August 7, 1973. Fontana, California. A CB radio operator hears a broadcast from a crying boy calling himself “Larry”, who claims that his father is dead and he needs help. Other CB operators throughout the United States start receiving broadcasts from Larry on their radios and he eventually reveals that he was involved in an accident in a remote part of New Mexico and is trapped inside an overturned pick-up truck alongside his father’s body. While Larry claims that he is using the truck’s CB radio to communicate, he fails to provide many specific details about his location or his background. Even though a massive search operation is launched, no trace of Larry or his truck can be found, leading to speculation that the whole incident was an elaborate hoax, but the mysterious broadcaster known only as “Lost Boy Larry” is never identified. To commemorate our episode’s release date of April 1, we will be doing something a little differently from the norm this week by chronicling the saga of “Lost Boy Larry”.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Boy_Larry

https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/10/archives/a-scared-boys-broadcasts-set-off-search-in-new-mexico.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/158062448/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/609038354/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/294018772/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/581417783/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/398941370/

“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.