February 19, 1971. Sumter County, Florida. The body of a young woman is found floating beneath a bridge in Lake Panasoffkee. She has been strangled to death with a belt, but in spite of some intriguing clues, the victim cannot be identified and is named “Little Miss Panasoffkee”. Four decades later, investigators explore the possibly that she may have originally hailed from Greece and was murdered after travelling to the United States, but Little Miss Panasoffkee’s true identity cannot be conclusively established.

August 9, 1976. Sumter County, South Carolina. A young man and woman are found shot to death by the side of a secluded dirt road, but they carry no identification. Investigators are able to uncover some promising leads, including a witness who claims he befriended the two victims and heard they were from Canada, and the discovery of the actual murder weapon in a suspect’s possession. However, the authorities lack that one crucial piece of evidence to solve the murder and conclusively identify the two victims, so they become known as “The Sumter County Does”.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two of the most heavily discussed cases involving murdered decedents who have somehow managed to remain unidentified for over four decades.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Miss_Lake_Panasoffkee

https://unsolved.com/gallery/little-miss-aeoepae%C2%9D/

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/470uffl.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumter_County_Does

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/198umsc.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/189ufsc.html

http://www.sumtermysterycouple.com

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

The Trail Went Cold will be appearing at the event, “True Crime Podcasts: Live in Toronto”, being held at the Royal Cinema in Toronto on Sunday, August 18. For more information and to purchase tickets to the event, please visit this website.

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.