The Trail Went Cold

December 16, 1979. West Paterson, New Jersey. The bodies of 51-year old Howard Green and his 33-year old girlfriend, Carol Marron, are discovered next to a road and they have been bound, mutilated and bludgeoned to death. The couple lived in a basement apartment in Brooklyn and were believed to have been murdered less than 24 hours before they were found and it’s alleged that someone used a veterinary syringe to drain most of the blood from their bodies. Investigators express their belief that the murders are connected to Satanism and the occult and at one point, the crime is unexpectedly linked to the infamous “Son of Sam” killer, David Berkowitz. While one of the couple’s former neighbours is looked at as a potential suspect, there is no evidence to implicate anyone and the crime remains unsolved. This week, “The Trail Went Cold” presents our first Halloween-themed episode of the year, as we explore the bizarre murders of Howard Green and Carol Marron.

Additional Reading:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/493717083/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/530637537/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/532511016/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/532515990/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-carol-marronnews-article-on-m/149447310/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1084054234/

https://nypost.com/2002/03/03/hellish-79-slay-case-goes-cold-after-cops-drop-ball/

https://nypost.com/2002/03/17/weird-but-true-5/

https://nypost.com/2002/04/08/cold-case-cops-lose-79-slay-file/

https://nypost.com/2002/04/15/1979-slay-case-needed-fbi-prof/

https://jonathandm.substack.com/p/who-killed-howard-green-and-carol

"The Ultimate Evil: The Search for the Son of Sam" by Maury Terry

"The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes" by Michael Newton

“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.

November 12, 1988. Chandler, Oklahoma. While transporting a shipment to Oklahoma City, 27-year old truck driver Dwayne McCorkendale pulls over at a rest area to phone his wife, but he is fatally shot in the back before he is robbed. During this time period, numerous truck drivers report being harassed by the occupants of a brown Ford Pinto, who allegedly made remarks over their CB radio about having killed a trucker. Three decades later, investigators explore the possibility that a deceased woman known only as the “El Dorado Jane Doe” was involved in Dwayne’s murder, but even though she is eventually identified, this crime is never solved.

September 22, 2000. Primm, Nevada. While transporting a shipment from Los Angeles to Alberta, 28-year old Canadian truck driver Trevor Angell stops at Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino, but he vanishes without a trace and his abandoned truck is discovered in the parking lot. Prior to his disappearance, Trevor’s ATM card was used to make nine withdrawals from his bank account and he was last seen looking sick and disoriented and asking people for help. Investigators later express their belief that Trevor may have disappeared voluntarily and was still alive somewhere, but no trace of him is ever found.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved cold cases involving long-haul truck drivers.

if you have any information about the murder of Dwayne McCorkendale, please contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s confidential tip line at 1-800-522-8017. If you have any information about the disappearance of Trevor Angell, please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at (702) 828-2907. 

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/dwayne-mccorkendale/

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

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1988/11/14/shooting-victims-body-identified/62633136007/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/680934348/

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1988/11/17/reward-being-offered-in-slaying-of-trucker/62632829007/

https://tulsaworld.com/archives/unsolved-mysteries-comes-to-oklahoma/article_f8739cbd-fbdb-5c5b-b633-3fbbb264ba40.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/207621708/

https://tulsaworld.com/archive/tv-show-prompts-leads-in-truck-driver-slaying/article_930d2264-4b52-5a7b-81b9-b9a73fb41a91.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eldorado-jane-doe_n_56e6d679e4b0b25c918276a3

https://charleyproject.org/case/trevor-george-angell

https://www.newspapers.com/image/493391219/

“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.

October 7, 2015. La Grange, California. After he fails to return to his home in San Jose from a motorcycle trip to Oroville, 53-year old Robert Kope is found dead by the side of a remote country road. Robert has been strangled to death with a zip tie, but there are no apparent signs of struggle and his motorcycle is located down the road a quarter-mile away from his body. Seven years earlier, Robert had been engaged to be married to a woman who died after being strangled with a zip tie, but her death was ruled to be a suicide and investigators are unable to uncover a connection between the two deaths or a logical motive for Robert’s murder. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a perplexing crime known as “The Zip Tie Murder” which has gone unsolved for over a decade. Special thanks to listener Phoebe Holmes for narrating the opening of this episode.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department at (209) 525-7080.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/podcasts/the-zip-tie-murder/

https://cdn.unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/71-The-Zip-Tie-Murder.pdf?x49380

https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article264615151.html

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-zip-tie-murder-17771869.php

https://www.newspapers.com/image/667895551/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/706304353/

“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.

April 9, 2008. Gastonia, North Carolina. After having spent the previous day suffering from a stomach virus, 22-year old Jamie Fraley speaks to a friend on the phone from her apartment during the early morning hours. She says that someone has shown up to give her a ride to the hospital, but after the call ends, Jamie is never heard from again. Suspicion turns towards her fiancée’s father, Ricky Simonds Sr., who lived at Jamie’s apartment complex and had allegedly displayed inappropriate behavior towards her. Two months later, Ricky Sr. is found dead after trapping himself inside the trunk of his estranged ex-girlfriend’s car and succumbing to heat stroke, but even though he is investigated for potential involvement in Jamie’s disappearance, there is not enough evidence to implicate him and Jamie is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved disappearance of Jamie Fraley.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Gaston County Police Department at (704) 866-3320.

Additional Reading:

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

https://charleyproject.org/case/jamie-michelle-fraley

https://www.wbtv.com/story/8483895/son-of-man-found-dead-in-trunk-speaks-out/

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/missing-womans-angels-wont-give-up-search/275-374098694

https://www.wbtv.com/story/28767264/missing-gaston-county-womans-family-still-desperate-for-answers-seven-years-later/

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2016/04/07/mother-observes-somber-anniversary/32006351007/

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2018/04/19/10-years-later-no-answers-in-gaston-cold-case/12660238007/

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/somebody-has-to-know-something-11-years-later-jamie-fraley-still-missing/275-55ba517d-9205-42fc-95c6-a181afd1ea93

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/heartbroken-mother-refuses-give-search-answers-2008-disappearance-daughter-jamie-n1232334

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2015/09/05/killer-confesses-to-more-crimes/33582124007/

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2015/09/05/killer-says-he-s-dying/33582162007/

https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1991/313a86-0.html

“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.

March 18, 1981. Springfield, Illinois. An unknown assailant walks into the Lauterbach Cottage Hardware Store to commit a robbery and grabs an axe from the shelf to bludgeon three victims: the 48-year old co-owner, Yvonne Lauterbach; a 37-year old sewing machine repair shop owner, Floyd Giddings; and a 64-year old customer, John Ewing. While John is pronounced dead at the scene, Yvonne and Floyd manage to survive, but are left with debilitating injuries. Numerous witnesses describe seeing a light-skinned man leaving the store right before the bodies were discovered, but even though a psychiatric patient and a convicted robber are each looked at as potential suspects, there is not enough evidence to implicate anyone and the Lauterbach Hardware Axe Attacks remain unsolved. 

November 10, 1993. Warminster, Pennsylvania. 20-year old Seann Campbell and his 20-year old friend, Bryan Benson, show up to work the closing shift together at a West Coast Video store, but when the owner arrives the following morning, he discovers that the front door is unlocked and Seann and Bryan have been murdered. Their bodies are found in the adult films section at the back of the store, as both victims were stabbed numerous times and have defensive wounds to indicate that they put up a violent struggle against one or more attackers. While money is stolen from the register, there is debate about whether robbery was the actual motive, but even though an earring is found on the floor at the crime scene, there is not enough evidence to determine who was responsible for the murders.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the “Lauterbach Hardware Axe Attacks” and the “West Coast Video Murders”, a pair of cold cases in which multiple victims were violently attacked inside a place of business.

If you have information about the Lauterbach Hardware Axe Attacks, please contact the Springfield Police Department at (217) 788-8311. If you have information about the West Coast Video Murders, please contact the Warminster Township Police Department at (215) 443-5000 or the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office at (215) 348-6354. 

Additional Reading:

https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/lauterbach-cottage-hardware-ax-attacks-1981/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307541603/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1306795519/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307544293/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1306795538/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307559975/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307727598/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1318645104/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1319129351/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1301177798/

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2011/01/16/first-in-print-30-years/44237723007/

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/crime/2018/04/20/city-to-demolish-scene-37/12624959007/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/178466254/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/170119080/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/198104998/

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/2011/07/12/a-decade-unanswered-questions-10/17880603007/

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/crime/2011/08/11/bryan-benson-seann-campbell-warminster/17868157007/

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/crime/2013/11/29/da-actionable-info-in-93/17976178007/

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/bryan-benson-seann-campbell-cold-case-murders-1993-bucks-county-warminster-reward-fund-exclusive/

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/cbs3-mysteries-bryan-benson-seann-campbell-warminster-west-coast-video/

“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.

June 17, 1969. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 12-year-old Patty Chesher leaves her residence in order to go door-to-door and sell some raffle tickets, but after her next-door neighbour purchases a ticket, she vanishes without a trace. While the police initially suspect that Patty ran away voluntarily, her family does not believe this and when she fails to resurface, investigators start exploring the possibility that she was the victim of foul play. Four decades later, it is announced that no less than four persons of interest popped up on the radar after drawing suspicion with some questionable behaviour after Patty went missing, but there is no conclusive evidence to implicate any of them and Patty is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to Albuquerque in order to explore a missing children’s case which has gone unsolved for over 57 years.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Albuquerque Police Department at (505) 242-2677.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/patricia-joan-chesher

https://www.newspapers.com/image/157109930/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783485569/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783465617/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783465670/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783500523/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/784316247/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/148646739/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206266437/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262759977/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262760009/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262759993/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/784648330/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206266611/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, 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.

October 27, 2006. Sacramento County, California. While performing his overnight patrol duty for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, 38-year old Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Mitchell sends a message to dispatch that he has pulled over a white Chevrolet van with no plates in a rural area. Minutes later, a clicking noise is heard on the radio and Jeffrey is soon found dead on the ground behind his patrol car, as it turns out he had gotten into a violent struggle before he was shot in the head with his own service revolver. Twelve hours later, a white Chevrolet van containing the bodies of 43-year old Allan Shubert and 28-year old Nicole Welch is found in the Cosumnes River over 20 miles away and it is determined that they succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Over the years, law enforcement explores the possibility that Allan and Nicole’s deaths are connected to Jeffrey’s murder, but no conclusive answers can be found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the bizarre murder of a police officer and the deaths of two other potential victims which have gone unsolved for two decades.

So you have any information about this case, please contact the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Cold Case Homicide Unit at 916-874-5057 or their tip line at 916-874-TIPS (8477).

Join us on Sunday, September 6 at 8:00pm ET for an online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link.

Additional Reading:

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/wife-of-murdered-deputy-speaks-out/

https://www.kcra.com/article/11-years-later-deputys-murder-remains-unsolved/14770313

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/unsolved-jeffrey-mitchell-murder-sacramento-17382062.php

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/unsolved-california-who-killed-sacramento-co-sheriff-deputy-jeffrey-mitchell/103-749ae7ae-ad48-44ca-a27f-62eeeb8c81b6

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/unsolved-california-wife-of-murdered-deputy-shares-her-hope-for-justice-and-how-she-keeps-jeffrey-mitchells-legacy-alive/103-9e1af8e8-984b-4c1a-b69f-ec7cc64b9e85

https://www.sacramentodsa.com/the-fallen/deputy-jeffrey-mitchell/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/649554054/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/631192523/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/631196359/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/631196601/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/637956019/

https://corruptionexposer.blogspot.com/2013/10/corruption-and-sacramento-sheriffs.html

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, 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.

October 8, 1976. Benton County, Indiana. A farmer discovers a large cardboard shipping box in his cornfield which contains the body of an elderly woman who has been shot through the head. Since the victim cannot be identified, she remains a Jane Doe and is nicknamed “The Box Lady of Benton County”. Nearly 50 years later, genetic genealogy finally identifies the victim as 69-year old Jane Hart, who lived in Chicago around the time of her death, but the identity of her killer and the motive for the crime remain unknown. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved murder of Jane Hart, a former Jane Doe whose recent identification has also brought up more questions than answers. In addition, this episode will also explore the story of a Jane Doe from Benton County, Arkansas who was found murdered in 1990, but was identified three decades later as a 28-year old victim named Donna Sue Nelton. Special thanks to listener Shane Beneke for narrating the opening of this episode.

if you have information on the murder of Jane Hart, please contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at (765) 884-0080. If you have any information about the murder of Donna Sue Nelton, please contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at (479) 271-1009. 

Additional Reading:

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

https://dnadoeproject.org/case/benton-co-jane-doe-1976/

https://www.bentonreview.com/articles/popular-podcast-discusses-benton-county-cold-case/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/105870898/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262897187/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2019/07/13/body-exhumed-reopening-76-cold-case-woman-found-box-benton-co-cornfield/1702057001/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/local/2026/07/15/benton-county-jane-doe-identified-after-almost-50-years/90932141007/

https://www.jconline.com/story/news/local/2026/07/18/dna-match-leads-to-identity-of-jane-doe-50-years-later-benton-county/90955165007/

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LC2F-HZJ/mary-gole%C5%A1-1888-1945

https://dnasolves.com/articles/benton-county-donna-sue-nelton/

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

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/nov/01/texas-company-key-to-identifying-benton-county/

https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/benton-county-ids-three-cold-case-homicide-victims/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/207571824/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1117407730/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, 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.

January 26, 1980. Nantucket, Massachusetts. The brother of 49-year old Margaret Kilcoyne wakes up and discovers that she is missing from her vacation home, even though her car, coat and winter boots have been left behind. Prior to her disappearance, Margaret had completed a scientific research breakthrough at her job in New York City, but was also displaying erratic behaviour to suggest she was suffering from mental health issues. Over one week later, some of Margaret’s personal items, including her wallet and passport, are discovered in a swamp area about a mile from her residence, though the authorities suspect the items may have been planted there following the original search effort for her. While Margaret’s brother believes that she chose to end her own life by walking to a nearby beach and drowning herself in the Atlantic Ocean, other people associated with the case suspect that something else happened, but no trace of Margaret is ever found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to the island of Nantucket to explore what is considered to be the area’s most famous mystery.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Nantucket Police Department at (508) 228-1212.

Additional Reading:

https://nantucketcurrent.com/people/nantucket-s-greatest-unsolved-mystery-the-disappearance-of-dr-margaret-kilcoyne

https://charleyproject.org/case/margaret-mary-kilcoyne

https://garyholmes76.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/kilcoyne-story.pdf

"New York Magazine" (April 14, 1980)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xzBW2WEKCY

https://www.newspapers.com/image/842021871/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/438533635/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, 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.

April 26, 1970. East Pikeland Township, Pennsylvania. While on a weekend camping trip with his Boy Scout troop, eleven-year old Terry Bowers is discovered dead inside his sleeping bag after having been stabbed four times during the early morning hours. Even though Terry was sleeping outside and there were nearly 30 other people at the campsite, no one reported seeing or hearing anything unusual and the murder weapon cannot be found. An extensive investigation turns up some leads, but no solid suspects, so Terry’s murder is never solved and the motive for the crime remains unclear. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the death of Terry Bowers, one of the most perplexing child murders you’ll ever find.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Embreeville station of the Pennsylvania State Police at (610) 486-6280 or Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (1-800-472-8477).

Additional Reading:

https://6abc.com/post/47-years-later-boy-scouts-death-remains-a-mystery/1917203/

https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-clues-emerge-1970-boy-scout-murder-its-still-mystery-20121205.html

https://www.inquirer.com/philly/hp/news_update/20121205_Scouts___perversion_files_.html

https://www.dailylocal.com/2017/04/21/update-reward-fund-now-at-51000-in-darby-boy-scouts-unsolved-murder-in-1970/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/184980133/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/176220027/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/176225072/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/198240054/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/198240158/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/198240163/

https://vimeo.com/reviews/ff8cd0e7-43b7-49fb-b653-6c2bed451d9e/videos/354919148

https://twistedpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-225-murder-of-terry-bowers

https://twistedpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-226-murder-of-terry-bowers-part-2

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, 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.