Cold Cases

It's been 17 years since Linda Smith was murdered in her Champaign home, yet family and police haven't given up on finding her killer. And when that happens? 'I'll be there to make sure you sit in prison for a long time, hopefully until you die,” Smith's daughter tells Carol Vorel in the fifth episode in her podcast series, Cold Cases. 

It's been more than a decade since 32-year-old friends Ryan Riddell and Mark Prasse were shot to death inside a rural Chrisman home. While state police continue to chase leads, family members are urging anyone with information to come forward. 'You wouldn’t believe how hard it is on the family,” said Riddell's stepfather, Terry Romine told News-Gazette Media's Carol Vorel in the fourth installment of her new podcast series. 'There have not been a lot of fun holidays since then.'

Zachary Gray, police believe, was set up when he was gunned down outside an Urbana apartment in November 2016. Today, the search continues for his killers, a frustating wait for all involved. "My son needs justice," Melinda Ellis tells News-Gazette Media's Carol Vorel in her third Cold Case episode. "And with no one talking, he’s not getting any."

It's been nearly a year since 53-year-old Gus Edwards was gunned down on a Champaign street. Police have made headway but no arrest. In the second of her new podcast series, News-Gazette Media's Carol Vorel talks to those involved in a continuing search for clues. 'We would love closure,' Gus Edwards' brother, Richard, says.

As the first Farm Aid concert played out at Memorial Stadium in 1985, police were searching for Carle psychologist Barbara Bremer. Her body eventually was found in a cornfield near Champaign, a victim of what authorities said was foul play. Today, the case remains unsolved — haunting both family and investigators. In the first of her new podcast series, News-Gazette Media's Carol Vorel talks to those involved in the search for clues, hoping to shed new light on a 33-year-old mystery.