & Chance Wackerhagen:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/08/02/the-trail-went-cold-episode-39-latricia-white-dub-wackerhagen-and-chance-wackerhagen/

William L. Toomey:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/08/16/the-trail-went-cold-episode-40-william-l-toomey/

Su Taraskiewicz:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/09/13/the-trail-went-cold-episode-42-su-taraskiewicz/

Frederick Valentich:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/10/25/the-trail-went-cold-episode-45-frederick-valentich/

Tommy Burkett:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/11/08/the-trail-went-cold-episode-46-tommy-burkett/

Donna Branion:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/12/06/the-trail-went-cold-episode-49-donna-branion/

The Hatbox Baby:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/12/20/the-trail-went-cold-episode-51-the-hatbox-baby/

Patricia Meehan & Morris Davis:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/12/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-52-patricia-meehan-morris-davis/

Gary Grant Jr.:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/01/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-55-gary-grant-jr/

Patrick Sean Kelly:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/01/31/the-trail-went-cold-episode-57-patrick-sean-kelly/

The Circleville Letters:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/02/21/the-trail-went-cold-episode-60-the-circleville-letters-case/

Dottie Caylor:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/03/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-62-dottie-caylor/

Kristen Tomlin/The Freedom II:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/03/28/the-trail-went-cold-episode-65-kristen-tomlin/

Steve Sandlin:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/04/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-67-steve-sandlin/

Lulu Courchesne:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/05/09/the-trail-went-cold-episode-71-lulu-courchesne/

Blair Adams:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/05/16/the-trail-went-cold-episode-72-blair-adams/

Dexter Stefonek:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/05/23/the-trail-went-cold-episode-73-dexter-stefonek/

Michael Johnston, Rochelle Robinson & Kurt McFall:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/06/13/the-trail-went-cold-episode-76-michael-johnston-rochelle-robinson-and-kurt-mcfall/

Rena Paquette:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/06/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-78-rena-paquette/

Harold & Thelma Swain:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/07/04/the-trail-went-cold-episode-79-harold-thelma-swain/

Eric Tamiyasu:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/07/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-80-eric-tamiyasu/

Crystal Spencer:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/08/01/the-trail-went-cold-episode-83-crystal-spencer/

Audrey Moate & Thomas Hotard:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/08/08/the-trail-went-cold-episode-84-audrey-moate-thomas-hotard/

Stanley Gryziec:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/08/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-87-stanley-gryziec/

Marlena Childress:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/09/19/the-trail-went-cold-episode-90-marlena-childress/

Cindy Song:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/10/03/the-trail-went-cold-episode-92-cindy-song/

Jeremy Bright:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/11/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-97-jeremy-bright/

Debbie Wolfe:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/12/05/the-trail-went-cold-episode-101-debbie-wolfe/

Judith Hyams:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/01/02/the-trail-went-cold-episode-105-judith-hyams/

Lester Garnier:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/01/23/the-trail-went-cold-episode-108-lester-garnier/

The Mary Morris Murders:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/02/06/the-trail-went-cold-episode-110-the-mary-morris-murders/

Tracey Kirkpatrick:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/02/13/the-trail-went-cold-episode-111-tracey-kirkpatrick/

Oliver Munson & Henry Baltimore Jr.:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/03/06/the-trail-went-cold-episode-114-henry-baltimore-jr-and-oliver-munson/

The Sarah Joe:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/03/20/the-trail-went-cold-episode-116-the-sarah-joe/

Tom Roche:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/04/03/the-trail-went-cold-episode-118-tom-roche/

Glen & Bessie Hyde:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/04/24/the-trail-went-cold-episode-121-glen-bessie-hyde/

Linda Sherman:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/05/01/the-trail-went-cold-episode-122-linda-sherman/

A.J. Breaux:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/05/22/the-trail-went-cold-episode-125-a-j-breaux/

Roger Dean:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/06/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-128-roger-dean/

Little Miss Panasoffkee & The Sumter County Does:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/06/19/the-trail-went-cold-episode-129-little-miss-panasoffkee-and-the-sumter-county-does/

Tara Breckenridge:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/06/26/the-trail-went-cold-episode-130-tara-breckenridge/

Dick Hansen:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/07/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-133-dick-hansen/

Paul Whipkey:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/07/31/the-trail-went-cold-episode-135-paul-whipkey/

Non-UM Episodes:

The Fort Worth Three:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/03/02/the-trail-went-cold-episode-2-the-fort-worth-three/

Terrance Williams & Felipe Santos:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/04/13/the-trail-went-cold-episode-5-terrance-williams-and-felipe-santos/

Laureen Rahn:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/04/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-6-laureen-rahn/

El Dorado Jane Doe:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/05/25/the-trail-went-cold-episode-8-the-el-dorado-jane-doe/

Eloise Worledge:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/06/22/the-trail-went-cold-episode-10-eloise-worledge/

The Millbrooks Twins:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/07/20/the-trail-went-cold-episode-12-the-millbrooks-twins/

Edward Maps:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/08/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-14-edward-maps/

The Lady of the Dunes:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/09/28/the-trail-went-cold-episode-17-the-lady-of-the-dunes/

Renee & Andrew MacRae:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/11/23/the-trail-went-cold-episode-21-renee-andrew-macrae/

The Sodder Children:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/12/21/the-trail-went-cold-episode-23-the-sodder-children/

Hugues de la Plaza:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/01/18/the-trail-went-cold-episode-25-hugues-de-la-plaza/

David Bacon:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/02/15/the-trail-went-cold-episode-27-david-bacon/

Virginia Carpenter:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/03/15/the-trail-went-cold-episode-29-virginia-carpenter/

Holly Staker:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/04/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-31-holly-staker/

Dickie Hovey & Eric Jones:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/05/24/the-trail-went-cold-episode-34-dickie-hovey-and-eric-jones/

Mary Shotwell Little:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/07/19/the-trail-went-cold-episode-38-mary-shotwell-little/

Mary Agnes Moroney:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/08/30/the-trail-went-cold-episode-41-mary-agnes-moroney/

Joan Risch:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/09/27/the-trail-went-cold-episod-43-joan-risch/

Joel Lovelien:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/10/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-44-joel-lovelien/

Karyn Kupcinet:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/11/22/the-trail-went-cold-episode-47-karyn-kupcinet/

The Yuba County Five:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/11/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-48-the-yuba-county-five/

Kevin Showalter:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/12/13/the-trail-went-cold-episode-50-kevin-showalter/

Ronald Hughes:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/01/03/the-trail-went-cold-episode-53-ronald-hughes/

Kelly Dae Wilson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/01/10/the-trail-went-cold-episode-54-kelly-dae-wilson/

The Mathis Family Murders:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/02/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-58-the-mathis-family-murders/

Maureen Fields & Jodine Serrin:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/02/14/the-trail-went-cold-episode-59-maureen-fields-and-jodine-serrin/

Trevor Deely:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/02/28/the-trail-went-cold-episode-61-trevor-deely/

Andre Bryant, Christopher Dansby & Shane Walker:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/03/14/the-trail-went-cold-episode-63-andre-bryant-christopher-dansby-and-shane-walker/

Reet Jurvetson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/03/21/the-trail-went-cold-episode-64-reet-jurvetson/

Valerie Percy:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/04/04/the-trail-went-cold-episode-66-valerie-percy/

Ambrose Small:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/04/18/the-trail-went-cold-episode-68-ambrose-small/

Jacqueline Levitz:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/04/25/the-trail-went-cold-episode-69-jacqueline-levitz/

Tabitha Tuders & Heaven LaShae Ross:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/05/02/the-trail-went-cold-episode-70-tabitha-tuders-heaven-lashae-ross/

Paulette Gebara Farah:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/06/20/the-trail-went-cold-episode-77-paulette-gebara-farah/

John Iverson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/05/30/the-trail-went-cold-episode-74-john-iverson/

Amanda Gallion & Patrick Ghering:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/06/06/the-trail-went-cold-episode-75-amanda-gallion-and-patrick-ghering/

Philip Cairns:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/07/18/the-trail-went-cold-episode-81-philip-cairns/

Jonathan Luna:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/07/25/the-trail-went-cold-episode-82-jonathan-luna/

Mimi Boomhower:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/08/15/the-trail-went-cold-episode-85-mimi-boomhower/

Michael Dunahee & Casey Bohun:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/08/22/the-trail-went-cold-episode-86-michael-dunahee-casey-bohun/

The Salomon Family:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/09/05/the-trail-went-cold-episode-88-the-salomon-family/

Beth Miller, Tiffany Sessions & Tracy Kroh:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/09/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-89-beth-miller-tiffany-sessions-and-tracy-kroh/

Amanda Tusing & Dana Stidham:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/09/26/the-trail-went-cold-episode-91-amanda-tusing-dana-stidham/

Orange Socks & The Walker County Jane Doe:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/10/10/the-trail-went-cold-episode-93-orange-socks-the-walker-county-jane-doe/

Evelyn Hartley:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/10/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-94-evelyn-hartley/

Chris Jenkins:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/10/24/the-trail-went-cold-episode-95-chris-jenkins/

The Keddie Cabin Murders:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/10/31/the-trail-went-cold-episode-96-the-keddie-cabin-murders/

Kanika Powell & Sean Nicholas Green:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/11/14/the-trail-went-cold-episode-98-kanika-powell-sean-nicholas-green/

Mona Blades:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/11/21/the-trail-went-cold-episode-99-mona-blades/

Trenny Gibson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/11/28/the-trail-went-cold-episode-100-trenny-gibson/

Patty Vaughan:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/12/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-102-patty-vaughan/

The Great Mull Air Mystery:
http://trailwentcold.com/2018/12/19/the-trail-went-cold-episode-103-the-great-mull-air-mystery/

Karen Denise Wells:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/01/09/the-trail-went-cold-episode-106-karen-denise-wells/

Jessica Baggen:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/01/16/the-trail-went-cold-episode-107-jessica-baggen/

Connie Smith:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/01/30/the-trail-went-cold-episode-109-connie-smith/

The Springfield Three:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/02/20/the-trail-went-cold-episode-112-the-springfield-three/

The Cowden Family Murders:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/02/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-113-the-cowden-family-murders/

Joey Lynn Offutt:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/03/13/the-trail-went-cold-episode-115-joey-lynn-offutt/

Ricky Hochstetler:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/03/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-117-rick-hochstetler/

Lindsay Baum:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/04/10/the-trail-went-cold-episode-119-lindsay-baum/

Amber Tuccaro & Jolene Cote:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/04/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-120-amber-tuccaro-jolene-cote/

Marie Blee:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/05/08/the-trail-went-cold-episode-123-marie-blee/

Ashley Estell:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/05/15/the-trail-went-cold-episode-124-ashley-estell/

Sherri Holland:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/05/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-126-sherri-holland/

Shareef Cousin:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/06/05/the-trail-went-cold-episode-127-shareef-cousin/

Toni Lee Sharpless:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/07/03/the-trail-went-cold-episode-131-toni-lee-sharpless/

Adele Born Williams:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/07/10/the-trail-went-cold-episode-132-adele-born-williams/

Louise & Charmian Faulkner:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/07/24/the-trail-went-cold-episode-134-louise-and-charmian-faulkner/

Deanna Cremin & Melanie Melanson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2019/08/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-136-deanna-cremin-melanie-melanson/

Minisodes:

The Blind River Rest Stop Murders:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/09/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-17-the-blind-river-rest-stop-murders/

Lynne Schulze:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/09/21/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-2-lynne-schulze/

Albert Dekker:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/10/05/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-3-albert-dekker/

Donna Lass:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/10/19/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-4-donna-lass/

Asha Degree:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/11/02/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-5-asha-degree/

Eva Kay Wenal:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/11/16/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-6-eva-kay-wenal/

Deborah Poe:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/11/30/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-7-deborah-poe/

Helen Dymond:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/12/14/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-8-helen-dymond/

Russell Evans:
http://trailwentcold.com/2016/12/28/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-9-russell-evans/

Pamela Butler:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/01/11/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-10-pamela-butler/

Jonelle Matthews:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/01/25/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-11-jonelle-matthews/

Dale Kerstetter:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/02/08/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-12-dale-kerstetter/

Brooke Henson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/02/22/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-13-brooke-henson/

The Patanela:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/03/08/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-14-the-patanela/

Matt Flores:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/03/22/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-15-matt-flores/

Ylenia Carrisi:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/04/05/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-16-ylenia-carrisi/

Elizabeth Campbell:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/04/19/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-17-elizabeth-campbell/

Cleashindra Hall:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/05/03/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-18-cleashindra-hall/

Penny Bell:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/05/17/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-19-penny-bell/

Leigh Occhi:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/05/31/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-20-leigh-occhi/

Maoma Ridings:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/06/14/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-21-maoma-ridings/

Paige Renkoski & Danielle Stislicki:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/06/28/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-22-paige-renkoski-and-danielle-stislicki/

Alan Jeal:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/07/12/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-23-alan-jeal/

The Truth Fellowship:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/07/26/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-24-the-truth-fellowship/

Angela Hammond:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/08/09/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-25-angela-hammond/

Elaine Johnson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/08/23/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-26-elaine-johnson/

Permon Gilbert:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/09/06/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-27-permon-gilbert/

Michael & Chucky Palmer:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/09/20/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-28-michael-and-chucky-palmer/

Chaim Weiss:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/10/04/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-29-chaim-weiss/

Brandon Swanson:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/10/18/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-30-brandon-swanson/

Henry McCabe:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/11/01/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-31-henry-mccabe/

Sarah Fox:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/11/15/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-32-sarah-fox/

JTK1701

04-27-2016, 10:58 AM

Thank You, Very interesting. Ill definately listen

RobinW

04-27-2016, 10:59 AM

I just released a new episode today which was a request from one of our posters here, unsolved88. It chronicles the 1980 disappearance of a 14-year old girl named Laureen Rahn and it's one of the most bizarre missing persons cases I've ever come across:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/04/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-6-laureen-rahn/

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot sources of information about this case online, but most of the details I discuss are from the Charley Project page. Here's the write-up if you're not familiar with this story:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rahn_laureen.html

dynoguy88

04-27-2016, 11:33 AM

Thanks, Robin. I really enjoy these.

The Fort Worth Three case, as a non-UM case, was very interesting. I wish there was more info available.

LooksLikeCRicci

04-27-2016, 11:45 AM

soilentgreen

04-27-2016, 12:16 PM

I just released a new episode today which was a request from one of our posters here, unsolved88. It chronicles the 1980 disappearance of a 14-year old girl named Laureen Rahn and it's one of the most bizarre missing persons cases I've ever come across:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/04/27/the-trail-went-cold-episode-6-laureen-rahn/

Thanks for profiling this case. I've looked into it for several years, and the calls are intriguing (someone at the Santa Monica motel either had access to the Rahn's number or a PIN through the carrier - if the landline was both unlisted and unpublished, that would limit more people who could have accessed the number) but ultimately might be a red herring.

wiseguy182

04-27-2016, 12:46 PM

TheCars1986

04-27-2016, 01:16 PM

I'd love to hear one on Mike Riemer/Diana Robertson.

LooksLikeCRicci

04-27-2016, 01:17 PM

But what would qualify as *aiming* though? If he points the gun in the direction of the car, isn't that still aiming? And wouldn't the odds of hitting her be more or less the same if it was accidental or intentional?

I think it was just some yahoo playing with a gun and the shot happened to hit Rhonda.

wiseguy182

04-27-2016, 01:40 PM

I think it was just some yahoo playing with a gun and the shot happened to hit Rhonda.

There was a poster who a few months ago stated he believed he was intending to hit Rhonda's taillight. A lot of people agreed that they thought it was unintentional. But considering:

1) the distance from the shooter to her car
2) that it was night out
3) the close proximity between Rhonda and her taillight.
4) that she was in a moving car

I don't know how he could believe that someone would think "I'm going to hit the taillight, but not her." It leaves way too much to chance, plus the possibility that she crashes into another car and other people are killed.

RobinW

04-27-2016, 02:06 PM

I'd love to hear one on Mike Riemer/Diana Robertson.

I actually made plans for that case to be one of my next episodes, but I recently noticed that Thinking Sideways did an episode about the tube sock murders. I'll have to listen to that podcast first to make sure I can do a fresh take on the story.

RobinW

04-27-2016, 02:13 PM

Overall, I definitely agree with your theory about Rhonda. I think that she *may* have been fooling around with a married man, but I don't think that's what got her killed. I agree that she was killed by a random stranger and that person got off an accidental "one in a million" shot. The pure chance of someone actually AIMING for her and hitting her in the way they did are literally so close to zero I don't even think it's possible.

I wouldn't even be surprised if the person was some stupid prankster who thought it might be funny to shoot a bullet hole in Rhonda's trunk, but did not expect the bullet to actually pass through the entire vehicle and strike Rhonda in the heart.

RobinW

04-27-2016, 02:19 PM

Thanks, Robin. I really enjoy these.

The Fort Worth Three case, as a non-UM case, was very interesting. I wish there was more info available.

Thank you. The Fort Worth Three case actually got mentioned in this recent article about "El Dorado Jane Doe", a murdered woman who remained unidentified for 25 years. Believe it or not, there's also a possible tie-in to the Dwayne McCorkendale murder mentioned here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eldorado-jane-doe_us_56e6d679e4b0b25c918276a3

I'm actually in the midst of recording an episode about El Dorado Jane Doe (and the possible connection to the McCorkendale murder) for next month.

TheCars1986

04-27-2016, 03:09 PM

I actually made plans for that case to be one of my next episodes, but I recently noticed that Thinking Sideways did an episode about the tube sock murders. I'll have to listen to that podcast first to make sure I can do a fresh take on the story.

They briefly go over the case, then discuss the possible theories (but not too detailed). They delve into the possibility of Joseph Burgess being involved and talk a lot about his background.

wiseguy182

04-28-2016, 03:04 AM

RobinW

04-28-2016, 08:54 AM

In regards to Rhonda Hinson: I always believed that the married man she was seeing was one of the company higher-ups. Probably a President or manager, possibly even her own supervisor. This person would not have wanted the affair to be exposed as not only would it threaten his marriage, but also his future with the company considering there would be a conflict of interest there. I think he wanted her out of the picture.

I believe both of the cars spotted that night were higher-end cars, at least the Trans-Am was. Probably something a....president of a company or successful businessman would drive.

What I'm getting at is, while it's not impossible that there could have been some psycho shooting at random cars, I would think this person would be driving a car in the medium to lower price range. I really can't envision a person driving a Trans Am shooting at cars.

How many cases have you heard of people riding in limos, or driving BMW's, Mercedes-Benz shooting at cars? None that I know of.

Ergo, this was not some local yokel driving an old, beat-up pick up truck.

That's a valid point, but I still have my doubts that anyone associated with Rhonda drove a Trans Am. This was a relatively small, likely blue collar, community, so there couldn't have been that many Trans Ams around. If anyone from Rhonda's company (or a married man she could have conceivably be having an affair with) drove a Trans Am, then that's a huge red flag and they would have certainly gone right to the top of the suspect list.

And there's also the possibility that the driver of the Trans Am was just a random motorist who pulled over to check on Rhonda and had nothing to do with the crime, and the real perpetrators were the occupants of the Trans Am.

bigsir58

04-28-2016, 10:34 AM

I am enjoying your podcasts so much! I'm excited for each one to come out. I'm still pushing for one on Don Kemp, and the interesting posts his sister left on this board!

LooksLikeCRicci

04-28-2016, 11:53 AM

Yeah, I was actually going to throw a plug in for Don Kemp as well. What a strange story....

My homegirl Patricia Meehan could use some love, too. Just saying. :)

TheCars1986

04-28-2016, 12:07 PM

My homegirl Patricia Meehan could use some love, too. Just saying. :)

I'd like to hear one about her as well.

RobinW

04-28-2016, 12:26 PM

Wow, I'm actually quite surprised at the number of people who've requested I cover the Don Kemp case (not just on this board, I actually had someone FB message me about it last night). I always thought the general consensus was that he suffered a mental breakdown, wandered off and died of exposure, but I guess the phone calls and the posts here from his sister add enough interesting wrinkles to the story.

But considering that this was the very first UM case, I should do an episode on it. My next two episodes are already mapped out, but I think I will tentatively schedule a Don Kemp one for early June.

Judyhymesisalive

04-28-2016, 12:53 PM

I listened to the Terrence Williams one and the Rhonda Hinson one, very interesting to listen to. I really like the way you do the podcast.

wiseguy182

04-29-2016, 12:23 AM

And there's also the possibility that the driver of the Trans Am was just a random motorist who pulled over to check on Rhonda and had nothing to do with the crime, and the real perpetrators were the occupants of the Trans Am.

Possible, but I doubt it. One witness said they saw the blue Chevy under the underpass with 2 white males in it. The other witness (who was hypnotized) said he saw the blue Chevy speeding away with one white male in it, and another near Rhonda, with the Trans Am being parked down the road.

Therefore, if the second white male wasn't in the blue Chevy, then were was he? He was most likely the driver of the Trans Am.

dynoguy88

04-29-2016, 12:42 AM

wiseguy182

04-29-2016, 01:38 AM

But I still can't come up with any explanation as to why that man made no effort to hide once the trucker drove past. It's the countryside. There was no street lights. He could have dove in the grass and the trucker wouldn't have seen him.

That's a good question. I think it's because he was hoping that the trucker would assume nothing was seriously wrong, drive on past and not pay much attention (which is what he essentially did). By acting suspicious, he would almost certainly cause the trucker to stop and assess the situation more closely, at which point he would realize a serious crime had occurred, and also possibly get a better look at him and his car.

There's also the issue that, while cell/car phones were unheard of back then, the trucker may have had a CB radio that he could have used to quickly relay a description, incident or license plate number.

RobinW

04-29-2016, 08:31 AM

Why would a random innocent motorist pull to the side of the road at 1:00 in the morning to check on the status of Rhonda but NOT notify the police?

I'm thinking whoever that person was shot her purposely or shot her accidentally. Either way, he did not want the police to know he was there.

But I still can't come up with any explanation as to why that man made no effort to hide once the trucker drove past. It's the countryside. There was no street lights. He could have dove in the grass and the trucker wouldn't have seen him.

The ONLY reason I could see some random innocent motorist not calling the police is if he had his own unrelated personal reasons not to be involved. For instance, if he happened to be driving drunk that night, he would be hesitant to be in contact with the police, even though he had nothing to do with Rhonda's death.

I wonder if the man in the blue Chevy who sped off was the one who did the actual shooting while the guy in the Trans Am was with him, but did not expect any shooting to occur and took no active part in Rhonda's death. He probably was legitimately concerned for Rhonda and attempted to save her life, but opted not to go to the police and turn in his accomplice.

Judyhymesisalive

04-29-2016, 09:33 AM

Well i still to this day find it really hard to comprehend that a bullet went through the trunk, through the seat into Rhonda. I know they said it was a high powered rifle, but still.

LooksLikeCRicci

04-29-2016, 12:24 PM

Listening to the Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams podcast:

http://connectedgeek.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Strange-Things.gif

RobinW

04-29-2016, 12:52 PM

Listening to the Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams podcast:

http://connectedgeek.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Strange-Things.gif

:lol:

Now I'm kicking myself for not using a sound byte from that scene on the podcast!

Judyhymesisalive

04-29-2016, 01:03 PM

I'm literally cracking up here! I forgot that was in the movie HAHAHA

wiseguy182

04-30-2016, 07:41 AM

I'm going to bring up a lot of things that haven't been discussed before:

A lot of people have suggested that this was a hunting accident and that a stray bullet caused Rhonda's death. I'm not a hunter, but I'm relatively certain there's not a whole lot of hunting going on at night right next to the interstate. The only type of hunting I know goes on at night is "spolighting" so even if the scenario is true, the person didn't have the best of intentions that night to begin with.

An argument could be made that Rhonda asking her mother if it was o.k. to go with a married man doesn't necessarily tie in to this case. But her asking her father to accompany her for trips into town, that is...just not normal. At that age, teenagers value their independence and ability to have their own car, go where they want, do what they want, when they want. Under normal circumstances, a 19 year old is not going to ask their father to accompany them on mundane, routine trips to run errands (and wait for him when he is available). When you tie all of this together with the other things (the middle-of-the-night showers, that something appeared to be bothering her), I strongly feel she was legitimately afraid for her life, and a death by random act of violence would have to be a remarkable coincidence.

The issue of the timing and location also nags at me. There was a short distance between the location where Rhonda turned off the interstate onto Mineral Springs Rd, and the location of her destination (her house). I believe it was about a mile. For her to encounter a random act of violence in this narrow timeframe just seems too great of odds.

There's also the issue of the fact she was shot almost immediately after turning off the exit ramp. Rhonda's house is about a mile away. It definitely seems to me the shooter knew he had to shoot her then as if he misses, or only slightly injures her, he runs the risk that she can make it home and quickly identify the person, their car, etc.

I have always believed that the person seen by Rhonda's side that night was involved. I think this person was checking to make sure "the job was finished." Again, the shooter could not conclusively tell from his vantage point if Rhonda was dead, if he just injured her, or what. For him, going up to her was to ensure she was deceased. Because otherwise, the possibility would exist once again that Rhonda was just injured and could drive to her house nearby and call the police.

It's also important to mention the timing of this. Judy said it was unheard of for Rhonda to be out that late, and the Christmas party was largely the reason she was out that late. A person planning this attack almost certainly would not have gotten away with doing this during the daytime. The fact that this happened on the one night Rhonda stayed out late speaks to me this was preplanned. The killer knew he had to act on *this* night, because the opportunity might not have arose again, at least not in the then foreseeable future.

A killer planning on killing Rhonda with the shot that killed her is not as unlikely as it would seem. Rhonda had just turned off the interstate, so her car wasn't going that fast to begin with. If the psychic vision that she had stopped for someone and was in the process of getting away from this person is true, that reinforces my belief. The killer could have also theoretically planned on shooting her tires or something else that would disable the car, then finish her off.

Somebody planned on killing her that night. Case closed. This person deserves the strictest punishment provided by the law, and I'm uncomfortable with the constant suggestions of accident as that insinuates this person deserves a lighter sentence and was not planning on what happened. Someone killed her in what was cold-blooded murder. Period.

As for who this person is, I think the boyfriend's father: the minister/hunter who was mentioned in some older posts on this forum, is a viable suspect and everything would seemingly tie together with him being responsible. The boyfriend doesn't want her to go out that night, perhaps knowing or sensing what was in store for her. He's devoted to or scared enough of his father that he doesn't tell (or worried about what it would do to his reputation, accusing an "upstanding" citizen of something so heinous). He would know what time the party ended.

WishfulDreamer

05-01-2016, 05:01 PM

RobinW

05-02-2016, 07:23 AM

As for who this person is, I think the boyfriend's father: the minister/hunter who was mentioned in some older posts on this forum, is a viable suspect and everything would seemingly tie together with him being responsible. The boyfriend doesn't want her to go out that night, perhaps knowing or sensing what was in store for her. He's devoted to or scared enough of his father that he doesn't tell (or worried about what it would do to his reputation, accusing an "upstanding" citizen of something so heinous). He would know what time the party ended.

I’ve heard the rumour about the boyfriend’s father, but I still have the same issue about two distinct vehicles being placed at the murder scene. Did the father have access to a blue Chevy or dark Trans Am? It would be too much of a coincidence if someone so closely associated with Rhonda owned either of those vehicles and I don’t know how he wouldn’t be tied to the murder unless he somehow managed to get rid of the vehicle immediately after the crime took place.

That said, articles about this case said that Rhonda had originally planned on spending the night at a friend’s place instead of going home, but changed her mind at the last minute and phoned her boyfriend before she left. So this means that the boyfriend would have been one of the only people who knew Rhonda was coming home that night. However, a witness did see the blue Chevy at the scene sometime between 12:15-12:30 and I’m not sure if this was before or after the phone call was made. And if one of the men seen in the vehicle was the boyfriend’s father, who was the second man? Given the timeline, I don’t think the second guy could have been the boyfriend.

I also understand the logic of the unidentified male checking Rhonda’s body in the front seat to make sure she was dead, but I still don’t know he’d go to the trouble of dragging her body to the side of the road unless he was trying to revive her or something. I still think that anyone who committed premeditated murder would have ducked for cover when the witness passed by Rhonda’s vehicle rather than stand out in the open like that.

wiseguy182

05-02-2016, 07:41 AM

I also understand the logic of the unidentified male checking Rhonda’s body in the front seat to make sure she was dead, but I still don’t know he’d go to the trouble of dragging her body to the side of the road unless he was trying to revive her or something.

I had thought about that. I think her body might have collapsed in his arms, and he didn't have much choice but to drag it outside. Dead people don't move, so this would make sense.

I still think that anyone who committed premeditated murder would have ducked for cover when the witness passed by Rhonda’s vehicle rather than stand out in the open like that.

I think it's possible the person who arranged the murder was someone local, but the person he hired was not from the area. Perhaps this person didn't worry too much about being recognized if he was from out-of-state, or what have you. Although he probably didn't count on a show called Unsolved Mysteries airing a case about it one day.

I did notice the trucker said he didn't get a good look at him, so it's possible he was keeping his head down.

Judyhymesisalive

05-02-2016, 08:30 AM

Run by me again the Lauren Rahm case... dont know that one

RobinW

05-02-2016, 08:33 AM

Great job on the Laureen Rahn podcast. This is indeed an extremely frustrating case.

I think that the female friend is telling the truth about not knowing what happened. I don't think she would have slept in the bed and stayed in the apartment. If the male friend is telling the truth, I think someone knocked on the back door (and she thought it was the male friend) and someone grabbed her, hence why the back door was wide open. I think the female friend, being asleep/drowsy from being under the influence, just slept right through it. OR perhaps the perpetrator knocked on the front door (using the darkness from the lack of light bulbs to avoid being seen), she opened it, and he forced her out the back door.

I think the back door being wide open is key here. She either stepped out to talk to someone and was pulled away or was dragged out the door.

I find it interesting that an apartment on the third floor has a back door, but I'm assuming it led to an additional hallway. I wonder if this rear hallway had the light bulbs removed, too?

Thanks for listening. That's a pretty good theory about how a potential abduction might have gone down. I do agree that it's unlikely the female friend would have spent the night if she knew something bad had happened and I think an abduction of Laureen at the rear door is the most likely scenario for how it could have gone down without anybody seeing anything.

Of course, this whole scenario still doesn't explain why someone would have unscrewed the light bulbs on all three floors :eek: .

On a side note, I'd love for you to do the case of Jonelle Matthews. This one is creepy as hell. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/matthews_jonelle.html

Wow, hadn't heard of this case before. That's a pretty one. I'll have to add it to my list of potential episodes.

RobinW

05-02-2016, 08:34 AM

Run by me again the Lauren Rahm case... dont know that one

It was never featured on UM, but when you read this creepy synopsis, you'll probably agree that it should have been:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rahn_laureen.html

LooksLikeCRicci

05-02-2016, 03:07 PM

RobinW

05-03-2016, 07:10 AM

Request for future podcast: Rebecca Coriam. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Rebecca_Coriam) She disappeared while a cast member on Disney Cruise Lines back in 2011.

It's such a strange case... Not sure if it's up your alley since it got some publicity, but I thought I'd throw it out there. I love everything Disney and hate to think they're hiding something. But I believe they're hiding something.

Interesting. I'd heard of this case, but thought it was a case of her falling overboard of committing suicide, but there's a lot of hinky stuff here. I'll have to keep this one in my back pocket.

bigsir58

05-03-2016, 09:08 AM

I find it interesting that an apartment on the third floor has a back door, but I'm assuming it led to an additional hallway. I wonder if this rear hallway had the light bulbs removed, too?

The backdoor on the third floor could have led to an outside staircase as well. Does anyone know what kind of apartment building it was? Such as in a complex, or a single building in a residential area, etc.?

dynoguy88

05-03-2016, 12:14 PM

Great job on the Laureen Rahn podcast. This is indeed an extremely frustrating case.

I think that the female friend is telling the truth about not knowing what happened. I don't think she would have slept in the bed and stayed in the apartment. If the male friend is telling the truth, I think someone knocked on the back door (and she thought it was the male friend) and someone grabbed her, hence why the back door was wide open. I think the female friend, being asleep/drowsy from being under the influence, just slept right through it. OR perhaps the perpetrator knocked on the front door (using the darkness from the lack of light bulbs to avoid being seen), she opened it, and he forced her out the back door.

I think the back door being wide open is key here. She either stepped out to talk to someone and was pulled away or was dragged out the door.

I find it interesting that an apartment on the third floor has a back door, but I'm assuming it led to an additional hallway. I wonder if this rear hallway had the light bulbs removed, too?

I'm trying to wrap my head around what would lead an abductor to even try such a thing in this situation. First of all, the chances that a 14 year old girl could develop an enemy that hated her so bad he wanted to abduct and kill her are extremely slim.

The chances of a stranger sicko picking someone to abduct at random also seems out there. Trying to abduct a screaming teenager from an apartment complex seems so much more risky than if she were at a house. Keep in mind, these types of areas in the 70's and early 80's would be the type to keep their doors unlocked. Nobody locked their doors in East Millinocket before Joyce McLain was murdered. Likewise, the Connecticut River Valley Killer had parts of New Hampshire, Vermont all through the New England area where people didn't lock their doors. It was just a different time. If you wanted to abduct an unsupervised kid from a house in 1980, it would be so much easier than trying an apartment complex.

I'm wondering if Laureen might have been a little too drunk, wandered off from the apartment after her friend fell asleep and in her intoxicated state, hitched a ride for no apparent reason and got in a car with the wrong person. Hitchhiking was not considered very dangerous in 1980, even in a sober state of mind.

RobinW

05-03-2016, 10:58 PM

I'm trying to wrap my head around what would lead an abductor to even try such a thing in this situation. First of all, the chances that a 14 year old girl could develop an enemy that hated her so bad he wanted to abduct and kill her are extremely slim.

The chances of a stranger sicko picking someone to abduct at random also seems out there. Trying to abduct a screaming teenager from an apartment complex seems so much more risky than if she were at a house. Keep in mind, these types of areas in the 70's and early 80's would be the type to keep their doors unlocked. Nobody locked their doors in East Millinocket before Joyce McLain was murdered. Likewise, the Connecticut River Valley Killer had parts of New Hampshire, Vermont all through the New England area where people didn't lock their doors. It was just a different time. If you wanted to abduct an unsupervised kid from a house in 1980, it would be so much easier than trying an apartment complex.

I'm wondering if Laureen might have been a little too drunk, wandered off from the apartment after her friend fell asleep and in her intoxicated state, hitched a ride for no apparent reason and got in a car with the wrong person. Hitchhiking was not considered very dangerous in 1980, even in a sober state of mind.

As I stated on the podcast, I was frustrated by the contradictory information on the Charley Project profile, which states Laureen's clothing was left behind on the floor yet also provides a full description of specific clothing Laureen was in the living room. If she was dressed in something like pajamas or a nightgown, then the chances of her living the apartment on her own are slim (unless she was really drunk), which is why a back door abduction seems more likely.

WishfulDreamer

05-03-2016, 11:14 PM

I'm trying to wrap my head around what would lead an abductor to even try such a thing in this situation. First of all, the chances that a 14 year old girl could develop an enemy that hated her so bad he wanted to abduct and kill her are extremely slim.

The chances of a stranger sicko picking someone to abduct at random also seems out there. Trying to abduct a screaming teenager from an apartment complex seems so much more risky than if she were at a house. Keep in mind, these types of areas in the 70's and early 80's would be the type to keep their doors unlocked. Nobody locked their doors in East Millinocket before Joyce McLain was murdered. Likewise, the Connecticut River Valley Killer had parts of New Hampshire, Vermont all through the New England area where people didn't lock their doors. It was just a different time. If you wanted to abduct an unsupervised kid from a house in 1980, it would be so much easier than trying an apartment complex.

I'm wondering if Laureen might have been a little too drunk, wandered off from the apartment after her friend fell asleep and in her intoxicated state, hitched a ride for no apparent reason and got in a car with the wrong person. Hitchhiking was not considered very dangerous in 1980, even in a sober state of mind.
Good points. I think if she was abducted from the apartment/lured, it was by someone who knew her and knew she would be left home alone. She was a good student and didn't seem to associate with a bad crowd (as far as we know). So I wonder who could have known this.

Wandering away is a possibility, but she did have the foresight to lock the door behind her male friend and I wonder if she would have done that knowing her mother was due to return home and the female friend did mention she saw Laureen sleeping on the couch. Of course, she and the female friend could have continued drinking after the male friend left. Alcohol does disturb the sleep cycle and she could have woken up/been pretty intoxicated.

TheCars1986

05-04-2016, 01:55 PM

RobinW

05-04-2016, 09:53 PM

For anyone interested, I posted over on the reddit thread with my thoughts on the Laureen Rahn case.

Link (https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/4gpe3n/the_1980_disappearance_of_14year_old_laureen_rahn/d2spdxg)

Excellent post. Admittedly, I did see that Reddit post from the person claiming to be the daughter of Laureen’s female friend, but didn’t mention it on the podcast, as I’m reluctant to discuss message board posts from people who share unsubstantiated information which isn’t mentioned anywhere else, but don’t provide any follow-up about their claims. Something about that doesn’t add up. It’s pretty weird that are no other sources out there which mention a second 21-year old male being at the apartment that night because that’s a pretty a major detail which drastically changes the perspective on this case. If true, it would also make the cops look extra-bad for not properly investigating the 21-year old since providing alcohol to two underage 14-year old girls would be a misdemeanour offense in many states.

I still don’t discount the possibility that someone could have abducted Laureen, taken her to California and somehow found a way (such as getting her hooked on drugs) to coerce her to stay there. However, my theory about using a PIN to charge those California calls to Judith’s phone number is strictly guesswork. I’ve had at least one person tell me that it was possible during the 1970s to call the operator and ask them to bill the call to your number without using a PIN. So I guess it’s not impossible an outsider could have made those calls using Judith’s number. But while the silent phone calls to Laureen’s family in the middle of the night sound like something the killer would do, using her mother’s number to call a sexual assistance hotline from a state on the other side of the country is just plain bizarre.

I really wish I could find out any information about Denise Dunault, the girl who lived two blocks away from Laureen and vanished six weeks later. If there are any specific similarities between the two cases, that makes it more likely there was a random predator in the area.

TheCars1986

05-05-2016, 08:44 AM

Excellent post. Admittedly, I did see that Reddit post from the person claiming to be the daughter of Laureen’s female friend, but didn’t mention it on the podcast, as I’m reluctant to discuss message board posts from people who share unsubstantiated information which isn’t mentioned anywhere else, but don’t provide any follow-up about their claims. Something about that doesn’t add up. It’s pretty weird that are no other sources out there which mention a second 21-year old male being at the apartment that night because that’s a pretty a major detail which drastically changes the perspective on this case. If true, it would also make the cops look extra-bad for not properly investigating the 21-year old since providing alcohol to two underage 14-year old girls would be a misdemeanour offense in many states.

I wonder if the 21-year old had left the group either right before or shortly after getting to Laureen's apartment, and that's why there is no mention of him in any of the articles.

I still don’t discount the possibility that someone could have abducted Laureen, taken her to California and somehow found a way (such as getting her hooked on drugs) to coerce her to stay there. However, my theory about using a PIN to charge those California calls to Judith’s phone number is strictly guesswork. I’ve had at least one person tell me that it was possible during the 1970s to call the operator and ask them to bill the call to your number without using a PIN. So I guess it’s not impossible an outsider could have made those calls using Judith’s number. But while the silent phone calls to Laureen’s family in the middle of the night sound like something the killer would do, using her mother’s number to call a sexual assistance hotline from a state on the other side of the country is just plain bizarre.

The phone calls from California are the biggest question marks in the case. The only plausible way I could see them being unrelated is just a bizarre coincidental billing error. I tend to think the calls did not come from Laureen, because if she was in trouble, you would think she would have called any other number than a hotline for sexual assistance for teenagers.

I really wish I could find out any information about Denise Dunault, the girl who lived two blocks away from Laureen and vanished six weeks later. If there are any specific similarities between the two cases, that makes it more likely there was a random predator in the area.

I believe there was another reddit thread where someone said they searched and found a Denise Dunault in NH which was the same age as how old the missing Denise would be today. They posited that maybe Denise ran away on her own free will, and then years later was found to be ok, so that could be the reasoning behind a total lack of anything regarding her disappearance on the internet.

RobinW

05-05-2016, 12:48 PM

I wonder if the 21-year old had left the group either right before or shortly after getting to Laureen's apartment, and that's why there is no mention of him in any of the articles.

Yes, I wouldn't discount the possibility that the female friend never even told the police about the 21-year old at the time, and may have only shared this information with her daughter years later.

The phone calls from California are the biggest question marks in the case. The only plausible way I could see them being unrelated is just a bizarre coincidental billing error. I tend to think the calls did not come from Laureen, because if she was in trouble, you would think she would have called any other number than a hotline for sexual assistance for teenagers.

That's true, but I also have no idea why a person who murdered Laureen would be calling a teen sexual assistance hotline in California either.

I believe there was another reddit thread where someone said they searched and found a Denise Dunault in NH which was the same age as how old the missing Denise would be today. They posited that maybe Denise ran away on her own free will, and then years later was found to be ok, so that could be the reasoning behind a total lack of anything regarding her disappearance on the internet.

Ah, never thought about that. It certainly is possible. And I've personally never believed that Laureen's case and the disappearance of that other girl, Rachael Garden, were related at all since she was seen in the presence of three suspects who were likely responsible for her murder right before she went missing.

Steve W.

05-06-2016, 10:27 AM

This is very generous of you to provide these podcasts, Robin! Would you accept requests on missing persons cases, even if they were never featured on UM?

RobinW

05-06-2016, 11:06 AM

This is very generous of you to provide these podcasts, Robin! Would you accept requests on missing persons cases, even if they were never featured on UM?

Absolutely! The Laureen Rahn episode I just did was actually requested by a poster here.

So feel free to make a request, but keep in mind that I've currently got quite a backlog of requests already.

Steve W.

05-06-2016, 11:35 AM

Judyhymesisalive

05-06-2016, 11:54 AM

i told you i listened to two of the podcasts but u never said anything? and i liked your facebook page

RobinW

05-06-2016, 12:38 PM

i told you i listened to two of the podcasts but u never said anything? and i liked your facebook page

Ah sorry, I think I missed your post earlier in the thread. Thanks for listening and liking the page :) . I've got a new episode about a rather underrated UM case scheduled for next Wednesday.

LooksLikeCRicci

05-06-2016, 12:39 PM

Ah sorry, I think I missed your post earlier in the thread. Thanks for listening and liking the page :) . I've got a new episode about a rather underrated UM case scheduled for next Wednesday.

Judy Smith?? ;)

RobinW

05-06-2016, 12:41 PM

I see the missing persons case I was going to request was already requested in this thread: 12 year-old Jonelle Matthews (missing from Greeley, Colorado since December of 1984)

She came home from a Christmas choir thing while the rest of her family was at her sister's basketball game (her mom was out of town, apparently) and its stated that the garage door was inexplicably open when she was dropped off. Then it's been theorized that the perpetrator was hiding in the house waiting to attack her while she went down into her basement to watch TV. It was snowing and police found unknown footprints going from the garage to the backyard.

Ah yes, I hadn't heard of this case until it was requested earlier in this thread. It seems to be in demand, so I'll have to add it to my request list. Curiously, it looks like this case is also featured on the UM Wikia even though it was never on the show:
http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Jonelle_Matthews

RobinW

05-06-2016, 12:51 PM

Judy Smith?? ;)

:cheers:

Judyhymesisalive

05-06-2016, 02:55 PM

I love listening to it and i love your Canadian accent lol.

Thiussat

05-06-2016, 05:00 PM

I just listened to the David Cox and Rhonda Hinson episodes. Both are such mysterious deaths.

Overall, I definitely agree with your theory about Rhonda. I think that she *may* have been fooling around with a married man, but I don't think that's what got her killed. I agree that she was killed by a random stranger and that person got off an accidental "one in a million" shot. The pure chance of someone actually AIMING for her and hitting her in the way they did are literally so close to zero I don't even think it's possible.

.

Agreed. I see one of two scenarios:

1) Random stranger shoots at her from the overpass which is at an elevated angle behind her (Google maps gives a good overview of the area). As someone who has a lot of experience with rifle shooting, I do not think it would be hard to hit her car from that angle, but I do think hitting HER would be extremely lucky. The car that was seen in the area (parked under the overpass) was probably the car of the shooter(s) looking for a random victim.

I see it playing out like this: A couple of male teenagers were drinking and/or doing drugs. Billy tells Johnny, "Hey, I got my hunting rifle in the back seat, let's go scare some motorists." So Billy and Johnny, being from the area, know just the spot to take sniper shots at cars. The overpass they chose is the perfect place -- it's secluded, dark, and provides excellent view of cars traveling parallel to their line of sight. So Billy takes out his rifle and shoots at the first car they see. As Rhonda's car collides into a ditch, they both look at each other and say "Oh sh**t." I believe it was these young men (or maybe just one guy) that were spotted parked beside her trying to take a look in hopes they didn't kill her. After they noticed she was bleeding all over the place, they panicked and have kept their mouths shut since.

Such crimes are not unheard of and happen still today. Just recently there have been the Colorado highway shootings that have made national news. Therefore, we know such shootings into random cars does have precedence and antecedence.

2) The second scenario I see is someone else in the neighborhood (with no malicious intent) fired a rifle randomly and just happened to hit her. They discovered later they had accidentally killed someone and instead of coming forward, decided that no one would believe it was an accident. However, from my Google Maps viewing of the area, I don't see any houses with the correct line of sight for this shot to have hit her, but that doesn't mean someone wasn't in a wooded area several hundred yards behind her (perhaps spotlight hunting) and just accidentally hit her. Rifle bullets can travel a LONG ways.

Bottom line: I don't believe she was targeted by a married man or anyone she knew. I've read up on this case (beyond UM) and the police have exhausted the married man angle and have no evidence whatsoever that he existed. I also believe her boyfriend at the time has a rock solid alibi. The Police today (some of whom were barely born when this happened) believe it was a random shooting based on all the case files they have read and modern interviews they have conducted.

Judyhymesisalive

05-06-2016, 05:45 PM

I'm listening to the Laureen Rahn one now

wiseguy182

05-06-2016, 05:50 PM

The overpass they chose is the perfect place -- it's secluded,

Unless a person lives in the area, it's impossible to say if it's secluded or not. I would imagine just about any overpass, entrance/exit ramp is going to have a decent amount of activity, even at night.

So Billy takes out his rifle and shoots at the first car they see.

The problem with theory is that they didn't shoot at the first car they saw. A witness came forward and saw them beforehand. In an earlier post of mine, I state it was possible they were there for up to 45 minutes or so before firing at Rhonda.

Such crimes are not unheard of and happen still today. Just recently there have been the Colorado highway shootings that have made national news. Therefore, we know such shootings into random cars does have precedence and antecedence.

There have been some in my area too. They're not entirely comparable though. I believe almost all of the sniper-type shootings that I'm aware of happened during the day, not the night. It's also a different time and a different place. I'm also of the belief that if this was some sniper or random psycho, they would have kept on doing it until they were caught. Like the Beltway sniper, the one in my area, the one in Arizona, etc.

2) The second scenario I see is someone else in the neighborhood (with no malicious intent) fired a rifle randomly and just happened to hit her. They discovered later they had accidentally killed someone and instead of coming forward, decided that no one would believe it was an accident. However, from my Google Maps viewing of the area, I don't see any houses with the correct line of sight for this shot to have hit her, but that doesn't mean someone wasn't in a wooded area several hundred yards behind her (perhaps spotlight hunting) and just accidentally hit her. Rifle bullets can travel a LONG ways.

about a trillion to one shot.

Bottom line: I don't believe she was targeted by a married man or anyone she knew. I've read up on this case (beyond UM) and the police have exhausted the married man angle and have no evidence whatsoever that he existed. I also believe her boyfriend at the time has a rock solid alibi. The Police today (some of whom were barely born when this happened) believe it was a random shooting based on all the case files they have read and modern interviews they have conducted.

Do you have any proof of this?

Judyhymesisalive

05-07-2016, 08:17 AM

Can you do one on Maura Murray?

bigsir58

05-07-2016, 01:19 PM

Can you do one on Maura Murray?

I think Don Henry and Kevin Ives deserves some light shed on them again. I would love to hear a podcast on them.

Judyhymesisalive

05-07-2016, 03:29 PM

I have heard lots about these guys but i haven't seen the segment. What actually happened?

WishfulDreamer

05-07-2016, 10:49 PM

I have heard lots about these guys but i haven't seen the segment. What actually happened?
If you can't view the segment, I would recommend reading this thread here:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=179063

Lots of great information and details not in the segment anyway. Unfortunately, the case is still unsolved and what happened is still undetermined. One of the biggest problems was that the original medical examiner was a complete corrupt, callous, and incompetent man.

The boys were killed and then placed on the tracks. They didn't get high and lay down on the tracks as the original examiner claimed. I personally believe that the boys saw something someone didn't want them to see and that's why they were killed. It could very well have involved drugs.

RobinW

05-07-2016, 11:14 PM

Can you do one on Maura Murray?

Alas, this is the one case I will probably never do, only because it's been covered on virtually every other true crime podcast. There's actually a multi-part podcast out there devoted exclusively to the case called "Missing Maura Murray" and I don't think there's anything I could analyze about this story which hasn't already been done to death.

I think Don Henry and Kevin Ives deserves some light shed on them again. I would love to hear a podcast on them.

Oh hell, yes, I plan to cover this one by the end of the year! Given the Clinton conspiracy theories surrounding it, maybe I should do it close to the election ;) .

Judyhymesisalive

05-08-2016, 09:25 AM

Yes you're right well what about Brianna Maitland?

Judyhymesisalive

05-08-2016, 09:27 AM

Something Borrowed trailer?? I dont understand?

wiseguy182

05-08-2016, 09:34 AM

Oh hell, yes, I plan to cover this one by the end of the year! Given the Clinton conspiracy theories surrounding it, maybe I should do it close to the election ;) .

I would caution against this. I'm not a fan of the Clintons and plan on sitting this election out, but the thought of the election being tipped in favor of an unqualified, abrasive candidate on the outrageous notion that the Clintons are responsible for the deaths/murders of some 50+ individuals is a horrifying thought and one with possible major complications.

WishfulDreamer

05-08-2016, 01:23 PM

Whoops, I'm sorry lol. Here is the thread I meant to paste! http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=179063

My area had scheduled power maintenance and I was in a hurry to copy+paste. Somehow I copied the URL of the trailer my friend sent rather than the thread. :lol: This is why I can't live without coffee.

Judyhymesisalive

05-08-2016, 02:27 PM

Hahaha! gotcha! me too! #needcoffee #nocoffeenotalk

lilmissd

05-10-2016, 08:55 PM

Hey Robin,

Ive been posting on this web board for about 10 years now and I have listened to every one of your podcasts thus far and they are excellent, some of the best that I've ever had the pleasure of hearing so keep it up my friend!! ;) I would really love to hear the Judy Smith and Hugh Harlin cases, HH case has always baffled me over the years and doesn't get a lot of mention. isDale Kersetter is another case I wouldn't mind seeing on there but just my two cents, take it as you will.

Judyhymesisalive

05-10-2016, 08:59 PM

I agree! I have listened to all of them and i have really enjoyed them, you definitely have a big fan in Germany!

wiseguy182

05-10-2016, 10:19 PM

Robin, just curious, are you able to tell how many people are tuning in to your podcasts?

RobinW

05-10-2016, 10:44 PM

Ive been posting on this web board for about 10 years now and I have listened to every one of your podcasts thus far and they are excellent, some of the best that I've ever had the pleasure of hearing so keep it up my friend!! ;) I would really love to hear the Judy Smith and Hugh Harlin cases, HH case has always baffled me over the years and doesn't get a lot of mention. isDale Kersetter is another case I wouldn't mind seeing on there but just my two cents, take it as you will.

Well, I have a feeling you're going to be pretty happy tomorrow ;) . Thank you very much for your support.

I agree! I have listened to all of them and i have really enjoyed them, you definitely have a big fan in Germany!

Thank you. And I would love to do a Brianna Maitland episode like you requested sometime in the future.

RobinW

05-10-2016, 10:50 PM

Robin, just curious, are you able to tell how many people are tuning in to your podcasts?

I don't have the numbers for how many people are downloading it off iTunes and Stitcher, but I can see the hits which come into our host website. On a slow day, I might get around 100 hits or so, but on a day where a new episode is released and I plug it here and on Reddit, I can get around 500-600 hits. The most I've gotten is when somebody plugged the Williams/Santos episode on a prominent AskReddit thread a few weeks ago, which brought in over 3000 hits that day.

The numbers seem to be growing with each new episode, which is what's important. It'll be interesting to see how much traffic I receive when I release a new episode tomorrow.

Corkys-Place

05-11-2016, 03:46 AM

Great Podcasts RobinW. I'm currently listening to the Fort Worth Three case (at night!) the music alone is creeping me out. We have several Missing Persons cases here in Australia over the decades that range between the scary to the just plain bizarre. :eek:

wiseguy182

05-11-2016, 08:20 AM

RobinW

05-11-2016, 10:59 AM

bigsir58

05-11-2016, 11:27 AM

Well, some of you predicted this, but now it's official. My latest episode has been posted and it's one of UM's most baffling and underrated cases, the death of Judy Smith:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/05/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-7-judy-smith/

I just listened to it, well done yet again. It's been a while since I heard about this case. Do you know if the hotel in Philadelphia that Judy met her husband at confirmed she arrived there?:eek:

wiseguy182

05-11-2016, 11:29 AM

Well, some of you predicted this, but now it's official. My latest episode has been posted and it's one of UM's most baffling and underrated cases, the death of Judy Smith:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/05/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-7-judy-smith/

I agree that it's a baffling mystery. The copy of this segment I have is pretty rough quality, so it's not one that I play often for that reason. I'm in the process of seeking better quality copies of some segments and I will eventually try to seek out one of this segment.

RobinW

05-11-2016, 11:36 AM

I just listened to it, well done yet again. It's been a while since I heard about this case. Do you know if the hotel in Philadelphia that Judy met her husband at confirmed she arrived there?:eek:

Thanks. Yes, a hotel employee claimed that Judy spoke to him that morning to ask for directions. There are more than enough credible eyewitness sightings of her in Philadelphia to indicate she arrived there. The Philly police never should wasted so much time on that theory.

LooksLikeCRicci

05-11-2016, 12:09 PM

https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.M69209974e3d71cc42e6affb0d8a40008o2&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

Judyhymesisalive

05-11-2016, 02:48 PM

Judyhymesisalive

05-11-2016, 06:47 PM

I listened to the Aileen Conway podcast and i definitely agree that I don't think Pat Conway had any involvement. I really think the only plausible theory is the house was getting burglarized and the offenders took her away because she saw too much. However like you said every theory will have holes in it, so i really don't know?!

Corkys-Place

05-12-2016, 01:50 AM

Corky, do you have any missing persons t.v. shows or anything like that in Australia?

Not since the demise of Australia's Most Wanted which ran during 1989 then returned from 1993-1998. The re-enactments were actually pretty good especially in the initial 1989 season.

Corkys-Place

05-12-2016, 01:59 AM

Well, some of you predicted this, but now it's official. My latest episode has been posted and it's one of UM's most baffling and underrated cases, the death of Judy Smith:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/05/11/the-trail-went-cold-episode-7-judy-smith/

Thanks for uploading this Robin.

An interesting case is the 1976 disappearance of 8 yr old Eloise Worledge in Melbourne, AUSTRALIA. Plenty of weird twists and turns there. When you have a chance do a bit of googling on that case.

Judyhymesisalive

05-12-2016, 09:26 AM

Not since the demise of Australia's Most Wanted which ran during 1989 then returned from 1993-1998. The re-enactments were actually pretty good especially in the initial 1989 season.
I remember Australia's most wanted, the guy with the glasses and white hair. In the 90's version didn't he always say something like 'what did happen that night?'

Judyhymesisalive

05-12-2016, 09:31 AM

Thanks for uploading this Robin.

An interesting case is the 1976 disappearance of 8 yr old Eloise Worledge in Melbourne, AUSTRALIA. Plenty of weird twists and turns there. When you have a chance do a bit of googling on that case.
Sorry for jumping in on your posts but Australia has had some pretty strange disappearances when i come to think of it. Ofcourse there is the Beaumont Children, Hayley Dodd, Tony Jones and the pilot guy that was featured on UM Frederick Valentich.

RobinW

05-12-2016, 12:58 PM

Thanks for uploading this Robin.

An interesting case is the 1976 disappearance of 8 yr old Eloise Worledge in Melbourne, AUSTRALIA. Plenty of weird twists and turns there. When you have a chance do a bit of googling on that case.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been wanting to expand outside North America and do an international case from somewhere like Australia soon. That Eloise Worledge case looks pretty interesting. It's crazy how both her parents were having affairs at the time and considered suspects. I'll have to look further into it.

Judyhymesisalive

05-12-2016, 05:08 PM

Well there's also William Tyrell, that's a big one. Poor little guy vanished in 2014. He was only 3!!!

Thiussat

05-12-2016, 07:00 PM

I think Don Henry and Kevin Ives deserves some light shed on them again. I would love to hear a podcast on them.

Yes, for sure. My requests would be:

1) Boys on the Tracks

2) Circleville

3) Cindy James

4) The lady who sped away after a fight with her husband (passed her son on the way) and ended up dead in her burning car. Forget her name (it's not Aileen Conway, but very similar).

5) And no UM series would be complete without MEGADETH.

There's more, but those are my votes for now.

Judyhymesisalive

05-12-2016, 08:00 PM

Yes, for sure. My requests would be:

1) Boys on the Tracks

2) Circleville

3) Cindy James

4) The lady who sped away after a fight with her husband (passed her son on the way) and ended up dead in her burning car. Forget her name (it's not Aileen Conway, but very similar).

5) And no UM series would be complete without MEGADETH.

There's more, but those are my votes for now.
The one you are thinking of is Kathy Bonderson

Corkys-Place

05-14-2016, 02:18 AM

RobinW

05-14-2016, 02:36 AM

There's quite an in-depth article about Judy Smith on the Australian news website today.

http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/the-strange-unsolved-case-of-judy-smith/news-story/b17a4452389568a863596acbe1c49364

Shows a few photographs including the Husband *shudder*. :eek:

Wow, that cannot be a coincidence! Someone from that website either listened to my podcast or saw the Reddit thread I made about it. But, hey, anything to get this case some extra attention.

Judyhymesisalive

05-15-2016, 10:02 AM

There's quite an in-depth article about Judy Smith on the Australian news website today.

http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/the-strange-unsolved-case-of-judy-smith/news-story/b17a4452389568a863596acbe1c49364

Shows a few photographs including the Husband *shudder*. :eek:
Omigod the guy with the double chin is her husband?!!:o

RobinW

05-25-2016, 09:11 AM

Episode#8 has just been released and it covers the "El Dorado Jane Doe" case:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/05/25/the-trail-went-cold-episode-8-the-el-dorado-jane-doe/

In case you're not familiar with the case, El Dorado Jane Doe is a young woman who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in El Dorado, Arkansas in July 1991. It turns out she was living under a stolen identity and no one could figure out who she actually was. It's amazing she's never been identified since there are actual photos of the victim all over the Internet:
http://doenetwork.org/cases/81ufar.html

Believe it or not, El Dorado Jane Doe also a connection with an UM case. According to this recent article, she was considered a person of interest in the Dwayne McCorkendale murder! It's possible she may have been the blonde woman who tried to force her way into the trucker's rig:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eldorado-jane-doe_us_56e6d679e4b0b25c918276a3

atomicfizz

05-25-2016, 09:38 AM

Sounds like a very interesting one. Can't wait to listen!!

LooksLikeCRicci

05-25-2016, 11:08 AM

I was hoping you'd cover El Dorado Jane Doe!

Who the heck IS this woman?!?

Can't wait to listen.

soilentgreen

05-25-2016, 11:27 AM

bigsir58

05-25-2016, 03:18 PM

Amazing podcast as always!! I literally cant wait for every other wednesday now!!

RobinW

05-26-2016, 08:49 AM

My guess is that 'Mercedes' had been on her own since she was a teenager and was never reported as a missing person. One avenue that could be explored is dna testing, both familial and autosomal (which helped Benjaman Kyle establish his identity).

Yes, that genetic genealogist CeCe Moore who solved the Benjaman Kyle case is pretty amazing at identifying people who were separated from their families decades ago (she also uncovered the true identity of the man who was mistakenly believed to be Paul Fronczak). If anyone could determine Mercedes' identity, she probably could.

Amazing podcast as always!! I literally cant wait for every other wednesday now!!

Thanks, appreciated! I'm sure you'll enjoy my next episode in two weeks, as I'm going to be chronicling a classic early UM case.

magellan333

05-27-2016, 05:49 PM

I binged listened to all of them today. I am looking forward to the next one!

Steve W.

05-28-2016, 06:17 PM

Every podcast is a good listen! Have you found any new information on Jonelle Matthews' case (details that can't be found doing a routine online search)?

RobinW

05-30-2016, 07:13 AM

Every podcast is a good listen! Have you found any new information on Jonelle Matthews' case (details that can't be found doing a routine online search)?

Not yet. If I do feature Jonelle Matthews' case, it would probably be part of a "double feature" episode featuring two cases. I'm thinking of testing out that format on cases where there isn't a lot of evidence to work with. Jonelle's case is very frightening, but it's pretty obvious she was abducted and since there aren't any known suspects, it doesn't provide much material for an entire 30-minute podcast.

RobinW

06-08-2016, 09:07 AM

The newest podcast episode has just been released and it covers the Don Kemp case:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/06/08/the-trail-went-cold-episode-9-don-kemp/

This one was requested by quite a few posters around here (including our new moderator, LooksLikeCRicci). The timing is good because even though this episode has been in the can for weeks, there's been a lot of recent discussion about this case in the Don Kemp thread.

LooksLikeCRicci

06-08-2016, 12:13 PM

Arnold_OldSchool

06-10-2016, 02:56 PM

Can't wait!

atomicfizz

06-10-2016, 03:42 PM

I can't wait to hear it because I don't really remember that case. A refresher will be nice since I haven't had time to read through the thread again.

Steve W.

06-14-2016, 12:48 AM

Not yet. If I do feature Jonelle Matthews' case, it would probably be part of a "double feature" episode featuring two cases. I'm thinking of testing out that format on cases where there isn't a lot of evidence to work with. Jonelle's case is very frightening, but it's pretty obvious she was abducted and since there aren't any known suspects, it doesn't provide much material for an entire 30-minute podcast.

That would be a nice idea to try out. I understand. I will keep listening for that, as well as your other podcasts. Keep up the good work!

WishfulDreamer

06-14-2016, 01:44 AM

That would be a nice idea to try out. I understand. I will keep listening for that, as well as your other podcasts. Keep up the good work!
Agreed. The most extensive article I've found on Jonelle's case wouldn't even cover half an hour, unfortunately.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases/2012/11/02/greeley-kidnapped-vanished-declared-dead/5758/#disqus_thread

RobinW

06-22-2016, 10:03 AM

Released a new episode for a non-UM case: the 1976 disappearance of an eight-year old Australian girl named Eloise Worledge:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/06/22/the-trail-went-cold-episode-10-eloise-worledge/

This one was actually suggested to me by one of our Australian posters here, Corky's Place. I actually wasn't familiar with the case at all before that, but found myself quite fascinated by it. You can almost call it an Aussie version of the JonBenet Ramsey case, as a young girl is seemingly abducted from her bedroom in the middle of the night, but evidence seems to suggest the abduction scene might have been staged. Since Eloise's parents were separating and her father was scheduled to move out of the home the very same day she was discovered missing, the Worledges were treated as potential suspects.

Here's a summary of the case if you're not familiar with it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Eloise_Worledge

bigsir58

06-22-2016, 09:23 PM

LooksLikeCRicci

06-22-2016, 11:20 PM

If this is a non-UM case, why are you advertising it on this forum? Mods, is this allowed? Strikes me as SPAM, as well an attempt at free advertising.

*Update: I've also sent an email to the sitcomsonline.com webmaster.

I will defer to TJ, but I don't really see a problem with this. Robin has done quite a few non-UM related cases up to this point and it's never been an issue in the past. Especially since I know of at least one other poster who has been running a website of odd, mysterious cases that are put up on the boards for us to see. In addition, there has been a VERY lively debate re: Maura Murray on this board, and it was never a UM case, either.

I also don't think it's spam. I don't think Robin is trying to sell us anything. If you don't want to read his stories, don't click on the link. If you're tired of seeing his posts, choose to put him on your ignore list. Seems simple enough to me.

dynoguy88

06-23-2016, 12:38 AM

I will defer to TJ, but I don't really see a problem with this. Robin has done quite a few non-UM related cases up to this point and it's never been an issue in the past. Especially since I know of at least one other poster who has been running a website of odd, mysterious cases that are put up on the boards for us to see. In addition, there has been a VERY lively debate re: Maura Murray on this board, and it was never a UM case, either.

I also don't think it's spam. I don't think Robin is trying to sell us anything. If you don't want to read his stories, don't click on the link. If you're tired of seeing his posts, choose to put him on your ignore list. Seems simple enough to me.

Some of those non-UM cold cases Robin has featured are not only very interesting but just the type of cases you'd expect to see on UM. You could imagine that time period (80's hairstyles and all) and Robert Stack narrating.

In addition, some of those non-UM cases have possible UM case connections. Not proven but not ruled out either.

They were interesting enough that they made me want to research the net about them. Give them a chance. Robin does an excellent job covering all known facts.

wiseguy182

06-23-2016, 01:48 AM

I think the issue is that the links to the podcasts are directing and encouraging people here to what can be considered a "competing website" in the sense that there is also similar discussion of Unsolved Mysteries segments there. While most of us provide links to newspaper articles and such all the time, those aren't really competing websites. It's roughly the equivalent of somebody posting a link to a Websleuths page, or something to this effect. Of course, it will be up to TJ to make the final determination on this, but at the very least, it seems like it would be something that's frowned upon.

LooksLikeCRicci

06-23-2016, 02:02 AM

RobinW

06-23-2016, 07:05 AM

I also don't think it's spam. I don't think Robin is trying to sell us anything.

Yes, for the moment, I currently make $0.00 on this venture, in case anyone is worried about that. Thanks for your support :) .

TheCars1986

06-24-2016, 07:20 AM

RobinW

06-24-2016, 12:26 PM

Jealousy is a bitch.

RobinW, I hope you continue to promote and release the podcasts, I've enjoyed every single one of them. Don't forget to like (https://www.facebook.com/thetrailwentcold/) the Trail Went Cold Facebook page and follow (https://twitter.com/robin_warder) them on Twitter!

Thanks a lot for your support and plug. Hope you keep enjoying the podcast.

My next episode will be an UM case in which the segment left out a ton of interesting information. I actually changing my original opinion about the case after researching it and going the rabbit hole.

MegtheEgg86

06-24-2016, 04:22 PM

My schedule's been pretty hectic over the past year and I don't get to listen to your podcasts as much as I'd like, Robin, but I have enjoyed it every time I've had the opportunity.

RobinW, I hope you continue to promote and release the podcasts, I've enjoyed every single one of them. Don't forget to like the Trail Went Cold Facebook page and follow them on Twitter!

I check Facebook at least once a day, so this is perfect. Heading over to 'like' right now.

Czar662

06-24-2016, 06:39 PM

Hey there, love your podcast. I had a question. You've done missing persons, unsolved deaths, unsolved murders, unidentified remains. You ever plan on doing a fugitive case. I know a lot of the fugitive cases with more info have been done multiple times on various programs, but I'm sure there's a few you could do and give good theories. Just an idea.

WishfulDreamer

06-24-2016, 11:10 PM

RobinW

06-25-2016, 12:03 PM

My schedule's been pretty hectic over the past year and I don't get to listen to your podcasts as much as I'd like, Robin, but I have enjoyed it every time I've had the opportunity.

Thanks for your support:) .

Hey there, love your podcast. I had a question. You've done missing persons, unsolved deaths, unsolved murders, unidentified remains. You ever plan on doing a fugitive case. I know a lot of the fugitive cases with more info have been done multiple times on various programs, but I'm sure there's a few you could do and give good theories. Just an idea.

I've thought about it. I would probably want to be a fugitive case where there is still some element of mystery to analyze, such as ambiguity about whether or not they are actually a fugitive or a victim. Dub Wackerhagen would be a good example, especially since LE has recently started leaning towards him being murdered.

justins5256

06-27-2016, 05:54 PM

RobinW

06-28-2016, 08:46 AM

Robin,

For what it's worth, I appreciate the podcasts immensely. I'm going to be doing some traveling next week, and I'm looking forward to catching up on some that I missed. It is nice to see these cases getting some exposure again. Every little bit helps, so, well done. :)

Thanks for the support. Podcasts are ideal listening for travelling, so I hope you keep enjoying them.

I was actually contacted recently by a resident of Valdese, North Carolina who was a kid when Rhonda Hinson was murdered. He listened to my podcast and we've had some interesting discussions about the case.

Hambone2421

06-28-2016, 10:22 AM

LooksLikeCRicci

06-28-2016, 11:31 AM

Robin,

For what it's worth, I appreciate the podcasts immensely. I'm going to be doing some traveling next week, and I'm looking forward to catching up on some that I missed. It is nice to see these cases getting some exposure again. Every little bit helps, so, well done. :)

I know someone recently who told me they listened to all of Robin's podcasts while on layovers in the airport. I know I've busted out a few when I'm driving across Montana to visit family...

RobinW

06-28-2016, 12:19 PM

People are really complaining about Robin's podcast?? Good Lord. Then again, seeing the ones that are doing the complaining isn't surprising.

Robin, your podcasts are awesome. They are not SPAM. Keep up the good work!

Thanks. Hope you keeping enjoying them:) .

I know someone recently who told me they listened to all of Robin's podcasts while on layovers in the airport. I know I've busted out a few when I'm driving across Montana to visit family...

Hopefully, you're listening to them while driving past the Bad Route Rest Area ;) .

UMfan77

06-28-2016, 01:09 PM

People are really complaining about Robin's podcast?? Good Lord. Then again, seeing the ones that are doing the complaining isn't surprising.

Robin, your podcasts are awesome. They are not SPAM. Keep up the good work!

I totally agree with you on that one. I LOVE, LOVE your podcasts, Robin. I count down the days until a new one comes out. There are so many cases out there that don't get the attention they deserve.

LooksLikeCRicci

06-28-2016, 02:07 PM

Hopefully, you're listening to them while driving past the Bad Route Rest Area ;) .

http://emotibot.net/pix/4594.jpg

justins5256

06-29-2016, 06:38 PM

I know someone recently who told me they listened to all of Robin's podcasts while on layovers in the airport. I know I've busted out a few when I'm driving across Montana to visit family...

Ahhh....that will be me then, driving alone in the car for 3 hours listening to them. I'm actually looking forward to it now.

RobinW

07-07-2016, 09:35 AM

After a slight delay, the latest episode has finally been released! This time, it's the Michael Rosenblum case:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/07/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-11-michael-rosenblum/

The reason I decided to do this one is because I uncovered a lot of information in the Google News archives which was not mentioned in the UM segment. Believe it or not, I think that UM actually downplayed just how sketchy the Baldwin Police Department really were with this case. I am now pretty convinced that they were responsible for Michael Rosenblum's death.

Incidentally, during the episode, you'll hear me reference an article from Pittsburgh Magazine which contains a bunch of info which paints the Baldwin P.D. in a very unflattering light. Scanned PDFs of the article were originally posted in this thread a few years ago:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4819713&postcount=1

LooksLikeCRicci

07-07-2016, 11:04 AM

The reason I decided to do this one is because I uncovered a lot of information in the Google News archives which was not mentioned in the UM segment. Believe it or not, I think that UM actually downplayed just how sketchy the Baldwin Police Department really were with this case. I am now pretty convinced that they were responsible for Michael Rosenblum's death.

Incidentally, during the episode, you'll hear me reference an article from Pittsburgh Magazine which contains a bunch of info which paints the Baldwin P.D. in a very unflattering light. Scanned PDFs of the article were originally posted in this thread a few years ago:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4819713&postcount=1

LOL! I was talking about your podcast with a friend of mine the other day and they made a comment that they weren't sure how you weren't going to pass some blame on the police department... :)

Corkys-Place

07-08-2016, 02:41 AM

RobinW

07-08-2016, 09:01 AM

Wow, thankyou so much Robin for doing a Podcast on the Eloise Worledge case. I had no idea a song had even been written and performed about her disappearance. :eek:

OMG at hearing my name in the Podcast! :crazy:

Haha, you're welcome and thanks for pointing towards the case. I hadn't heard of it before, but found it very fascinating and I really want to know what happened someday.

I have to admit that finding that clip of the song on Youtube pretty much sealed the deal in my decision to cover the case. I can't imagine what the reaction would be today if a band went on national TV and performed a song about, say, Madeleine McCann only a few months after she disappeared.

bugnpinky

07-09-2016, 11:58 PM

I really love listening to all of these...so interesting!

TheCars1986

07-11-2016, 10:53 AM

Man I thought RobinW was prepping a Zeigler themed episode this week. Hopefully we'll get one (or two, since the case seems to be one that would take 2 episodes to cover) in the future.

RobinW

07-11-2016, 12:24 PM

Man I thought RobinW was prepping a Zeigler themed episode this week. Hopefully we'll get one (or two, since the case seems to be one that would take 2 episodes to cover) in the future.

You will. I've been wanting to do an episode on a Final Appeal-type story and I think Zeigler will be my first choice, especially since his case is still making the news after 40 years. I want to read "Fatal Flaw" before I tackle this (since it's available in its entirety on the Zeigler website), but I'm hoping to put together an episode about the case by late August-early September. We'll see if I can cover everything in one episode, but it's a doozy.

07-13-2016, 01:27 PM

I listened to the first five episodes the other afternoon. I'm hooked! These are very nicely put together and produced. I was going to say the audio wasn't the best in the first two episodes with a bit of echo, but I saw by the third episode you had changed microphones. I like how you set up the intros.

Are there any plans for Vince Nitro to release his theme and music cues? I know they released the music of Serial.

Keep up the great work! It's nice that these unsolved cases are still being discussed, especially the ones that haven't received much media coverage.

TheCars1986

07-13-2016, 02:11 PM

You will. I've been wanting to do an episode on a Final Appeal-type story and I think Zeigler will be my first choice, especially since his case is still making the news after 40 years. I want to read "Fatal Flaw" before I tackle this (since it's available in its entirety on the Zeigler website), but I'm hoping to put together an episode about the case by late August-early September. We'll see if I can cover everything in one episode, but it's a doozy.

If you need any help, I'd be glad to help out.

RobinW

07-14-2016, 08:49 AM

WishfulDreamer

07-15-2016, 09:44 PM

Thank you, glad you like it. Vince would be thrilled to hear your suggestion about his music. He's always composing new tracks for the episodes, so at some point, I'm sure he would enough material to release his music as a compilation.
Please pass my compliments along, too. He's very talented and I would love for him to release a compilation. I just love the atmosphere it adds to your podcast. :)

RobinW

07-20-2016, 12:29 PM

Released a new episode about the 1990 disappearance of 15-year old twin sisters, Jeannette and Dannette Milbrooks:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/07/20/the-trail-went-cold-episode-12-the-millbrooks-twins/

I was personally contacted by the twins' family, who asked me to feature their story on my podcast. It's a pretty infuriating story, as the police pretty much blew the family off, closed the case without their knowledge, and it wasn't until 23 YEARS LATER that the case was reopened and a proper investigation was launched. Here's an article about it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/16/dannette-jeannette-millbrooks-missing_n_3762972.html

LooksLikeCRicci

07-20-2016, 12:39 PM

I love that families of the missing are contacting you to cover their loved ones. It shows that your podcast is having a real impact... :)

I just re-read that article and I had totally forgotten that the sheriff who is trying to get this family justice is named Richard Roundtree! I'm hoping for some Shaft references on your podcast... :)

RobinW

07-20-2016, 12:44 PM

I just re-read that article and I had totally forgotten that the sheriff who is trying to get this family justice is named Richard Roundtree! I'm hoping for some Shaft references on your podcast... :)

You will not be disappointed ;) . Given the serious nature of the story, I really had to resist the urge to play the Shaft theme when I first mentioned his name.

MegtheEgg86

07-20-2016, 04:21 PM

I'm really looking forward to listening to this one. I'd never heard of the case until I saw the post on the podcast FB page this afternoon.

LooksLikeCRicci

07-20-2016, 04:49 PM

You will not be disappointed ;) . Given the serious nature of the story, I really had to resist the urge to play the Shaft theme when I first mentioned his name.

Damn right. :)

dynoguy88

07-20-2016, 05:31 PM

I love that families of the missing are contacting you to cover their loved ones. It shows that your podcast is having a real impact... :)

That is pretty amazing.

I'm looking forward to listening to this one.

Nightmare

07-20-2016, 07:36 PM

RobinW

07-21-2016, 07:00 AM

Hi, Robin -

I really like TTWC podcast. I found this page because of it. I also think the Vince Nitro music is great and adds a lot to the podcast.

Have you ever thought of doing one on Maura Murray? I think that would be really interesting.

Hi, thanks for liking the podcast and welcome to the board :wave: .

Unfortunately, I've decided that Maura Murray is the one case I'm probably never going to cover on my podcast. Not because I don't find it interesting, but because it's already been featured on virtually every other true crime podcast out there (including one exclusively devoted to the case called "Missing Maura Murray") and I'm kinda burned out on the case right now.

Nightmare

07-21-2016, 01:21 PM

Hi, thanks for liking the podcast and welcome to the board :wave: .

Unfortunately, I've decided that Maura Murray is the one case I'm probably never going to cover on my podcast. Not because I don't find it interesting, but because it's already been featured on virtually every other true crime podcast out there (including one exclusively devoted to the case called "Missing Maura Murray") and I'm kinda burned out on the case right now.

Ahh, that makes sense... In any case, keep up the great job you are doing. I love listening to your podcast while driving. I look forward to hearing any future episodes you make.

P.S. Have you thought about doing an episode on Adnan Syed? That would make for a good podcast! :lol:

cdr369

07-24-2016, 10:28 PM

Hi, thanks for liking the podcast and welcome to the board :wave: .

Unfortunately, I've decided that Maura Murray is the one case I'm probably never going to cover on my podcast. Not because I don't find it interesting, but because it's already been featured on virtually every other true crime podcast out there (including one exclusively devoted to the case called "Missing Maura Murray") and I'm kinda burned out on the case right now.

I appreciate that you are doing the podcasts that are not often heard of from the show. The Maura Murray case has got a lot of publicity, but I didn't even know about the missing twins until today ...

I am listening to your podcast as I type this.

Thiussat

07-26-2016, 12:54 AM

RobinW

07-26-2016, 09:03 AM

Robin is our last hope for keeping UM featured cases and other true crime cases alive.

**Rant below**

Thanks to Cosgrove/Meurer and their draconian practice of protecting their copyright (25 years after the fact), we have no way of even finding info about many of these cases. Cosgrove/Meurer really should show some decency and allow the true crime segments to be posted to the Internet freely. If they can't be bothered with that, then how about contacting Netflix and making a deal with them? That would be a win/win for everyone. (BTW, Cosgrove/Mueuer, if you're listening and plan on doing this at some point, please give us the unedited STACK episodes).

Or better yet, how about sending your master tapes to RobinW and let him distribute them to the world. ;).

** End Rant **

Hear hear!

Fun fact: I originally started out this whole project as a video series three years ago in which I would intersperse host segments and commentary over clips from UM. We thought we would be protected under "fair use" (since that's how thousands of video series out there are able to use footage from films and TV shows), but literally a half hour after we posted our first episode on Youtube, Cosgrove/Meurer issued a takedown notice. The lady from C/M who contacted us was nice enough, but gave a convoluted explanation about how the original contracts with the guilds prevented them from using the footage online. Earlier this year, we decided to resurrect the idea in podcast format, which is probably for the best since they can be assembled together a lot more quickly.

cdr369

07-26-2016, 08:50 PM

RobinW

07-28-2016, 08:40 AM

Robin, have you considered doing a web board for people to discuss your podcast directly on your website? It seems you have been successful finding more outside information, and maybe some of the archived information found online could be shared (similar to websleuths).

Yes, I've considered it. I wanted to wait until I'd done a bunch of episodes, so that there'd be more cases to discuss. It's something we may try implementing in the fall or winter.

dynoguy88

07-28-2016, 11:56 AM

Hear hear!

Fun fact: I originally started out this whole project as a video series three years ago in which I would intersperse host segments and commentary over clips from UM. We thought we would be protected under "fair use" (since that's how thousands of video series out there are able to use footage from films and TV shows), but literally a half hour after we posted our first episode on Youtube, Cosgrove/Meurer issued a takedown notice. The lady from C/M who contacted us was nice enough, but gave a convoluted explanation about how the original contracts with the guilds prevented them from using the footage online.

That makes absolutely no sense. One of my favorite video sites is the Nostalgia Critic (who does hilarious reviews of past movies and TV shows) and he, like you said, does commentary over clips that are protected under fair use. Many of those films were made with budgets in excess of millions and millions of dollars. Those are fair game but guilds won't allow footage from a 25 year old 10 minute segment that had a considerable less budget and mostly used real people instead of actors?

I don't get it. Unsolved Mysteries aired 6 years worth of episodes before the internet even existed. How could they too be restricted from being online?

I don't know whether to be confused over actual legal reasons that are hard to understand or if they're just feeding us a can of BS.

RobinW

07-28-2016, 12:56 PM

Thiussat

07-29-2016, 10:42 PM

That makes absolutely no sense. One of my favorite video sites is the Nostalgia Critic (who does hilarious reviews of past movies and TV shows) and he, like you said, does commentary over clips that are protected under fair use. Many of those films were made with budgets in excess of millions and millions of dollars. Those are fair game but guilds won't allow footage from a 25 year old 10 minute segment that had a considerable less budget and mostly used real people instead of actors?

I don't get it. Unsolved Mysteries aired 6 years worth of episodes before the internet even existed. How could they too be restricted from being online?

I don't know whether to be confused over actual legal reasons that are hard to understand or if they're just feeding us a can of BS.

I am not against people being paid for their work and I am not against CM for wanting to profit from UM and for wanting to protect their IP. But I think that some of our copyright laws need reform and need to be modernized for the Internet age. We've already seen disasters in the software world with people patenting obvious code and then suing someone else who used the same idea to write their own code. It's almost the same as patenting mathematics (which has been tried and thrown out by courts).

I just believe that a T.V. show should lose it's copyright after so many decades, especially shows that were made with the public interest in mind (catching criminals). I have no legal basis on which to make such an argument, but am strictly speaking from a "moral" point of view. After all, most of our copyright/patent laws were written by people in Congress who "felt" a certain way as it's all pretty much arbitrary anyway.

But, in the end, all of this could be solved if CM just brought back the Stack episodes to some sort of paid internet service (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) I would understand if the show were still in production and still making money from NBC, but it's not. What reason do they have to be so protective of the copyright at this point?

RobinW

08-03-2016, 10:19 AM

LooksLikeCRicci

08-03-2016, 12:23 PM

Nightmare

08-03-2016, 07:55 PM

RobinW

08-04-2016, 07:16 AM

This was an awesome episode, Robin! Very well done and very entertaining.

I was curious about your thoughts on Fr. Rivera's murder possibly being related to another UM case, the Idaho suicide of John Doe (Wm. L. Toomey). It has been suspected since UM aired that case that Wm. Toomey may have killed one or more Catholic priests in the southwest and then committed suicide.

Here is an article about it. (http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2005-06-17/275319/)

I'd be curious on your thoughts about it. I wonder if it is possible that Wm. Toomey also killed Fr. Rivera. The timeline would work and since they think he was likely from the Southwest US, there is a connection.

Thanks for making another very entertaining episode!

Hey, thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed the episode.

It did cross my mind that "Wm. Toomey" might have killed Father Rivera as I do think there's a decent chance that he was the real killer of Father Patrick Ryan. However, I have my doubts the two murders are connected since Ryan's seemed to be sexually motivated while there's nothing to indicate that was the case with Rivera. There seem to be more similarities between the Ryan and Kerrigan cases, but of course, Toomey took his life long before Kerrigan disappeared.

But I might have to do a separate episode about Wm. Toomey sometime in the future.

Thiussat

08-04-2016, 08:30 AM

Just released my latest episode and this one covers the cases of Father Reynaldo Rivera and Father John Kerrigan:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/08/03/the-trail-went-cold-episode-13-father-rivera-and-father-kerrigan/

This was personally requested by our very own moderator, LooksLikeCRicci, since she grew up in the area where Father Kerrigan disappeared. I also thought it would be interesting to re-examine case in light of the sexual abuse allegations which have surfaced about Kerrigan in recent years.

I had never heard of either case before, but within the first minute of listening I said to myself "Yep, sounds like an abused kid getting revenge." Even though it seems the two cases cannot be connected, I wouldn't be surprised if the motive of murder was the same for both priests. I wouldn't be surprised if there were *multiple* abused kids around the country who all had the same idea independently of one another.

I think in Kerrigan's case, the killer left his money in the wallet as a way to let everyone know "this man was killed for personal reasons." It was sort of a way to let the Church know "your priests are being hunted for their sins."

And, you know what, this is one of the only cases where I can say I sympathize with the killer. Honestly, I cannot say I would not do the same thing if such things happened to me as a kid (OK, I know I would). This sort of crime causes such an emotional response in people that they end up doing whatever it takes to obtain some sort of emotional release (even if it is murder). It's the same sort of phenomenon with parents of murdered children (i.e. you better hope the Cops get to the suspect first). If I were abused as a child by a church official, I can guarantee I wouldn't have to do anything because my father would kill them before sundown. And we can't rule that possibility out either -- it could have been a parent of a recently abused kid.

It is totally despicable that the Church knew about this stuff for decades and not only didn't punish the priests, but actually tried to cover their deeds up. The Catholic Church deserves all the ridicule and legal troubles that have resulted from this. Indeed, I feel more people in Church leadership need to be in jail.

But, ultimately, I cannot help but hypothesize whether or not the whole "celibacy" aspect of priesthood is a factor in all of this. Or perhaps some of the priests involved in this were abused themselves by other priests and it's one nasty vicious cycle.

RobinW

08-04-2016, 09:15 AM

I had never heard of either case before, but within the first minute of listening I said to myself "Yep, sounds like an abused kid getting revenge." Even though it seems the two cases cannot be connected, I wouldn't be surprised if the motive of murder was the same for both priests. I wouldn't be surprised if there were *multiple* abused kids around the country who all had the same idea independently of one another.

I think in Kerrigan's case, the killer left his money in the wallet as a way to let everyone know "this man was killed for personal reasons." It was sort of a way to let the Church know "your priests are being hunted for their sins."

And, you know what, this is one of the only cases where I can say I sympathize with the killer. Honestly, I cannot say I would not do the same thing if such things happened to me as a kid (OK, I know I would). This sort of crime causes such an emotional response in people that they end up doing whatever it takes to obtain some sort of emotional release (even if it is murder). It's the same sort of phenomenon with parents of murdered children (i.e. you better hope the Cops get to the suspect first). If I were abused as a child by a church official, I can guarantee I wouldn't have to do anything because my father would kill them before sundown. And we can't rule that possibility out either -- it could have been a parent of a recently abused kid.

It is totally despicable that the Church knew about this stuff for decades and not only didn't punish the priests, but actually tried to cover their deeds up. The Catholic Church deserves all the ridicule and legal troubles that have resulted from this. Indeed, I feel more people in Church leadership need to be in jail.

But, ultimately, I cannot help but hypothesize whether or not the whole "celibacy" aspect of priesthood is a factor in all of this. Or perhaps some of the priests involved in this were abused themselves by other priests and it's one nasty vicious cycle.

Yes, it's a complicated situation. I was surprised to learn that investigators knew right from the outset that there were rumours about sexual misconduct surrounding Father Kerrigan. However, I can see why they wouldn't mention that on UM for fear of making the victim look unsympathetic. And because they theorized the crimes were connected, mentioning the rumours might automatically taint people's opinions about Father Rivera's murder even though he was likely a totally innocent victim.

The whole vigilante angle made me think of this infamous case where a father shot a man who kidnapped and sexually abused his son in front of a television news crew while he was in police custody. He only wound up receiving five years probation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Plauche

TheCars1986

08-08-2016, 10:28 AM

RobinW

08-08-2016, 12:39 PM

I can't seem to find the thread detailing the Rivera/Kerrigan cases. There are a few with 2 or 3 pages, but I could have sworn that there was a fairly large thread.

Always felt like Kerrigan was a revenge murder, and that Rivera was an opportunity murder by some junkies looking for quick money.

It's strange, the detective in the UM segment says that nothing was taken from Rivera except his last rites kit, but at least one article I came across said that Rivera's wallet and eyeglasses were also stolen. If Rivera had money on him and the killer left it behind, then that makes it less likely that junkies committed the crime.

LooksLikeCRicci

08-08-2016, 01:38 PM

dynoguy88

08-08-2016, 02:36 PM

I can't seem to find the thread detailing the Rivera/Kerrigan cases. There are a few with 2 or 3 pages, but I could have sworn that there was a fairly large thread.

Heck, I don't even remember this case. My mouth dropped on the latest podcast when Robin said it was on Unsolved Mysteries.

When did the episode air? I'm going to have to do some sleuthing.

LooksLikeCRicci

08-08-2016, 03:29 PM

Heck, I don't even remember this case. My mouth dropped on the latest podcast when Robin said it was on Unsolved Mysteries.

When did the episode air? I'm going to have to do some sleuthing.

November 23, 1988. Season one, if I'm not mistaken.

RobinW

08-08-2016, 03:33 PM

Don't think I've said it yet, RobinW, but that was a great podcast! I'm biased, obviously, as I've been very interested in the Kerrigan disappearance since it happened.

You raise an interesting point about the "connection" between Curtis Holman and Father Kerrigan's disappearances. The idea that Holman may have been abused by Kerrigan is something I never thought of. I just naturally assumed that Holman was an unfortunate guy who just happened to be in the same area as a grizzly bear at the wrong time. (Happens more often than you'd think, actually.)

As I told you previously, I'm also convinced Kerrigan was a "revenge-style/vigilante" killing. I would actually be interested in writing a book about it-- if I could get anyone to talk. Knowing full well how small towns like Ronan work, I'm absolutely positive there are people who know what happened to Kerrigan but will never say anything.

A couple of years back, hikers found some bones (http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/unidentified-body-found-in-mission-mountains/article_61297d57-a88c-5fb2-924d-b7be8f58235d.html) up in the nearby mountains that were apparently not those of Kerrigan. I wonder if they checked them to see if they possibly belonged to Holman? Just a thought...

Hey, thanks for the positive feedback on the podcast! Given your personal familiarity with the case, I knew you'd get a kick out of it. I still believe there's no connection between Kerrigan's disappearance and Curtis Holmen, but I do wish Holmen's brother had elaborated a bit more on why he thought the disappearances were connected. If the two men had known each other at any point, then that would be pretty eye-opening. Incidentally, that article about the bones stated that they weren't old enough to be Kerrigan's, so that would rule out them being Holmen's since he disappeared only two days later.

I totally agree with your thoughts on Kerrigan's murder. But I'm really curious why the current sheriff has stated that he does not believe the sexual abuse allegations were a motive for his disappearance. I really can't come up with any other logical motive for why a priest would be murdered just two days after arriving in a new town with the killer not even bothering to take the $1200 he had on him.

Heck, I don't even remember this case. My mouth dropped on the latest podcast when Robin said it was on Unsolved Mysteries.

When did the episode air? I'm going to have to do some sleuthing.

It aired in November 1988 as part of UM's first season, so it's a pretty early segment. The UM Wikia said it shared the same episode as Kurt Sova and the "Magic Rock" segment, which is quite a diverse line-up to say the least.

dynoguy88

08-08-2016, 06:46 PM

It aired in November 1988 as part of UM's first season, so it's a pretty early segment. The UM Wikia said it shared the same episode as Kurt Sova and the "Magic Rock" segment, which is quite a diverse line-up to say the least.

Ironic that I remember both of those from childhood but not this particular case.
I don't remember Lifetime airing it either.

You'd think someone who watched UM as obsessively as I did growing up would remember a case, particular from the show's golden years.

I feel like I have failed the board. I hang my head in shame.

LooksLikeCRicci

08-08-2016, 11:20 PM

Ironic that I remember both of those from childhood but not this particular case.
I don't remember Lifetime airing it either.

You'd think someone who watched UM as obsessively as I did growing up would remember a case, particular from the show's golden years.

I feel like I have failed the board. I hang my head in shame.

Maybe you went to the bathroom when it aired? ;)

dynoguy88

08-09-2016, 12:48 AM

Maybe you went to the bathroom when it aired? ;)

Maybe. I was 8 when that segment first aired. Either the bathroom or I was outside looking for a magic rock of my own to bring me good luck.

TheCars1986

08-09-2016, 08:38 AM

I still believe there's no connection between Kerrigan's disappearance and Curtis Holmen, but I do wish Holmen's brother had elaborated a bit more on why he thought the disappearances were connected. If the two men had known each other at any point, then that would be pretty eye-opening. Incidentally, that article about the bones stated that they weren't old enough to be Kerrigan's, so that would rule out them being Holmen's since he disappeared only two days later.

I honestly think the only reason his brother believes they are related was due to the timing of both disappearances. Holmen seemed despondent before he disappeared, so I wouldn't discount a suicide (and then his remains found by a grizzly).

Drakken

08-10-2016, 03:42 PM

RobinW

08-10-2016, 05:34 PM

I love your podcast, Robin. It does have an Unsolved Mysteries vibe to it thanks to the eerie music. Plus it is always good to see that these relatively-unknown unsolved cases are getting some exposure that might eventually lead to a tip.

I was wondering if eventually you would include more John or Jane Does in your podcast, like the Somerton man/Tamam Shud case, the Isdal Woman, or the Summer County Does. That last case does struck closer to home because from my reading of the evidence I am convinced at least the male John Doe was French-Canadian.

Also, another good topic would be cases covering a wanted criminal whose case is currently not really actively pursued, because the literal trail went cold for different reasons. I would really enjoy it if you would cover the case of Lord Lucan, the Aristocrat who vanished into thin air in the 70s after attempting to murder his ex-wife and murdering the nanny of his children, with all the aura of high-class conspiracy around him.

Hey, thanks a lot for the compliments! You'll be pleased to know that next week's episode is going to be a case about a wanted fugitive. Awhile back, a couple of posters here (in fact, you may have been one of them) suggested doing an episode about this very topic. I uncovered a pretty obscure cold case about a man who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for a few years, but was never found. This case is particularly interesting because some people think the fugitive may have actually been an innocent victim and that someone else hid the body so he'd be wrongfully blamed for the crime.

And I've actually selected another Jane Doe case I plan to cover in late September or so. Another poster here sent me some suggestions, which included an UID case which I find pretty fascinating.

dynoguy88

08-12-2016, 09:24 PM

Having finally watched the Father Rivera/Father Kerrigan segment, I should correct myself in saying I never watched it, because their faces looked very familiar. So I guess I have only the vaguest memory of seeing the segment as a very little kid but I never saw it again on Lifetime and that must be why it faded from memory over the years.

Anyway, my thoughts are pretty much the same as everyone else who has commented here. In the article that mentions Father Kerrigan's insane number of accusations of child abuse, one of the investigators said something that blew my mind...

Geldrich said he does not believe the alleged sexual abuse was a motive in Kerrigan’s likely murder.

“We developed some suspects,” says the former sheriff, but “we never really had enough to wrap it up with.”

I would really love to know why he believes Kerrigan's long history of abuse towards children played no factor in his fate because revenge sounds like the most plausible motive. This is a man who was transferred 13 times because of his actions. The number of lives he possibly destroyed had to be staggering. That's going to create a ton of angry enemies who probably were not thrilled that his only real punishment was constantly being transferred to a new city where he had access to a whole new group of children to abuse.

He was in Ronan, Montana a total of two days before he went missing. He couldn't have been there long enough yet to create enemies. The odds of him coming across a random killer in this tiny city on his way home are about slim to none. Whomever did away with him had to have followed him to Ronan and struck at the first available opportunity. It was not a robbery. And the fact that it looks as though his clothes were probably removed before being killed shows that the killer probably wanted him to have a long, somewhat ironic, kind of torture before finally being killed. This is a killing that was very personal and he wanted Kerrigan to suffer first. His bloody clothes being left in the trunk of his car might have been a signal from the killer to let all of Kerrigan's victims and their families know that Kerrigan would never again be around to abuse another child.

Father Rivera's fate on the other hand, is pretty cut and dry. His killer didn't seek him out specifically. He just wanted a priest to kill and Rivera happened to be the unlucky soul to fall victim. It didn't take the kind of planning, thought and work that went in to killing Father Kerrigan, in my opinion.

On a side note, it's kind of creepy in an ironic way how Father Kerrigan looked much like Jerry Sandusky. Those who follow college sports know Sandusky was abusing boys at Penn State for close to four decades and coaches and the administration turned their back on it year after year, decade after decade. But that's a whole other separate, infuriating topic. It's just kind of weird how much they look alike.

WishfulDreamer

08-12-2016, 09:36 PM

I would really love to know why he believes Kerrigan's long history of abuse towards children played no factor in his fate because revenge sounds like the most plausible motive. This is a man who was transferred 13 times because of his actions. The number of lives he possibly destroyed had to be staggering. That's going to create a ton of angry enemies who probably were not thrilled that his only real punishment was constantly being transferred to a new city where he had access to a whole new group of children to abuse.

Agreed in full. I think this was definitely the reason he was carrying that large quantity of cash. A bribe to payoff a former abused child/one of their loved ones. Perhaps that money was also left behind to show everyone that Kerrigan was not killed for robbery-related reasons.

dynoguy88

08-16-2016, 08:55 PM

Just to give people an idea of how small Ronan, Montana is...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Ronan_from_North_Crow.jpg/400px-Ronan_from_North_Crow.jpg

According to wikipedia, the population in the early 80's was barely over 1,500. The odds of a random resident kidnapping and killing a priest for the hell of it are about as slim as they come. He was definitely targeted and followed from one of his previous cities.

LooksLikeCRicci

08-16-2016, 08:58 PM

Yup. Ronan has grown some since the 1980's, but it is still VERY small.

RobinW

08-16-2016, 10:10 PM

Ooh, wow, Ronan is a small community. A lot of empty space to get rid of a body too. I can only assume that the sheriff's recent statement that Kerrigan's disappearance isn't connected to his abuse allegations might be some sort of purposeful misdirection because I just can't think of any other motive for this crime (unless Kerrigan actually someone else in his background that made him a target).

On a related note, this episode just got a plug on the Charley Project blog. Meaghan's even going to update Kerrigan's profile with new info she learned on the podcast.

LooksLikeCRicci

08-16-2016, 11:04 PM

That's awesome! And yes, tons of places to stash a body. Especially in that huge lake I've been talking about. The one where they found his car near.

RobinW

08-17-2016, 10:42 AM

A few posters here suggested I do an episode about a wanted fugitive who was never caught, so my latest one is about a guy named Edward Maps:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/08/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-14-edward-maps/

Most of you have probably never heard of this case, but it's a very strange one. In 1962, Maps was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for murdering his wife and four-month old daughter and setting fire to their home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Five years later, Maps was removed from the list because the local district attorney thought it would be difficult to build a successful prosecution against him. The only reason Maps became the prime suspect was because he was missing from the scene, but there was no physical evidence that he actually committed the crime. To this day, Maps has still never been found.

The case was a real rabbit hole for me, as just there's a whole lot that doesn't make much sense. This isn't some William Bradford Bishop situation where Maps showed signs of being a ticking time bomb before he murdered his family. Maps was known as an eccentric, colourful beatnik artist, but by all accounts, he was a very nice man who genuinely loved his family and didn't seem to have any real motive to murder them. That's why some people believe that Maps' father-in-law, Robert Wolbach, might have been the real perpetrator and hid Maps' body to frame for him the crime. Here's an article about the case if you're not familiar with it:
http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20080413/NEWS/804130349

Drakken

08-17-2016, 05:20 PM

A few posters here suggested I do an episode about a wanted fugitive who was never caught, so my latest one is about a guy named Edward Maps:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/08/17/the-trail-went-cold-episode-14-edward-maps/

Great episode, Robin. Being from Canada I had never heard of that case before, so it definitely intrigued me.

Listening back to it, though, I would pretty much discount Robert Wolbach from being directly involved in the murders of his daughter and granddaughter. There is no indication that he had any animosity for them, in fact he seemed overtly protective of his daughter to the point of overbearingly hating his son-in-law. The only target of his hatred, wad Edward Maps.

You forgot to mention, that it was discovered that Robert suspected that Edward did have money but was lazily mooching off. It was discovered after his disappearance, that Edward indeed had $30,000 in trust funds and was receiving an undisclosed monthly income from it, so there Robert might have been on the right track.

I wouldn't discount that he might have been linked in some way to Edward Map's disappearance. If yes, then the situation went horribly wrong. It is almost like like two separate crimes were committed at that crime scene: the kidnapping and eventual murder of Edward Maps (probably away from vicinity), and the unintended vicious murder of Christine and her daughter. For example, a pair of hitmen were hired to get rid of Edward. One of them kidnaps Edward at gunpoint while the other remains with Christine, and then things go way, way south. The second guy struggles and strikes her repeatedly to the head with a blunt instrument. The first guy returns, sees the mess, and they decide to disguise it as a domestic murder and callously sets the house on fire - with the baby still inside.

That hypothesis seems so much convoluted, however. If Robert had indeed hired guys to get rid of his son-in-law, it would have been much more easier to have Edward lured away from the house and kidnapped/murdered then, rather than in the house in front of his own daughter. Let's say they succeed, what then? The link would have been obvious with Christine as a witness, and they would have been under strict instructions not to harm her.

The animal blood might be human blood incorrectly examined, perhaps even Edward's blood, if he was killed on the scene. Or, perhaps, random animal blood spilled by Edward to make the police think he was also attacked and murdered.

So for me, either it was a random act of wanton murder with the man of the house taken away while the other murders the wife (kinda like a Mark Riemer situation), or Edward Maps snapped and killed all his family to disappear, but died from either exposure or suicide.

RobinW

08-17-2016, 06:25 PM

Hey, thanks for listening, fellow Canuck :wave: . When I was thinking of possible motives for Robert Wolbach to murder his own daughter, my first thought was that he either caused her death by accident, or was so mentally unstable that he thought Christine had "betrayed" him by marrying such a terrible son-in-law and decided to kill her too. But it's also possible that Robert could have hired someone to murder Edward and had no intention of harming Christine or Julie Louise, but things just went horribly wrong. Since you mentioned the $30,000 trust fund, the main motive could have even been a failed kidnapping scheme to get access to Edward's money.

But like I mentioned on the podcast, I just cannot get past Maps' alleged phone call to Henry Evans. It's possible it could have been a hoax to throw everyone off the track, but something about the call just came off as authentic to me. If someone else committed the murders and Maps is completely innocent, I just don't see how he could be out there making phone calls days after the fact without even mentioning anything about the murders or a possible kidnapping at all. The conversation just sounds like it's from someone who had a complete mental breakdown.

I just wish I knew more about Edward's mental health and if he ever had any more episodes after he left the service at the end of World War II. If so, that points to him just snapping and killing his family.

plmkr88

08-18-2016, 10:02 AM

sorry i haven't read the whole thread but you gota do a Brad Bishop one.

time is running out on catching this monster if it hasn't already.

Drakken

08-19-2016, 12:59 PM

But it's also possible that Robert could have hired someone to murder Edward and had no intention of harming Christine or Julie Louise, but things just went horribly wrong. Since you mentioned the $30,000 trust fund, the main motive could have even been a failed kidnapping scheme to get access to Edward's money.

From what I understand from the evidence, no one was knowing that Edward had a trust fund until after his disappearance when his bank accounts were examined. Edward was living off his wife and the contributions from his parents-in-law - especially from Julia since Robert wasn't willing to lend a dime.

If we review the crime scene, here is what we have:

- A woman repeatedly bashed with a blunt instrument and left for death on the scene. Interestingly, she was not finished off by overkill. She was still alive for several hours, even when fumes and gas was filling house, and died without regaining conscience several hours later in hospital. She had severe defensive wounds on her hands, because she tried to defend herself and fend off her attacker. That indicates that she tried to put a fight, ostensibly to defend herself and her baby if still alive.

- The blunt-instrument weapon was never found on the crime scene.

- The oven door was open, set to 450 degrees, pumping gas into the house. Numerous small fires had been set in different rooms with small pieces of paper. No accelerant was used... but all the windows were closed. The killer didn't want to smoke to come out, he wanted it to stay inside the house.

Because the windows in the house were closed, the fire did not get much air and some of the small piles of ignited debris went out. Fire Chief Nelson Lightner said the house would have been destroyed had the windows been opened.

- Julie Louise was found in a room near the kitchen under a pile of blankets, having died from smoke inhalation. I bold these parts, because taking such an action after death is usually indicative of the murderer having an emotional link with the victim. It also means that it is possible Julie Louise was already dead from the smoke before Christine confronted her killer.

- Animal (or missmatched human) blood and fur was reportedly found on objects around Christine's body: a bloody plate stained with animal blood, a kitchen chair, a block of slate, and a woman's ice skate covered with animal fur. I think this is a red herring, possibly linked to the fact that Maps was a sculptor and an artist. Also, Maps was an outdoorsman, so that animal blood might be produce from hunting, like deer or something similar.

With DNA now, we might know for sure it was indeed animal, but as all files were destroyed it is certain samples were as well. However, this is ultimately not directly linked to the crime itself.

- The last time the Maps was seen was at 9:05 p.m, in the "best of spirits" according to witnesses. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 10:48 p.m. It leaves a window of about an hour to close all the windows, start the oven, build the small piles of debris, set all the fires individually, fight off Christine and club her to a pulp, retrieve the baby dead and take the time to hide her under the blankets in a room beside the kitchen, and escape (Edward' wallet was left on the scene).

That is IF, of course, if Edward Maps is either doing it or was not on the scene. That still indicates, however, that neither Christine nor the baby was intended to be left alive.

- All this while smoke and gas are still filling the house, the killer stayed at least until Julie Louise died from smoke inhalation and hid her the blankets. If hid alive, she would have suffocated to death and no lethal amount of smoke would have been found in her tiny lungs. Logically, it means the killer was still inside the house while fire and smoke was being produced and contained inside. It also suggest the first fire were started the closest to the kitchen, where the oven (and Julie Louise nearby) was.

Reading that, from the crime scene Maps is the likeliest culprit. If Edward is still on the site but innocent of the crime, it cannot possibly happen as the crime scene describes.

If those people were hitmen, they were in to kill everyone inside, not just Maps. But the crime scene has left cannot be the product of a hitman. A hitman would finish off Christine, leave the baby in the crib, and leave the windows open so that the fire takes hold much quickly.

My only conclusion, it points toward domestic disturbance: A person inside the home quickly acting and caught in the middle of wanting to hurt everyone in the house. That leaves only Edward Maps.

From my amateur reading of the crime scene, I believe Maps did intend to kill Christine and Julie Louise 'peacefully' by both gas and smoke asphyxiation, and the fire was secondary. Hence the windows were closed shut (even though letting air in would have accelerated the fire) and the baby was so close from the kitchen, with the oven full on. Leaving an early 60s' gas-fueld oven with the door open and set at 450 degrees is pretty smack a deliberate move to kill everyone inside.

He then began to set fire to debris around the kitchen, with baby Julie Louise very close nearby.

Either Christine caught him red-handed in the kitchen, or she found her baby nearby already dead from smoke. Whether she confronted him or he attacked her firsr, they physically fought in the kitchen but he bashed her until she was left unconscious. When he saw Julie Louise was dead he took the time to hid her under the blankets. He then started the remaining fires in the remaining rooms (again, with no accelerant), locked the door from outside (because he felt no one would be opening the door from inside anyway), and escaped without being detected before the fire became evident and firefighters were called.

He could have died from exposure from elements, but I believe it is more likely he committed suicide a few days later, elsewhere close by. That would explain the 'I have some things to do' comment to Evans, why he wouldn't give himself in, why he would say to Bob he had forgiven him, and why Julia would alluded to the fact that he would be found dead not too far from Shroudsburg. Perhaps Julia did receive a suicide letter from Edward soon after the murders, indicating so?

I also believe this is more or less an open secret in both the community and law enforcement alike. That would explain why LE took did not make such an effort to find him, and went actually so far as to have him declared legally dead seven years later. Even DB Cooper and Donald Eugene Webb were not declared legally dead, even with all circumstantial evidence pointing to such a scenario.

EDIT: I got the date erroneous. It was in January 21st 1962, not June 21st 1962 (as listed on Doe Network and Pennsylvania's Missing Person's page). :(

TheCars1986

08-19-2016, 01:58 PM

The whole "tell Bob I forgive him" line Maps said to the one acquaintance is what sealed the deal for me. He's guilty, and he committed suicide shortly after that phone call.

RobinW

08-19-2016, 03:10 PM

- Animal (or missmatched human) blood and fur was reportedly found on objects around Christine's body: a bloody plate stained with animal blood, a kitchen chair, a block of slate, and a woman's ice skate covered with animal fur. I think this is a red herring, possibly linked to the fact that Maps was a sculptor and an artist. Also, Maps was an outdoorsman, so that animal blood might be produce from hunting, like deer or something similar.

Yes, I've had a few people suggest that the animal fur might have been part of some weird art project Maps was working on, which makes the most sense to me, as I just could not figure that detail out. Your theory about the animal blood being part of a hunt makes sense too.

Overall, I think your assessment is pretty dead-on. On the surface, it's easy to think Maps might have been an innocent victim, but once you break everything down, the idea of a third party being responsible just doesn't make much sense and Maps being the perpetrator is the most likely explanation. In a way, it's like breaking down everything that's wrong with the "killer hippies" scenario in the Jeffrey MacDonald case and realizing that "a father murdering his family" scenario just makes so much more sense, no matter how horrible it may be.

I am intrigued by your idea that Edward was planning to covertly kill his wife and daughter by leaking gas into the house, but ended up getting violent with Christine when she caught him attempting to do so. I guess the one thing we'll never truly know is what prompted Maps to do this, especially so soon after a seemingly friendly visit with a neighbour. Either the guy just snapped or he was always really effective at hiding his dark side from everyone.

Drakken

08-19-2016, 03:44 PM

I am intrigued by your idea that Edward was planning to covertly kill his wife and daughter by leaking gas into the house, but ended up getting violent with Christine when she caught him attempting to do so. I guess the one thing we'll never truly know is what prompted Maps to do this, especially so soon after a seemingly friendly visit with a neighbour. Either the guy just snapped or he was always really effective at hiding his dark side from everyone.

From my reading of the crime scene, everything does seem premeditated: the open oven, the debris, the closed windows, the door locked from outside after he exited.

Here are my thoughts, completely pulled out of conjecture from my interpretation of what I have read and heard so far:

- Schizophrenia was indeed used by the US Armed Forces at the time to discharge servicemen who suffered from PTSD; that said we have no indication that he had PTSD, or that was indeed treated after his discharge. It was also used at the time, to discharge people for personality disorders that made them unable to accept authority or who showed abhorrent traits. Finally, it is possible that Maps conned his way out of the Army by malingering.

- From what I read on him (and from what you said in your podcast), it seems Maps was very charismatic, charming, and good at keeping a facade of being your everyday popular neighbour. Beatnik artist in suburb Pennsylvania who was very popular with the ladies, so much that some stated they would be ready to hide him and commit a felony EVEN if he might have indeed killed his family. Does that sound familiar here on a UM forum? :p

- The existence of a secret trust fund does indicate that Edward was living on others paying for him. $30,000 at the time was a lot of money, and its monthly income would easily paid the mortgage of a small house in Pennsylvania in 1962. That small house, by the way, which he attempted to have his step-parents pay for with loans, when he could afford it. Why would he have a secret trust fund? Why hiding even from his wife? For what goals?

- While we will never know the truth for sure and we must take Robert's allegations with a grain of salt, it is possible there are some truths into them. It is very clear Robert suspected something shady was up with his son-in-law, and we know now he was indeed using Christine while stashing money under her nose, all of that without working a real job. It is possible that Edward indeed had an affair with his mother-in-law, and possibly with other women as well. Christine was very young, and from what we know did not seem to be suspecting anything. Was she someone easy to manipulate because she was so young?

I think what prompted him to 'snap' (if he did snap, it could have been planned for weeks) was the pressure that Robert put to discover his secret finances, that indeed the jig would be up for him. I would tend to believe that Edward Maps was a much more darker character than the image he was projecting to everyone.

RobinW

08-19-2016, 10:29 PM

- While we will never know the truth for sure and we must take Robert's allegations with a grain of salt, it is possible there are some truths into them. It is very clear Robert suspected something shady was up with his son-in-law, and we know now he was indeed using Christine while stashing money under her nose, all of that without working a real job. It is possible that Edward indeed had an affair with his mother-in-law, and possibly with other women as well. Christine was very young, and from what we know did not seem to be suspecting anything. Was she someone easy to manipulate because she was so young?

I think what prompted him to 'snap' (if he did snap, it could have been planned for weeks) was the pressure that Robert put to discover his secret finances, that indeed the jig would be up for him. I would tend to believe that Edward Maps was a much more darker character than the image he was projecting to everyone.

Yeah, the way all those female admirers said they'd be willing to help Maps while he was on the run gave me the same thoughts that he was a womanizer. That said, I could not uncover any confirmation that Maps ever conducted any extramarital affairs, which is somewhat surprising since that type of thing tends to surface whenever someone is accused of murdering their spouse (just look at all the Final Appeal subjects on UM who cheated on their wives). It does seem that Julia Wolbach was genuinely frightened of her husband, so I've never really given much credence to Robert's accusation about her affair with Edward.

But, yes, even though I stated on the podcast that Maps might have been an otherwise decent man who snapped and did a horrible thing because he'd become mentally ill, I am willing to concede that he may have just been a very manipulative conman.

DALLASTEXAN!!

08-27-2016, 08:48 AM

I will be listening soon. I'm most interested in the Fort Worth three as I have seen that in the DFW media previously. I am trying to think of all of the famous unsolved cases in DFW that come to mind. Of corse there are the obvious ones like amber Hagerman and Darlie Routier. Patsy Wright is the one that strikes me. Especially due to the unique and callous strychnine poisoning. Aside from the UM segment there really is not much out there other than a Dallas Observer article that I read... and the television or print media never discusses it. It surprises me given her status and north texas charisma. The palace of wax(ripley's believe it or not) that she once owned is/was a very famous attraction there.

Todd Mueller

08-27-2016, 11:55 AM

Robin, I really like your podcast. It is excellent listening. Keep up the great work!

RobinW

08-27-2016, 11:29 PM

Robin, I really like your podcast. It is excellent listening. Keep up the great work!

Thanks, Mr. Mueller ;) . Starting in September, we're finally going to be producing weekly content, so that only means more UM cases will get covered.

DALLASTEXAN!!

08-28-2016, 03:02 AM

Listened to fort worth 3 and aileen Conway...good job! did not know aileen Conway was stack's first segment/episode...

WishfulDreamer

08-28-2016, 01:16 PM

Thanks, Mr. Mueller ;) . Starting in September, we're finally going to be producing weekly content, so that only means more UM cases will get covered.
Awesome news!

LooksLikeCRicci

08-29-2016, 12:30 PM

RobinW

08-29-2016, 01:32 PM

Patsy Wright WOULD be an excellent podcast, I agree.

Someone here posted a pretty in-depth article that was written about her and all the suspects in her death. It was pretty enlightening. Lots of folks had motive to kill her. Fascinating.

Yes, I wouldn't mind doing a podcast about this sometime in the future.

While we're on the subject of Texas cases, I was contacted yesterday by Nina Innsted, who hosts another true crime podcast called "Already Gone". She's putting together an episode about the Shane Stewart/Sally McNelly murders, but knowing how I love to cover UM cases, she wanted to make sure I wasn't currently putting one together as well. So I'll be sure to post a plug for her podcast episode about it when it's done.

Oh, and the Generation Why podcast just recently released a very good episode about another Texas-based UM case, the Mary Morris murders:
http://thegenerationwhypodcast.com/the-mary-morris-murders-197-generation-why

A certain co-worker gets prominent mention on this episode, so I assume the hosts will be bombarded with E-mails very soon ;).

cdr369

08-29-2016, 02:22 PM

LooksLikeCRicci

08-29-2016, 04:34 PM

In case anyone is interested:

http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1989/august/t-h-e-wax-museum-murder-mystery/

Very well done article.

DALLASTEXAN!!

08-30-2016, 09:26 AM

In case anyone is interested:

http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1989/august/t-h-e-wax-museum-murder-mystery/

Very well done article.
Yes that is the article I read that was recently added in the patsy wright thread. Thank you for reposting it. It is very long but worth the read. Other than this article there is not much else out there. This is one of those cases that really needs a lot of coverage to get in the details and it's hard to cover in a short UM segment. I know the Arlington police department has more details as there was more revealed in that article. I would be interested to see one of the major media outlets in Dallas revive this case because patsy wright is likely well known even after all the years have passed. But Time is running out as her peers are older now and don't know what has come of the suspects.

DALLASTEXAN!!

08-30-2016, 09:33 AM

Fun tidbit: I learned recently that my parents visited Patsy's museum during their honeymoon in the 1980s. When my dad told me this, I told him the rest of the story, that he never knew.

Recently I was in DFW and went over to the Ripley's that is now there. I know the wax museum that Wright owned is no longer. When I visited the wax museum, I was curious about how much of the content could have originally been owned by Wright's family. I had heard at one point that a fire destroyed the original museum, but I don't know if it is true. I only know of the palace of wax which was there when I moved to the Arlington area in 1990. It looks like Patsy's dad owned other prior business ventures alike at fair park in Dallas and they opened the business where the palace of wax is at in Grand Prairie IIRC. But I'm not sure if she actually owned the palace of wax or when and where the fire was. I also read that her ex husband was under investigation for arson. I would need to read that article again. Now the ripleys believe it or not is basically the same thing at the same place just more additions to the attraction aside from wax figures. I went there a couple years ago and it was surprisingly fun.

RobinW

08-31-2016, 11:00 AM

Released Part 1 of a new episode about the Tommy Zeigler case today:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/08/31/the-trail-went-cold-episode-15-tommy-zeigler-part-1/

Since the case is such a convoluted rabbit hole and the first cut turned out to over two hours long, we had to make this a two-part episode. Part 1 is mostly a summary of the crime, the events surrounding it, and the trial. The post-conviction developments and most of the analysis about the case will be featured in Part 2, which will come out next Wednesday.

How UM was able to condense this story into one 15-minute segment is beyond me :crazy: .

RobinW

09-07-2016, 06:35 PM

"The Trail Went Cold" is now officially a weekly podcast, as I'm alternating between our regular feature-length episodes and shorter 15-minute minisodes about the cases where there isn't as much material to talk about. For our first minisode, I selected one of all-time scariest UM cases and the first story I've covered from my home province: The Blind River Rest Stop Murders:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/09/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-17-the-blind-river-rest-stop-murders/

BTW, I've postponed Part 2 of the Tommy Zeigler episode until next Wednesday. I'm just itching to go into full details about this, but I'll reveal all soon enough ;) .

LooksLikeCRicci

09-07-2016, 06:47 PM

"The Trail Went Cold" is now officially a weekly podcast, as I'm alternating between our regular feature-length episodes and shorter 15-minute minisodes about the cases where there isn't as much material to talk about. For our first minisode, I selected one of all-time scariest UM cases and the first story I've covered from my home province: The Blind River Rest Stop Murders:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/09/07/the-trail-went-cold-episode-17-the-blind-river-rest-stop-murders/.

Yeah. I know. That damn composite popped up on my Facebook feed this AM and scared the bejeezus out of me. Thanks for that. :)

Todd Mueller

09-09-2016, 07:48 PM

Robin - the first Tommy Ziegler episode is top-notch! Well done to you, sir!

I have enjoyed your podcast since the beginning, but this one was done really well. I loved the way you presented the case and the different facets that it has. I can't wait to hear part 2.

Is it Wednesday yet? ;) At least the mini-sode was a good way to tide me over...

Thiussat

09-10-2016, 01:58 AM

Didn't realize the Ziegler case was so intricate. At any rate, I still think Ziegler himself was involved. Perhaps one of the other guys was hired to help and then freaked out when Tommy pulled a gun and tried to shoot him (before apologizing, lol). However, there's something about "the gun jammed" that seems suspicious to me. It sounds like the other guy was coming up with an excuse as to why he had a .38 in his pocket. But if he did make up that story, why would he go to the police (with the gun on his person) in the first place? He went voluntarily, after all.

At the end of the day, I think Ziegler was involved. Whether he acted alone or not, I don't know. His motive was probably life insurance (such cases are a dime a dozen on Forensic Files, etc.) Even though Ziegler was not poor, a million extra dollars in the 1970's was a big chunk of change. There's plenty of examples of rich people committing financial crimes. Case in point: Wall-Street.

All in all, I was impressed with the Police work in this case. Their theory sounds legit and it looks like they did thorough detective work. I will go and listen to it again and see if there's any other angle I can come up with that might exonerate Tommy in my mind.

rerungirl

09-10-2016, 04:19 PM

Robin, your podcasts just keep getting better and better. Glad you added the new minicasts to the mix.

Todd Mueller

09-10-2016, 04:27 PM

Robin - Can I put in a request for you to cover the Jodi Huisentruit case?

RobinW

09-10-2016, 04:37 PM

Robin - Can I put in a request for you to cover the Jodi Huisentruit case?

Sure, I would like to cover this one at some point, given that the original UM segment was so short and there have been a lot of developments in the case since then. I'll add it to my backlog.

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the Tommy Zeigler episode. Part 2 should come out as scheduled on Wednesday. I've been in contact with someone personally involved in the case and learned some pretty eye-opening stuff, which necessitated the delay. Stay tuned for more details!

RobinW

09-14-2016, 10:09 AM

At long last, after a one-week delay, Part 2 of the Tommy Zeigler episode has finally been released and it clocks in a whopping 83 minutes:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/09/14/the-trail-went-cold-episode-16-tommy-zeigler-part-2/

The delay was necessitated because I got into contact with Lynn-Marie Carty, the private investigator who works with Tommy Zeigler's defense team. Lynn-Marie has spent nearly six years uncovering a ton of new evidence supporting Zeigler's innocence and has done all her work pro bono. I've spent the last two weeks in constant E-mail contact with her and she kept supplying me with new information (most of it backed up by documentation and evidence) and clarifying a bunch of important details. I must say, I've gone back and forth on this convoluted case for years, but after consulting with her, I now feel certain that Tommy Zeigler's innocent. There's just way too much suspicious stuff from the investigation for me to feel confident about his guilt any more.

dynoguy88

09-14-2016, 11:26 AM

I really like Lynn Marie-Carty, through her work investigating the Connecticut River Valley Killer in recent years. I had no idea she was working on the Tommy Zeigler investigation until I did some online searches following Robin's podcast.

I'd be interested in knowing how she became involved in this case. She has mentioned in past interviews that she doesn't like to investigate homicides. Her main forte was reuniting family members and missing loved ones. The only reason she got involved with the CRV investigation was because she thought there might be an outside chance that her client's ex-husband could be the killer. But this is a completely non-related case.

Not that I don't appreciate and admire her work, I'd just like to know how she became involved.

RobinW

09-14-2016, 01:23 PM

LooksLikeCRicci

09-15-2016, 12:34 PM

RobinW

09-15-2016, 07:18 PM

I just concluded a road trip to my mother's house. On the way to and from, I knocked out about four podcasts I had not previously listened to, including Edward Maps, Michael Rosenblum, and of course, Tommy Ziegler.

Props to your wry sense of humor on the Rosenblum podcast, Robin. When you advised your listeners to perhaps NOT call a certain PD station, I laughed so hard my child woke up. :)

As for Ziegler... I've only listened to Part 1, but I am inclined to believe he is guilty. VERY VERY interested in Podcast #2....

Ha ha, I'd forgotten about the line in the Rosenblum podcast. Glad to see it got that sort of reaction out of you.

And Part#2 of the Zeigler podcast was the monster that just kept on growing, as I kept getting fed new information until before I know, the final cut was nearly 30 minutes longer than I originally anticipated.

RobinW

09-21-2016, 11:37 AM

A new minisode has been released. This one covers the 1971 disappearance of college student Lynne Schulze, which wound up making headlines last year because of an unlikely connection to the notorious Robert Durst:
http://trailwentcold.the-back-row.com/2016/09/21/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-2-lynne-schulze/

WishfulDreamer

09-21-2016, 09:43 PM

italianbella0015

09-23-2016, 11:59 AM

RobinW

09-23-2016, 12:39 PM

I love your podcasts! My faves were the Rahn case, as I do not live that far from Manchester, I am about 15 minutes from there. As well as the El Dorado Jane Doe. I would love for you to do a podcast of Tammy Lynn Leppert. That is one of my favorite cases as well as another Jane Doe case (Not on unsolved mysteries) Walker County Jane Doe.

Thank you. I would definitely love to do an episode about Tammy Lynn Leppert in the future. And I've actually got a new episode about another famous Jane Doe case coming out on Wednesday.

cdr369

09-23-2016, 12:46 PM

Thank you. I would definitely love to do an episode about Tammy Lynn Leppert in the future. And I've actually got a new episode about another famous Jane Doe case coming out on Wednesday.

RobinW - I think I know which famous Jane Doe case you speak of, and if I am correct, I am very excited. I haven't seen anyone discuss this particular one on this board, so I will let this linger in suspense.

italianbella0015

09-23-2016, 01:33 PM

Drakken

09-28-2016, 10:02 AM

And I was looking up on the Lady of the Dunes, here is RobinW doing this week's podcast on her. :eek:

Something that I find so intriguing, and that suggests that the killer did not know her victim that intimately, is that while her hands were removed her head was not.

The Jane Doe's dental work was so unique and expensive that, in theory, it should have made her identification easier. That it haven't yet is not only frustrating, but it does suggest that her dental work was made outside either the US or the legal healthcare system. That also suggests that while the killer(s) knew that people could be identified by her fingerprints, he did not care about her dental recognition.

Yet, he took the time to sexually assault the body post-mortem, cut both her hands, AND remove some of her teeth? I am not from the Provincetown area, but how much busy is the Dunes area? Looking at the crime scene photos, this scene does look quite staged.

Originally, I did not see someone like Whitey Bulger, cunning as he was, being so sloppy to leave the head there knowing that her teeth might lead to her identification... until I read this on Wikipedia:

Two years following the creation of the reconstruction, it was learned that a woman who resembled the composite was seen with mobster Whitey Bulger around the time the woman's death occurred.[2][3][18] Bulger was known for removing his victims' teeth, which occurred in this murder. Sandra Lee, the woman who claimed to have first discovered the body, believes the theory of Bulger's involvement, stating he should be a "person of interest." Lee also expressed that the victim may have been a prostitute and could have originated from a foreign country, such as Ireland. She elaborated that the victim may have been initially strangled, like some of the other victims of Bulger and that Lady of the Dunes was likely killed at another location.[9]

RobinW

09-28-2016, 10:20 AM

magellan333

09-29-2016, 07:17 PM

I've really enjoyed them all. I was happy to learn of the minisodes. There are so many cases I'd enjoy being covered. The boy in the box or babes in the woods would make for a good episode.

RobinW

09-30-2016, 09:36 AM

I've really enjoyed them all. I was happy to learn of the minisodes. There are so many cases I'd enjoy being covered. The boy in the box or babes in the woods would make for a good episode.

Thanks. I would like to cover the Babes in the Woods at some point since it might be the most famous UID case from my homeland of Canada.

italianbella0015

10-01-2016, 12:23 PM

hi Robin! How about doing a podcast on these two cases:
Diane Dye:https://whereaboutsstillunknown.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/diane-dye/
This case has always baffled me and is totally bizarre. There were sightings of her after he disappearance.

And also an unidentified person that is one of my fav unidentified cases:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Doe

Drakken

10-03-2016, 11:02 AM

Thanks. I would like to cover the Babes in the Woods at some point since it might be the most famous UID case from my homeland of Canada.

Would you like to cover a few cases from Quebec, eventually? We have quite a few cases that still make the news locally, but deserve to be told to a wider audience. Unfortunately, the language barrier does not help that these cases remain local, especially for cases of kidnapping or disappearances in which sex trafficking might be involved and the victims could moved around Canadian provinces or the US.

One case that I would recommend for a mini-sode (or a twin-sode) would be Marilyn Bergeron, who disappeared without a trace eight years ago in Saint-Romuald, near Quebec City. She went to an ATM on that day before noon to withdraw from an ATM, then was seen 4 hours later purchasing a coffee with her credit card, in broad daylight. She was looking worried, looking outside a few times, but said nothing to the cashier. This was the last time she was ever seen. The last picture of her in that coffee shop has been made public.

Police went with suicide at first, but now a reward is offered for any information about her. There are also theories that she might have run away or been kidnapped and trafficked into the sex industry. For instance, a year before her disappearance her mother asked her if there was something troubling her on her mind. She answered yes and began to cry, but did not volunteer any additional detail.

For this reason, perhaps she is alive somewhere else in Ontario or in the Western provinces. Her family has also started investigating on US territory as well. She has also a distinctive tattoo of a pegasus very visible on her front between her shoulder and breast, that may be useful to identify her if she is alive.

Now that more than seven years have passed, she could be declared legally dead. However, the family refuses to do so, because nothing has been found that indicates if she met with foul play or if she is still alive.

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/reward-extended-in-marilyn-bergeron-disappearance-1.1912720

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/police-relaunch-search-for-woman-missing-eight-years

http://www.nampn.org/cases/bergeron_marilyn.html

http://findmarilyn.charbonnel-bergeron.com/fr/tag/marilyn-bergeron/ (French)

http://reseauenfantsretour.ong/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Poster-Disparue-Marilyn-Bergeron.pdf

There could be also the case of Sébastien Métivier, who has kidnapped in Montreal in 1984, and who was linked to a possible serial killer aiming at small children that was active in the greater Montreal area until early 90s.

The main suspect committed suicide in 1993, the day before he was scheduled to pass a polygraph test. However, Sébastien's body was never found. A woman contacted his mother via private messaging in Facebook:

After an exchange of several messages, Sirois said, she arranged to meet the woman.

When they did meet, she said, the woman was distraught and hesitant, but finally told her that her boy was abducted, killed, dismembered and buried in a field.

Sirois said the woman told her the name of the killer, but refused to tell her where the field is where her son is buried. That's why, she said, she went directly to police after meeting the woman. She's waiting for police to see if they can verify the story.

This kidnapping had an impact, though, in that it led directly to the founding of the Missing Children's Network.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/09/28/quebec-police-believe-serial-killer-behind-7-cold-cases

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-police-provide-update-on-30-year-old-killing-of-boy

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?146383-Canada-Sebastien-Metivier-8-Montreal-1-Nov-1984

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/new-evidence-that-missing-8-year-old-may-be-dead-1.1104362