December 31, 2010. Wilmington, Delaware. The body of 66-year old Jack Wheeler is discovered in a trash heap at the Cherry Island Landfill and his cause of death is determined to be blunt force trauma. Days earlier, Jack had left his residence in New York City to travel to Delaware and numerous eyewitnesses would report seeing Jack at numerous locations, displaying erratic behaviour which may have been caused by his struggles with bipolar disorder. It is believed that Jack’s body was transported to the landfill after he wound up inside a dumpster which was picked up by a garbage truck, but even though investigators think his injuries are consistent with a homicide, the exact circumstances of how Jack died are unclear. Was Jack Wheeler actually the victim of foul play or was his death a tragic accident brought on by a mental health crisis? We shall explore both sides of the case on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.

If you have any information about this case, please contact Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-847-3333.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_P._Wheeler_III

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/he-helped-build-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial-but-his-2010-killing-remains-unsolved/2017/05/23/91442c74-2927-11e7-b605-33413c691853_story.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/03/Prominent-veteran-found-in-landfill/UPI-74381294097675

https://web.archive.org/web/20110112023109/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/01/03/general-us-federal-official-landfill_8234629.html

https://www.foxnews.com/us/witnesses-wheeler-appeared-disoriented-disheveled-prior-to-death

https://abcnews.go.com/US/presidential-aide-jack-wheelers-body-found-landfill/story?id=12532638

https://www.dailypress.com/military/dp-nws-john-wheeler-day1-20110409-story.html

https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-04-29-pentagon-official-wheeler-buried-arlington_n.htm

https://screenrant.com/unsolved-mysteries-jack-john-wheeler-murder-leaves-out/

https://www.thewrap.com/unsolved-mysteries-netflix-jack-wheeler-pharmacy-wilmington-delaware/

https://unsolved.com/gallery/washington-insider-murder/

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

“The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.