December 7, 2003. Montgomery, Alabama. 19-year old LaQuanta Riley stops off at her mother’s residence to borrow a jacket from her brother. He sees LaQuanta leave in a dark green car being driven by an unidentified man, but she subsequently goes missing. A few weeks later, LaQuanta’s mother receives a garbled message on her answering machine from a panicked woman whom she believes is her daughter and a male voice can be heard in the background. Even though a number of leads are explored, including LaQuanta’s name showing up on an apartment rental in Georgia, no trace of her can be ever found.

June 26, 2010. Selma, Alabama. 17-year old Tarasha Benjamin leaves her mother’s home to go shopping at the Selma Flea Market, but never returns. Tarasha is seen driving an SUV which she borrowed from a friend, but later that day, the abandoned vehicle is found alongside the Cecil Jackson Bypass with a broken door handle and two windows missing. While it is suspected that Tarasha was the victim of an abduction, there are very few leads to work with and Tarasha remains a missing person.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved missing persons cases involving young women from Alabama.

if you have any information about the disappearance of LaQuanta Riley, please contact the Montgomery Police Department at (334) 241-2651. If you have any information about the disappearance of Tarsha Benjamin, please contact the Selma Police Department at (334) 874-2134.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/laquanta-nachelle-riley

https://discover.hubpages.com/family/Missing-LaQuanta-Nachelle-Riley

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2014/04/where_is_my_daughter_decade-ol.html

https://www.waka.com/2018/06/25/15-years-later-mother-of-missing-woman-still-searching-for-answers/

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2019/05/search-continues-for-teen-who-disappeared-in-montgomery-15-years-ago-11000-reward-offered.html

https://elmoreautauganews.com/2021/02/26/missing-since-2003-officials-release-age-progressed-photo-of-laquanta-riley-today-is-her-birthday/

https://charleyproject.org/case/tarasha-benjamin

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741799/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741847/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741897/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570817130/

https://www.wsfa.com/story/36273263/selma-family-pushes-to-uncover-clues-in-womans-2010-disappearance/

https://www.wsfa.com/story/15670452/exclusive-missing-selma-teens-mom-finds-new-hope/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the AdvocacyCon, taking place at the Indianapolis Marriott East in Indianapolis on March 28-30, 2025. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.

“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 produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.