January 7, 1990. Daviess County, Kentucky. The nude body of a white male who appears to be in his thirties is found in a remote wooded area. The victim has been shot and severely beaten and his hands and feet were removed, but since he cannot be identified, he becomes known as the “Daviess County John Doe”. Seventeen years later, investigators announce that the victim has been identified as Scott Morris, a 14-year old boy who went missing from Indianapolis, Indiana in 1978, but this turns out to be mistake, as DNA testing later shows that the decedent has no genetic connection to Scott’s family. Finally, in April 2024, the Daviess County John Doe is correctly identified as William Mathews, a former Louisville resident who was 37 years old at the time of his death, but his murder remains unsolved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two separate unsolved cold cases which wound up being linked together in a very unlikely fashion.

Additional Reading:

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/William_Mathews

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/133umky.html

https://www.the-messenger.com/news/local/article_6f162764-e767-11e4-a441-8bdf44f3238c.html

https://www.14news.com/story/1753449/stefanie-silvey-investigates-alleged-murders-of-james-cable/

https://transdoetaskforce.org/index.php/articles/case-solve-owensboro-ky-doe-1990

https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/victim-in-34-year-old-daviess-county-cold-case-identified/

https://www.wdrb.com/news/crime-reports/37-year-old-louisville-man-identified-as-victim-in-1990-daviess-county-cold-case-ksp/article_b6f1ee08-fea3-11ee-a482-4bfd956cc402.html

https://charleyproject.org/case/scott-michael-morris

https://www.14news.com/story/7059575/brutally-murdered-john-doe-identified/

https://www.14news.com/story/7077566/family-prepares-to-bring-home-body-of-murdered-man/

https://www.14news.com/story/145375/unsolved-murder-unidentified-man/

“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 UK” in London on September 21-22, 2024. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD24”, by visiting Crimecon.com or Crimecon.co.uk.

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the Berkshire Podcast Festival, taking place in North Adams, Massachusetts on October 18-20, 2024. To get a 30 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD2024”, by visiting https://www.berkshirepodcastfestival.com/.

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.