Send us Fan Mail

In August 1996, John Hartenfeld drove into the mountains of northern New Mexico for a solo fly fishing trip and never came home. His Toyota 4-Runner was found two months later on remote ranch land — every fingerprint wiped from the vehicle. His credit card had already been used, four days after he vanished, to buy a small and troubling amount of two-stroke fuel. Private investigators and law enforcement both concluded foul play. No one was ever prosecuted.

John's son James Hartenfeld is a Portland comedian who has spent most of his adult life with this unresolved wound. He joins us to talk about the moment as a kid when he searched under beds and in closets hoping his dad was pranking him, about the phone call his dad made to a close friend reporting that someone was messing with his car — days before he disappeared — and about a jaw-dropping development that happened just weeks before this recording: New Mexico cold case investigators found remains in the area where John vanished, and they need James's DNA.

James is also building My Little Cold Case, a six-episode documentary series about his father's disappearance. It's a project designed for the families that most cold case content ignores — the ones with no ending, no arrest, no resolution. Just a missing person and a family still waiting.

• The last confirmed sighting of John Hartenfeld and the fishing trip that never ended
• The credit card charge investigators believe may have been used to purchase fuel for dismemberment equipment
• John's final phone call to his friend Muggsy: "Someone's messing with my car"
• A wiped-down truck, refused polygraphs, and a case that went cold
• The tensions investigators cited as the most likely motive — and why they're hard to talk about
• DNA samples collected in 1996 that have never been tested
• The brand-new development: recently found remains and a pending DNA test
• What it's like to grow up, build a career, and still carry an unanswered question
• Why James built My Little Cold Case — and who it's really for

Links from this episode

mylittlecoldcase.com — follow the project and support James's documentary series

Support the show

Every Unsolved Case Deserves a Voice.

Somewhere right now, a family is waiting for answers. Not the famous cases that dominate true crime podcasts or fill network television specials — but the other cases. The ones that slipped through the cracks of media attention. The ones where a name was forgotten before it ever had a chance to be remembered.

That's exactly why TheColdCases.com exists.

We are building the most comprehensive repository of lesser-known cold cases the internet has ever seen — a dedicated, searchable archive where forgotten victims finally get a permanent home. Where their names, their faces, and their stories are preserved with the dignity and urgency they deserve. Where investigators, journalists, amateur sleuths, and compassionate strangers can connect the dots that time tried to bury.

But we can't do this alone.

This work takes time, research, resources, and an unwavering community of people who refuse to let the forgotten stay forgotten. Every case we document is hours of careful, respectful work. Every profile published is a renewed chance for justice.

You are the missing piece.

By subscribing at TheColdCases.com/subscribe, you become part of a movement — one that believes every victim matters, regardless of whether a camera was ever pointed in their direction. Your support helps us research more cases, reach more families, and keep these stories alive until answers...