September 20, 1994. Los Angeles, California. Alfredo Newball returns to his apartment and discovers that his 32-year old pregnant wife, Cecilia Newball, and his six-year old stepson, Rene Perez, have vanished without a trace and Cecilia’s Jeep and all of their personal possessions have been left behind. Even though Cecilia is only two weeks away from giving birth, Alfredo is soon mailed a typewritten note in which Cecilia reveals that she and Rene have run off with a doctor from Honduras. Prior to her disappearance, Cecilia had been contacted by a woman who wanted to arrange a meeting to show her some baby furniture on the day she went missing, but she cannot be identified and Cecilia and Rene are never found.

February 21, 1991. Las Cruces, New Mexico. 35-year old Edyth Warner, an art student at New Mexico State University, leaves her class and does not return, and 11-year old Nicholas Smith, Edyth’s son from a previous marriage, also seems to go missing at the same time. According to Edyth’s current husband, Henry Warner, Edyth took Nicholas and went to stay at a friend’s house and never came back, but she inexplicably left behind the couple’s three-year son, Andrew. Investigators eventually come to believe that Edyth and Nicholas were the victims of foul play, but no suspects are named and the case is never solved.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved missing persons cases in which a mother and son disappeared together.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/cecilia-newball-rene-perez/

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Cecilia_Newball_and_Rene_Perez_Jr.

https://charleyproject.org/case/cecilia-elizabeth-newball

https://charleyproject.org/case/rene-perez-jr

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-29-me-44410-story.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20130718060712/http://www.lacountymurders.com/wanted/099-00062-3199-011.pdf

https://charleyproject.org/case/edyth-ann-warner

https://charleyproject.org/case/nicholas-vincent-smith

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-30-vw-653-story.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/431536244/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/997619150/

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.