July 9, 1970. Lansing, Michigan. 16-year old Laurie Murninghan, the daughter of the city’s former mayor, is abducted from her workplace by a black male during a robbery gone wrong. Eleven days later, Laurie’s decomposed body is discovered in a remote swampy pond and her cause of death is determined to be manual strangulation. Since Laurie’s employer witnessed the abduction, she picks out a promising suspect from a photo line-up who has an extensive criminal record. However, the authorities do not believe they have enough evidence to arrest this man, so the murder is never solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover the unsolved abduction and murder of Laurie Murningham and we will also briefly discuss another cold case involving the murder of 14-year old Karen Oatley, which took place in Lansing nine years later. Special thanks to listener Michelle Beleski for narrating the opening of this episode.

If you have any information about the murders of Laurie Murninghan and Karen Oatley, please contact the Lansing Police Department at (517) 483-4600.

Additional Reading:

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/21/archives/body-of-girl-16-seized-in-holdup-found-in-michigan.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204070287/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206091802/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206091804/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204884983/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/204885016/

https://99wfmk.com/lauriemurninghan/

http://mja–inc–investigations.webs.com/apps/blog/show/5016525-laurie-murninghan-still-seeks-justice-after-40-years

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/mi-laurie-murninghan-16-lansing-9-july-1970.12877/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/98969533/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206180693/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/109188751/

“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 going to be appearing on podcast row at  “Crimecon 2022: Vegas” at Paris & Bally’s in Las Vegas from April 29-May 1, 2022. To get a 10 % discount off a standard badge, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.com/.

“The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon UK” at the Leonardo Royal Hotel &  Spa in London on June 11-12, 2022. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to the event, please use our specialized promo  code, “COLD22”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.co.uk.

“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.