The Trail Went Cold

CrimeConVersations is a brand-new true crime podcast brought to you by CrimeCon UK. As part of the lead-up to CrimeCon UK in London, Crimecon UK is bringing two true crime podcasts together to find out more about their fascination with true crime. Each episode will explore subjects such as how they got involved in true […]

May 25, 2003. Luanda, Angola. 50-year old Ben Charles Padilla, an American citizen overseeing a rebuilding project on a Boeing 727 at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport, is reportedly seen boarding the plane alongside a Congolese mechanic named John Mikel Mutantu. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft takes off without clearance before it vanishes without a trac […]

September 20, 1994. Oak Grove, Kentucky. 22-year old Candy Belt and 18-year old Gloria Ross are found dead at the massage parlour where they work, as they have both been shot in the head and had their throats slashed. It turns out the business was a front for a brothel and suspicion is directed towards […]

June 16, 2009. Rosses Point, Ireland. The body of a man who appears to be in his late fifties or early sixties is found washed up on a beach and his cause of death is believed to be acute cardiac arrest. Four days earlier, the man had arrived in the nearby town of Sligo and […]

May 10, 1941. Carolina Beach, North Carolina. 36-year old Leila Bryan and her three-year old daughter, Mary Rachel Bryan, leave their home in the family car in order to drive to a nearby store, but never return. After they are reported missing, an extensive search fails to turn up any trace of them or their […]

March 18, 2000. Whatcom County, Washington. A damaged Jeep belonging to 23-year old Leah Roberts is found at the bottom of an embankment next to a remote highway. Nine days earlier, Leah had left her home in North Carolina to take a cross-country road trip, but even though all of her personal possessions are left […]

May 31, 1995. Goderich, Ontario. After leaving her school, 16-year old Mistie Murray fails to return home and is subsequently reported missing. Even though there are several eyewitness sightings placing Mistie at numerous locations in the weeks following her disappearance, police focus their attention on her adoptive father, Steve Murray. Over three months later, Steve […]

August 12, 1992. Panama City Beach, Florida. After leaving her home in Georgia on a vacation with her two children, 36-year old Pamela June Ray arrives at a beachfront motel during the early morning hours and parks in front of the office. Pamela’s children are sleeping in the back seat, but when they wake up […]

September 4, 1964. Great Falls, Montana. 43-year old Jim Arrotta and his 35-year old wife, Lois Arrotta, are found stabbed to death inside a grocery store where Jim works as the manager. Since the couple’s children last saw them at their home when they went to bed the previous night, investigators theorize that Jim and […]

April 13, 1976. Jessup, Maryland. Ralph Sigler, a 47-year old Chief Warrant Officer with the United States Army, is found dead inside a motel room after an apparent suicide in which he electrocuted himself. For the past decade, Ralph had been working as a counterintelligence agent who provided classified information to spies from the Soviet […]

September 10, 2001. New York City. 31-year old Sneha Philip leaves her Lower Manhattan apartment and is last seen purchasing items at a nearby department store alongside an unidentified woman. Sneha does not return home that night and after the September 11 attacks take place the following morning, she is never heard from again. Since […]

January 31, 1976. Bastrop County, Texas. After 73-year old John Whatley and his 68-year old wife, Faye Whatley, fail to show up at the wedding for Faye’s granddaughter, the police are asked to perform a wellness check at their ranch. John and Faye are discovered to be missing, but there is a bullet hole in […]

May 1, 2002. San Francisco, California. After finishing a phone call with one of her sisters, 24-year old Evelyn Hernandez and her five-year old son, Alex Hernandez, vanish without explanation. At the time, Evelyn was only six days away from giving birth to her second child, but when she fails to resurface by her due […]

October 4, 1978. Lyon County, Iowa. The decomposed body of a murdered young woman is discovered in a ditch next to a rural road, but since she carries no identification, she remains a Jane Doe for the next 27 years. The victim is eventually identified as 23-year old Wilma June Nissen, who originally hailed from […]

June 1, 1983. Louisville, Kentucky. 12-year old Ann Gotlib leaves her friend’s residence in order to ride her bicycle back to her family’s apartment, but she never arrives. When Ann’s mother goes searching for her, she discovers Ann’s abandoned bicycle outside a department store, but no trace of her can be found. 25 years later, […]

August 23, 1987. Saline County Arkansas. 16-year old Don Henry and 17-year old Kevin Ives head into the woods to do some late-night hunting, but never return. Hours later, the two boys are seen lying on some railroad tracks before they are run over by a cargo train and the medical examiner concludes they had […]

August 23, 1987. Saline County Arkansas. 16-year old Don Henry and 17-year old Kevin Ives head into the woods to do some late-night hunting, but never return. Hours later, the two boys are seen lying on some railroad tracks before they are run over by a cargo train and the medical examiner concludes they had […]

July 22, 1983. Redwood City, California. After spending the month travelling through the state, a pair of Swedish nationals – 23-year old Marie Lilienberg and 25-year old Maria Wahlen – leave their friend’s residence in order to hitchhike to Los Angeles. When they fail to make their scheduled flight and do not return home to […]

July 25, 1995. Lincoln, Nebraska. 18-year old university student Tina McMenamin fails to show up for her shift at work and her body is found inside her apartment bedroom later that night. Tina has been sexually assaulted and stabbed seven times and the apartment is ransacked. Nearly one year later, DNA testing links a suspect […]

August 4, 1984. Fort Myers, Florida. 20-year old Carol Woolsoncroft fails to show up for her shift at her workplace and is never heard from again. Three days later, Carol’s parents return home from vacation and discover her car parked outside their residence, as well as a note from Carol’s boyfriend, Eugene LaFaye Jr., who […]