October 19, 2001. Leverett’s Chapel, Texas. After leaving her house to go for a walk on a nearby trail, 15-year old Jessica Sadler never returns home and her body is discovered underneath a trash pile at a dumpsite in a wooded area four days later. Jessica’s cause of death is determined to be blunt force trauma and suspicion is directed towards her 18-year old friend, Curtis DeWayne Howard, who confesses to having had sex with Jessica on the day she disappeared. Since Jessica was underage, Curtis is charged with sexual assault, but winds up being acquitted at trial and there is not enough evidence to link him or anyone else to Jessica’s death. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the tragic unsolved murder of Jessica Sadler, which has remained unsolved for over two decades.

if you have any information about this case, please contact the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office at (903) 657-3581.

Additional Reading:

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/215437032/

https://www.kltv.com/story/1251895/suspect-found-not-guilty-in-murder-sexual-assault-case/

https://www.kltv.com/story/1511109/anniversary-of-teenagers-mysterious-murder/

For our podcast recommendation of the week, be sure to check out "Evil Lies - The Boy in the Mat: Kendrick 'KJ' Johnson".

"The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.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.