April 29th, 1999. A skull is found in a trash bag outside Action Glass in Atlanta, Georgia. Soon after, in different trash bags, various other body parts are found. The remains are identified as the remains of Melissa Wolfenbarger, a 21-year-old married mother of two who is reported missing several months prior. In a remarkable twist, Melissa’s remains are verified only after her Father is arrested in connection to an unrelated murder. 

On this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum, a Crime Scene Investigator, is joined by Trace Sargent. Trace is one of the nation's leading K9 handlers who specializes in search, rescue, and recovery missions. Trace explains her background and how she fell in love with search and rescue. Trace also explains the way dogs are trained to search, why she uses multiple dogs on searches and a part of running a canine that may go unseen.

 

Show Notes:

• [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum. If you missed part one or two of Melissa Wolfenbarger’s case check those out here: Melissa Wolfenbarger: Norma and Tina Patton | Part 1, Melissa Wolfenbarger: Karyn Greer | Part 2
• [2:28] Sheryl gives a brief background of guest, Trace Sargent. Trace is one of the nation's leading K9 handlers who specializes in search, rescue, and recovery missions.
• [6:27] Trace details the early days of getting involved with training dogs, and animals of all types. 
• [16:22] “I always put people before politics and principles before policies.” T.S
• [18:59] Sheryl gives a layout of the search party team for Melissa and the introduction to Trace, her dogs on the search, and the environment they experienced in Georgia 
• [21:32] Question: Why would it be important to have two dogs or more on a search such as Melissa’s? 
• [21:56] Natalie Holloway Case 
• [25:26] Trace explains how dogs are trained to find scents
• [32:09] A part of running a canine that most people don’t see
• [37:50] “Trust your dog.” -T.P 
• [38:02] Thanks for listening to another episode! If you’re loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review! How to Leave an Apple Podcast Review: First, Open the podcast app on your iPhone, Mac, or iPad. Then, hit the “Search” tab at the bottom right-hand corner of the page and search for Zone 7. Select the podcast, scroll down to find the subheading “Ratings & Reviews”. and select “Write a Review.” Next, select the number of stars you’d like to leave. Please choose 5 stars! Using the text box which says “Title,” write a title for your review. Then in the text box, write the review itself. The review can be up to 300 words long, but doesn’t need to be much more than: “Love the show! Thanks!” or Once you’re done select “Send” in the upper right-hand corner.

 

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org

Social Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

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