Trace Evidence

Nineteen year old Brandon Swanson had just completed his first year of college. Planning to spend his evening celebrating with friends, Brandon drove from his home in Marshall, MN to two separate gatherings. After leaving the second, near midnight, Brandon made the choice to take back roads rather than the faster and easier route of Highway 68.

While driving on gravel back roads, Brandon got his car stuck in a ditch. Calling his parents for help, Brandon gave them directions to come and pick him up but when they arrived, neither Brandon nor his car were anywhere to be found. It wouldn't be until later that Brandon's parents would learn their son was actually twenty-five miles away from where he had thought.

During a 47 minute phone call with his father, Brandon explained that he saw lights and was going to walk toward them. At some point, during the call, Brandon screamed out an expletive and the phone went dead. Neither Brandon, his phone or any shred of evidence has ever been found to explain what may have happened.

What happened to Brandon Swanson? Did the young man die of exposure due to the cold Minnesota night? Did he fall into the Yellow Medicine River, unable to escape its surging waters? Or, did Brandon come upon someone who had malicious intentions? Join host Steven Pacheco as he examines this haunting and disturbing story.

***This week's episode is brought to you by Care/of Vitamins. Visit TakeCareOf.com and use Promo Code Trace for 25% off your first order of vitamins.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/brandon-swanson

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Nineteen year old Rachel Cooke had been attending college in San Diego. There, she met and fell in love with a man with whom she hoped to create a brilliant and beautiful future. Rachel was pursuing a career in fashion, and she had completely fallen in love with California, which was entirely different from her small hometown of Georgetown, Texas.

In December of 2001, Rachel returned home for the holidays. Her boyfriend came along, though he would return back to California before New Years. He had work to attend to, and the two of them had recently decided to move in together in the new year. Rachel decided to stay in Georgetown a little longer, so she could attend her cousin’s wedding. Everything was going well, until the morning of January 10th, 2002.

Rachel went out for her usual morning run, but she never came home. When her parents realized she was missing, the Sheriff’s department was contacted. Despite exhaustive searches, media coverage and endless missing person’s fliers, Rachel was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the next sixteen years, multiple eyewitnesses would come forward telling different stories, including a confession, later recanted by a convicted killer.

What happened to Rachel Cooke and who is responsible for this atrocious crime? Join host Steven Pacheco as he examines this heartbreaking and baffling case.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/rachel-cooke

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Short update episode regarding sentencing of a suspect in the Disappearance of Heather Elvis, examined in episode 33 of Trace Evidence.

"Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Seventeen year old Norman Ladner loved spending his free time on his family's land. He would walk through the 122 acre plot, exploring the open pastures and dense forestry. Fishing and hunting were two of his favorite activities, but on the night of August 21st, 1989, Norman didn't come home.

After searching for over an hour, Norman's father made the terrible discovery of his son's body. Norman had died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and while investigators initially considered it an accidental shooting, the final ruling was suicide. Unable to accept this, Norman's parents began an investigation of their own.

Over the next several weeks, the Ladner's discovered a blood stained bullet, too large for their son's rifle, a radio transmitter they were told was often used by drug smugglers and were even threatened by an unknown individual not to reopen the case.

What happened to Norman Ladner, was this a tragic case of a teenager taking his own life, a terrible accident or a case of homicide either covered up, or poorly investigated? Join host Steven Pacheco as he examines the details of this disturbing and complex case.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/norman-ladner

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It was a hot summer afternoon in Newark, New Jersey in 1978.  Five close friends, Melvin "Ricky" Pittman (17), Ernest Taylor (17), Alvin Turner (16), Randy Johnson (16) and Michael McDowell (16) had all gotten together to play basketball at West Side Park.

As the afternoon turned to evening, the friends went their separate ways, planning to meet up again later.  They were going to help a local business owner move boxes in preparation for his purchase of a new home, grab a few extra bucks for their trouble, and then see what this summer night had to offer.  Sadly, none of them would ever return home.

Over the next thirty-three years, theories and rumors would run rampant.  Psychics would claim to hold the answers, tipsters would call in with leads that led to nowhere and eventually, a confession would result in a trial that would end with unsatisfying results.  What happened to the young men, since then referred to as the Clinton Avenue Five and who may hold the answers to this haunting mystery?

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/clinton-five

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Twenty year old Angela Hammond was living in rural Clinton, Missouri.  Everything in her life seemed to be coming together:  she'd fallen in love, gotten engaged and was pregnant with her first child.  The bright, sweet and beautiful young woman was excited for the days ahead and the future she was building.

On April 4th, 1991, she had plans to meet her fiance, Rob, downtown for a night out.  As the evening wore on, she found herself getting tired and decided she'd rather just go home.  She stopped at a payphone at the edge of a supermarket parking lot and called Rob to cancel their plans.  In the midst of this conversation, Angie was abducted by a man in a green pickup truck.

Angie screamed into the phone.  Rob sped over to the scene and caught sight of the truck.  As it passed him, Rob saw Angie struggling with the driver and heard her screaming his name.  He spun his own truck around and gave chase, but in doing so he had severely damaged his transmission and the last thing he saw were the abductor's tail lights vanishing into the darkness.Who abducted Angie Hammond twenty-seven years ago, and what became of her?  Join Host Steven Pacheco as he examines this haunting story.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Social Media:
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/angela-hammond

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Twenty year old Karina Holmer wanted to see more of the world beyond her Swedish home town.  In the Spring of 1996, she decided to go to America, working as an Au Pair for a well to do family in the Boston suburb of Dover.  At first, everything was going great, but soon problems began to rear their head.In letters home, the young woman went from positive and excited to negative and eventually, frightened.  Karina promised to explain it all when she got home, but unfortunately, she would not return home alive or in one piece.

In a case which has become the Boston Black Dahlia case, the young nanny was found murdered in a dumpster not far from the club she was last seen dancing at.  Her dismembered remains were discovered by a homeless man, kicking off a massive investigation in which everyone was a suspect. Despite all of the media attention at the time, this terrible incident has been mostly forgotten over time, and Karina herself has become a name most no longer recall.

Join host Steven Pacheco as he examined this disturbing and gruesome crime, going over all of the known evidence and suspects in episode sixty - The Murder of Karina Holmer.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Social Media:
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/karina-holmer

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Six year old Isabel Celis disappeared from her family's home in April of 2012.  Despite extensive searches, nothing could be found.  Rumor quickly built up suggesting that a member of her own family had been involved in the crime. 

In March of 2017, Isabel's remains were recovered in rural Pima County.  Now, a year later, an arrest has finally been made which not only connects to Isabel and another young woman who was murdered, but which also exonerates her family.

This short update episode briefly summarizes the case and then discusses breaking news of the arrest of thirty-six year old Christopher Clements in connection with the abduction and murder of Isabel Celis, as well as the 2014 murder of thirteen year old Maribel Gonzalez.

"Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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In her early twenties, April Pitzer found herself on the wrong side of the law.  In order to wipe the slate clean, she agreed to become a confidential informant.  She had no idea the dangerous world she was entering, and ultimately had to flee Arkansas when her identity was compromised.  Years later, she was brought back to testify in a trial which sent over twenty members of a major drug ring to federal prison.

April was never the same after that, scared and paranoid she began to fall into alcoholism and was diagnosed with bi-polar.  After losing her marriage and having her children taken away, April decided to go to California in search of perspective and to put her life back together.  Unfortunately, she would never make it back.

In a terrifying twist of fate, a chance encounter with a woman from Arkansas revealed April's history as a drug informant and many of the people she found herself surrounded by had been involved in the very drug ring that she had testified against.  Frightened and desperate, April wanted to come back home.  Before she could, she would mysteriously vanish and rumors spread rapidly that she had been murdered and dumped in one of the 20,000 mines in the area.  What became of April Pitzer and who took her life?

Join host Steven Pacheco as he examines this heartbreaking case of deception, arrests, undercover work and murder.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
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Social Media:
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/april-pitzer

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Jeramy Burt was last seen on February 11th, 2007.  Ninety six days later, the vehicle he had driven off in, his ex-wife's Mercury Cougar, was discovered abandoned and torched in the Bruneau desert in Southwest Idaho.  The discovery of the car caused the Boise Police Department to officially launch an investigation into his disappearance.

During the course of the investigation they examined his bank and phone records, revealing details about his final moments and the days after he vanished.  His ex-wife, Kim, who he had been dating again at the time, married another man shortly after Jeramy disappeared, raising many suspicions.  His former girlfriend, and ex-lawyer, Jeannie Braun, became a person of interest for almost everyone associated with the case, but was there more to the story?

In the conclusion to this story, host Steven Pacheco examines the investigation, missing audio files, polygraph tests, suspects and a possible link between Jeramy's disappearance and that of another Idaho man, Ahren Barnard.

For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.com
https://www.patreon.com/traceevidence

Social Media:
https://twitter.com/TraceEvPod
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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/jeramy-burt

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