Cold Case Talk

Amy Westreicher moved from California to remote eastern Utah to help out a friend. She fell in with a group of people who had some troubles with the law. In 2010, Amy went missing one night from a camper parked in the desolute countryside near Roosevelt, Utah. The "friends" in the camper scattered, the police investigation went nowhere. The case went cold, as cold as it was that wintery night in the middle of nowhere when Amy disappeared. And if it hadn't been for the persistence of a friend dealing with her own personal tragedy this case might have remained that way. This is that story.

The 1995 Super Bowl featured the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers. Like millions of others, those confined to the forensic (crime-related) ward at the Utah State Hospital had their own viewing party complete with drinks and snacks. Bahe Davis, an 18-year-old with disabilities being held there after a stabbing, also participated. But the next day, Bahe was dead. Who or what killed Bahe Davis?

Aletha Jo Williams had some minor run-ins with the law. Then she became pregnant and in 2001 and 2002 seemed to be turning her life around when her Utah family reported her missing. Police did some investigation but had little to go on and her disappearance became a cold case. Acting on new information in 2014, police obtained a search warrant and sent drivers into waterways looking for her body. They didn't find Aletha and no arrests were made for what appears to be her murder. Now, just this week (July 6), a dramatic new development occurred. We rushed out this podcast to tell the story.

In March of 1969, LeRoy Ortiz was taken from his Ogden home and murdered. Ortiz was a young rising boxer but his career was cut short by a bullet to the heart. For years, the Ortiz family said they knew who killed LeRoy and that the killers had even taunted them on the streets of Ogden. Now we know and, even though this was a cold case murder, a certain kind of justice was meted out.

A perhaps surprising number of cold case murders are accompanied by dismemberment of the victim. But why do killers often cut up parts of victims or even entire bodies? We sought answers from one of the world's leading researchers on the phenomenon. Listen to an intriguing interview with Dr. David Holmes, a forensic psychologist in Manchester, England.

Halloween Special: Our encounters with the dead; psychics provide tips in the Susan Cox Powell case; meet psychic medium Judy  Dixon, the real thing; take a ride with us to find the White Lady who searches for her missing child. Warning: You might never hear from us again.