The Trail Went Cold

September 29, 1984. Chicago, Illinois. 23-month old Deborah Sanders is taken from her mother, Norell Sanders, who claims she was violently attacked by the child’s estranged father, Odell Sheppard, before Deborah was abducted. Nearly one year later, Odell is tracked down and arrested, but he no longer has Deborah with him and maintains that he returned her to Norell. After serving a prison sentence for child abduction, Odell winds up being sent to jail for contempt of court after he refuses to produce Deborah. Even though is never charged with a crime or put on trial, Odell remains incarcerated for over ten years before he is released and he never reveals what actually happened to his daughter. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a tragic unsolved missing children’s case which unexpectedly wound up making legal history. If you have any information about this case, please contact the Illinois State Police at (847) 294-4400. Additional Reading: https://charleyproject.org/case/deborah-lyyn-sanders https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-29-mn-25605-story.html https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/28/us/10-years-in-jail-without-ever-a-charge.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-01-29-9801290191-story.html https://apnews.com/article/0e8ce58923b6515ecea928d78ed3da07 https://casetext.com/case/sanders-v-shephard-1 https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1994/77016-7.html https://www.anylaw.com/case/02-10-94-norell-sanders/appellate-court-of-illinois/02-10-1994/Ja9lS2YBTlTomsSBYm6X https://www.newspapers.com/image/388378083/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/388416871/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/388842155/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/389436902/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/311862193/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/389903906/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/241293225/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/241225319/ Follow “The Vanished” on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts or listen early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 11, 1995. Washington, D.C.. The fire department is summoned to a townhouse and discovers the burning body of 38-year old Lynn Amos on her bed. Lynn is still alive at the time and taken to a hospital with burns on the majority of her body, but she passes away ten days later. While investigators initially believe that Lynn’s death was an accident, traces of accelerants are found on the bed to indicate that arson took place and she was the victim of a homicide. There is speculation that Lynn was murdered because of something she uncovered at her job as a financial analyst, but the identity of her killer and their motive remain a mystery. March 26, 2000. Lufkin, Texas. The fire department arrives at the apartment of 26-year old Megan Curl and extinguishes a fire on her bed. They soon notice that Megan was tied to the bed, suffocated with a plastic bag and had her throat slashed before her body was set ablaze. The previous evening, Megan had gone to a pair of local nightclubs and shortly after she returned to her apartment complex, a man she supposedly met at one of the clubs showed up there to meet her. Even though one of Megan’s neighbours saw the man inside her apartment, he is never identified and the crime is never solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover a pair of unsolved murders involving female victims who were set on fire on their beds. If you have any information about the murder of Lynn Amos, please contact the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia at (202) 727-4383. If you have any information about the murder of Megan Curl, please contact the Lufkin Police Department at (936) 633-0356. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/lynn-amos/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/12/12/man-dies-woman-severely-burned-in-separate-dc-house-fires/3a780316-cb2d-4c38-893b-a46674df9047/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/02/10/family-fears-it-never-will-have-answers-to-dc-arson-homicide/3d4658f9-b4bd-4cb7-853b-850ed0aa1ca8/?utm_term=.5c3e9f5e4182 https://www.newspapers.com/image/260580483/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/260641221/ https://unsolved.com/gallery/megan-curl/ http://www.ktre.com/story/11568961/unsolved-murder-of-lufkin-girl-one-of-most-gruesome-in-local-history http://lufkindailynews.com/news/community/article_238acf6a-3acb-11e3-9481-0019bb2963f4.html https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/the-burning-cold-case-of-megan-curl/501-552339539 “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

…1 campfire… …1 dark forest… …31 bone-chilling stories… …Will YOU survive the night? This Halloween season, enter the woods for a unique and truly epic podcast experience! Around the campfire Shane Waters will introduce 31 crime podcast hosts, including Robin Warder of “The Trail Went Cold”. Each host brings a new, nerve-wracking true story to the circle. It’s an extra special, two part, five-hour, Halloween event, but before hitting play you might want to ask yourself…can you really handle this much murder and mayhem? So, pull up to the fire and brace yourself for “A Nightmare Before Halloween” …but be warned… …bad things happen in these woods…. Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: Part 2 Episode: – True Crime Island – Based on a True Story – The Asian Madness Podcast – Sistas Who Kill – Hometown History – Coffee and Cases – Military Murder – Dystopian Simulation Radio – Cults, Crimes & Cabernet – Morbidology – Dark Pountine – Hillbilly Horror Stories – True Consequences – Gone Cold – Crime Stories with Nancy Grace & Crime Online – True Crime IRL & True Crime Sleep Stories

…1 campfire… …1 dark forest… …31 bone-chilling stories… …Will YOU survive the night? This Halloween season, enter the woods for a unique and truly epic podcast experience! Around the campfire Shane Waters will introduce 31 crime podcast hosts, including Robin Warder of “The Trail Went Cold”. Each host brings a new, nerve-wracking true story to the circle. It’s an extra special, two part, five-hour, Halloween event, but before hitting play you might want to ask yourself…can you really handle this much murder and mayhem? So, pull up to the fire and brace yourself for “A Nightmare Before Halloween” …but be warned… …bad things happen in these woods…. Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: Part 1 Episode: – Foul Play: Crime Series – Murder She Told – Crime Salad – Crimelines – Frightful – Reverie True Crime – Rotten to the Core – The Trail Went Cold – Once Upon A Crime – Criminology – The Peripheral & Generation Why – Live, Laugh, Larceny – The Hidden Staircase – True Crime Cases with Lanie & It’s Haunted…What Now? – Obscura: A True Crime Podcast & Disaster

November 12, 1945. Bennington County, Vermont. While on a hunting trip on Glastenbury Mountain, 74-year old Middie Rivers splits off from his son-in-law, but he is never heard from again and an extensive search effort fails to find him. Over the next five years, four other individuals – 18-year old Paula Jean Welden, 68-year old James Tedford, eight-year old Paul Jepson and 53-year old Frieda Langer – all vanish within the same general area and most of the victims are never found. This leads to speculation that the cases might be connected or that something supernatural is involved in their disappearances, so the area becomes known as “The Bennington Triangle”. On this month’s final Halloween-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be exploring five cases which all supposedly took place within a geographical area which is believed to be cursed. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennington_Triangle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_Jean_Welden https://charleyproject.org/case/paula-jean-welden “Clueless in New England: The Unsolved Disappearances of Paula Welden, Connie Smith and Katherine Hull” by Michael C. Dooling https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/vt-student-body-found-1946-disappeararance-article-1.2603927 https://www.reformer.com/opinion/roberta-stone-looking-back-on-unexplained-disappearances/article_31bd0790-1a58-11ec-87d8-87b0e6965523.html https://www.newspapers.com/image/21652594/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/546066440/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/546028821/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/546028370/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/546025551/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/545381347/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/54749815/ “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

April 18, 1943. Hagley, England. A group of teenage boys discover an unidentified female skeleton inside a hollow wych elm tree near Wychbury Hill. It is determined that the victim was killed at least 18 months before she was found and her likely cause of death was suffocation. Over the next several decades, mysterious graffiti messages pop in numerous locations which are variations of the phrase: “Who put Bella in the wych elm?” While there are several theories surrounding the victim’s death, including possible connections to espionage and witchcraft, she cannot be identified and the circumstances of how she was killed remain unknown. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore one of the most famous mysteries from World War II and attempt to answer the question: “Who put Bella in the wych elm?”. Special thanks to our sponsor, Avast.com! Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_put_Bella_in_the_Wych_Elm%3F “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? – Volume 1: The Crime Scene Revisited” by Alex Merrill “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? – Volume 2: A Crime Shrouded in Mystery” by Alex Merrill http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/418441.stm https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/preformmystery-murder-and-half-a-century-of-suspenseppreform-745330.html https://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/16048176.image-of-hagley-wood-murder-victim-bella-revealed-for-first-time/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/is-this-the-bella-in-the-wych-elm-unravelling-the-mystery-of-the-skull-found-in-a-tree-trunk-8546497.html http://www.josefjakobs.info/2017/12/clara-bauerle-declassified.html http://www.josefjakobs.info/2016/09/clara-bauerle-is-finally-laid-to-rest.html https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/783645374/ “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

March 22, 1975. Clermont, Florida. After climbing out of the shower, 32-year old John Harden looks out the window and notices that his pick-up truck is on fire. When John runs outside to extinguish the flames, he is ambushed by a fatal shotgun blast to the chest and an extensive investigation fails to turn up any strong suspects or a motive for the crime. Over the next several years, multiple people move into John’s former residence and report unexplained paranormal events. This causes suspicion that the house might be haunted by John’s ghost because he never received justice for his murder, but the authorities are unable to solve the case. Join us for this month’s first Halloween-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, as we explore a baffling cold case which has often been associated with paranormal activity. Additional Reading: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/John_Harden https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Harden_House https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1991-09-20-9109200534-story.html https://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-xpm-1991-11-01-9111010555-story.html https://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-xpm-1992-10-30-9210300508-story.html https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2007-02-08-lbriefs08-11-story.html https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/226707089/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/226707099 “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 10, 1996. Brown County, Texas. A burning car belonging to 30-year old Leon Laureles is found next to a remote road. Leon’s body is lying near the vehicle and he has been shot though the back of the head, execution-style. One hour earlier, Leon had left his residence to drive to work for his shift at a supermarket, but even though his co-workers recalled seeing his car in the parking lot, Leon never entered the store. Since Leon was gay, there is speculation that his murder might have been a hate crime or he was killed because he saw something he wasn’t supposed to, but there are no conclusive answers about what happened. At the request of the victim’s aunt, Arlene Harbison, this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” will explore the tragic and senseless murder of Leon Laureles, which has gone unsolved for over 26 years. If you have information about this case, please contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at (325) 646-5510 or the Heart of Texas Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Leon Laureles GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/leon-laureles-private-detective-and-memorial Special thanks to our sponsor, Avast.com! Additional Reading: https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/1996-murder-investigation-of-brownwood-native-remains-unsolved/ https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/crime/2021/05/10/brownwood-leon-laureles-cold-case-murder-remains-unsolved/6699908002/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/788740838 https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/766487712 “The Fall Line” podcast episode “Gone Cold” podcast episode (Part 1) (Part 2) “Crawlspace” podcast episode “The Murder in My Family” podcast episode “Texas Wine & True Crime” podcast episode “I Said God Damn!” podcast episode “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 9, 1995. Alma, Arkansas. While attending a Little League baseball game with her mother, six-year old Morgan Nick goes off to play with some other kids before she vanishes without a trace. Morgan’s friends claim that she was spoken to by an unidentified man standing next to a red pick-up truck, so it is suspected that this man might have abducted her. Over two decades later, a deceased sex offender named Billy Jack Lincks is publicly named as a person of interest, but he has not been conclusively connected to the case and Morgan has still not been found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be exploring a tragic missing children’s case which has gone unsolved for over 27 years. In addition, we will also discuss the unsolved 2001 disappearance of three-month-old Jacqueline Vasquez, who was abducted from a swap meet in Avondale, Arizona. Special thanks to listener Chardonnay Brown for narrating the opening of this episode. If you have any information on the disappearance of Morgan Nick, please contact the FBI, the Arkansas State Police at (501) 618-8000 or the Alma Police Department at (479) 632-3333. If you have any information about the disappearance of Jacqueline Vasquez, please contact the Avondale Police Department at (623) 333-7001. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Morgan_Nick http://unsolved.com/gallery/morgan-nick/ http://charleyproject.org/case/morgan-chauntel-nick http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/18/grace.coldcase.morgan.nick/index.html https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/outreach/back-to-school/timeline-a-look-back-into-twists-and-turns-in-morgan-nick-case/527-868e90a9-2431-46b2-96be-afccd41145b3 http://5newsonline.com/2017/12/19/no-evidence-found-in-spiro-relating-to-morgan-nick-case/ https://www.4029tv.com/article/billy-jack-lincks-morgan-nick/38199571# https://www.4029tv.com/article/court-records-reveal-more-information-about-person-of-interest-in-morgan-nick-case/38216081 https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/11/30/missing-arkansas-girl-morgan-nick-case-may-have-tennessee-ties/6372777001/ https://www.kark.com/news/working4you/dna-in-1995-attempted-abduction-case-could-give-answers-to-morgan-nick-kidnapping/ https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/crime/morgan-nick-disappearance-billy-jack-lincks/91-c18c30fc-b670-4409-925f-f4cfce532a52 http://www.morgannick.com https://www.stillmissingmorgan.com https://unsolved.com/gallery/jacqueline-castaneda/ http://charleyproject.org/case/jacqueline-vasquez https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Jacqueline_Vasquez “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 26, 1986. Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories. After returning home from a trip, the sister of 15-year old Mary Ann Birmingham enters their residence and discovers that Mary Ann has been stabbed to death. Months later, a local resident named Jopey Atsiqtaq pops up on the radar as a potential suspect after he is charged with the similar stabbing deaths of two other victims. Even though Atsiqtaq is initially charged with killing Mary Ann, he denies any involvement and since the evidence is deemed insufficient for him to stand trial, the crime is never solved. Mary Ann Birmingham’s murder is just the first case we’ll be covering on this week’s special episode of “The Trail Went Cold” about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from Northern Canada. In total, we’ll be exploring nine unsolved cold cases involving Indigenous female victims which took place in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The nine victims are 15-year old Ann Birmingham, 38-year old Tabitha Kalluk, 46-year old Della “Jochebed” Ootoova, 18-year old Leona Brule, 15-year old Charlene Catholique, 24-year old Mary Rose Keadjuk, 17-year old Mariella Lennie, 39-year old Dorothy Abel and 22-year old Angela Meyer. If you have information about the murder of Mary Ann Birmingham, please contact the Iqaluit detachment of the RCMP at (867) 979-0123. If you have information about any of the other featured cases from the Northwest Territories, please contact their RCMP’s Historical Case Unit at (867) 669-1111. If you have information about any of the featured cases from Nunavut, please contact the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). The Trail Went Cold has made donations to the following organizations in support of Indigenous women’s and girls’ issues in Canada. The Native Women’s Association of Canada: https://nwac.ca Amnesty International’s No More Stolen Sisters program: https://www.amnesty.ca/what-we-do/no-more-stolen-sisters/ Additional Reading: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mary-ann-birmingham-anniversary-mmiw-1.4131421 https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674after_30_years_iqaluit_girls_murder_still_unsolved/ https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/20180314_MMIWG_Montreal_Public_Vol_65_-Birmingham.pdf https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/tabitha-niaqutiaq-kalluk https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/della-ootoova https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/20180221_MMIWG_Rankin_Inlet_Public_Vol_47a_Nashook.pdf https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/leona-mae-brule https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/476716020/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/475559912/ https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/charlene-candice-catholique https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/aunt-remembers-charlene-catholique-1.5660623 https://www.nnsl.com/news/yk-cold-case-files-what-happened-to-charlene-catholique-part-1/ https://www.nnsl.com/news/yk-cold-case-files-what-happened-to-charlene-catholique-part-2/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mary-rose-keadjuk-remains-identified-1.4547174 https://www.nnsl.com/news/yk-cold-case-what-happened-to-mary-rose-keadjuk/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mariella-lennie-homicide-still-unsolved-after-more-than-20-years-1.3025591 https://www.nnsl.com/news/yk-cold-case-files-what-happened-to-mariella-lennie/ http://itstartswithus-mmiw.com/our-mother-dorothy-georgina-abel/ https://unsolvedcasefiles.ca/Files/1996/dorothy.php https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/angela-carmen-pitseolak-meyer https://www.nnsl.com/news/yk-cold-case-what-happened-to-angela-meyer/ https://www.nnsl.com/news/yk-cold-case-part-2-the-search-for-angela-meyer/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mmiwg-inquiry-yellowknife-meyer-1.4500825 https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/lack-of-mental-health-care-a-factor-in-missing-womans-disappearance-family/ https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180123_MMIWG_Yellowknife_Public_Vol_40_combined.pdf “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.