The Trail Went Cold

Latest Episodes:

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 125 - A.J. Breaux May 22, 2019

Show notes

August 28, 1991. Houma, Louisiana. 50-year old A.J. Breaux leaves an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at the local Easy Does It Club, but never returns home. Two days later, A.J.’s abandoned car is found in a park across the street from the club and many of his possessions are still inside. That very same day, multiple eyewitnesses reporting seeing A.J. with three unidentified men in a red compact car, and the case would feature more strange developments, including an anonymous note stating that A.J. committed suicide after falling off the wagon. Did A.J. Breaux become a victim of foul play? If so, who could have been responsible? We explore these questions as we cover a baffling missing persons case on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/aj-breaux/

http://charleyproject.org/case/adam-john-breaux

https://www.dailycomet.com/news/20170827/daughters-seek-answers-26-years-after-fathers-disappearance

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20040829/news/608098402/HC/

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20080113/News/608099994/HC/

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20140201/News/608074403/HC/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing on podcast row at CrimeCon 2019 from June 7th-9th at the Hilton Riverside hotel in New Orleans. Listeners can receive a 10% discount on the purchase of a standard badge by using the promo code “COLD19”.

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

The Trail Went Cold will be appearing at the event, “True Crime Podcasts: Live in Toronto”, being held at the Royal Cinema in Toronto on Sunday, August 18. For more information and to purchase tickets to the event, please visit this website.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 124 - Ashley Estell May 15, 2019

Show notes

September 4, 1993. Plano, Texas. While attending a soccer game at Carpenter Park with her family, seven-year old Ashley Estell goes missing after an apparent abduction. The following day, Ashley is found strangled to death next to an isolated dirt road six miles away. The investigation soon leads to a paroled sex offender named Michael Blair, who is subsequently convicted of Ashley’s murder and sentenced to death. However, as the years go by, the case against Blair begins to fall apart and DNA testing eventually exonerates him of the crime. So who was actually responsible for the murder of Ashley Estell? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores a controversial case which led to the passing of some new laws, but failed to bring the right perpetrator to justice.

Additional Reading:

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2001/june/did-this-creep-really-kill-ashley-estell/

https://www.innocenceproject.org/cases/michael-blair/

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3030

https://starlocalmedia.com/planocourier/news/plano-who-is-ashley-estell-s-killer/article_8e1b99a3-3e0f-5db7-ba5f-56db0ae7ea7b.html

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 123 - Marie Blee May 08, 2019

Show notes

November 21, 1979. Craig, Colorado. After spending the evening at a dance, 15-year old Marie Blee heads to a party at a mobile home park, but never returns home. Two days later, Marie’s parents receive an anonymous phone call demanding a $5,000 ransom for her return. The caller is soon revealed to be 18-year old Monty Doolin, who drove Marie to the party, but he denies any involvement in her disappearance. Over the next few decades, investigators would receive contradictory accounts from several eyewitnesses about what might have happened to Marie on the night she went missing. They eventually name three persons of interest, but Marie is never found. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles a very frustrating cold case about a missing teenage girl in which the full truth has yet to be uncovered.

Additional Reading:

http://charleyproject.org/case/marie-ann-blee

http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases/2009/11/15/high-school-blee-vanishes-from-party-craig/943/

http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0601b.htm

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/suspect-in-marie-blee-cold-case-arrested-on-suspicion-of-kidnapping-a-different-routt-county-teenager-more-than-30-years-ago/

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/crime-courts/judge-dismisses-class-1-felony-kidnapping-case/

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 122 - Linda Sherman May 01, 2019

Show notes

April 22, 1985. Vinita Park, Missouri. 27-year old wife and mother Linda Sherman does not show up for shift at work and her abandoned car is soon discovered in an airport parking garage. Since Linda had recently filed for divorce from her controlling husband, Don Sherman, he is suspected of being responsible for her disappearance. Five years later, a skull is discovered outside Don’s favourite restaurant and after it is kept in an evidence room for 14 months, police receive an anonymous note confirming that the skull belongs to Linda. In spite of this, Don maintains his innocence and the rest of Linda’s remains are never found. Did Don Sherman murder his wife, dig up her skull and plant it outside the restaurant? If he wasn’t responsible, who did kill Linda and what was their motive? We shall explore both sides of this truly bizarre unsolved murder case on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.

Additional Reading:

http://unsolved.com/gallery/linda-sherman

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/body-of-evidence/Content?oid=2475396

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/michael-webb-vinita-park-police-chief-pursued-murder-case-for/article_af4d26e9-195a-5206-ba1c-4bad8557c3c9.html

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 121 - Glen & Bessie Hyde Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

November 15, 1928. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. 29-year old Glen Hyde and his 22- year old wife, Bessie, decide to spend their honeymoon taking a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon down the rapids of the Colorado River and hope to attain a new speed record. Shortly after stopping at the home of a photographer named Emery Kolb, the Hydes vanish without a trace. Their empty boat is eventually discovered on the river nearly 150 miles away with all of the couple’s supplies and possessions onboard, but Glen and Bessie are nowhere to be found. Over the next several decades, there would be a number of surprising twists, including a woman who claimed to be Bessie Hyde and the discovery of an unidentified male skeleton in Emery Kolb’s boathouse. Did Glen and Bessie Hyde drown in the Colorado River, or was something a lot more sinister behind their disappearances? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles the Grand Canyon’s most famous mystery, which has remained unsolved for nearly a century. Special thanks to listener Colin Zavitz for providing the opening narration on today’s episode.

Additional Reading:

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

http://charleyproject.org/case/glen-rollin-hyde

http://charleyproject.org/case/bessie-louise-haley-hyde

“Sunk Without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde” by Brad Dimock

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 120 - Amber Tuccaro & Jolene Cote Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

August 18, 2010. Leduc County, Alberta. While staying with her infant son and a friend at a motel, 20-year old Amber Tuccaro decides to hitchhike to Edmonton. She never returns and is subsequently reported missing. Two years later, police release audio of a recording from Amber’s cell phone in which she can be heard conversing with a male driver on the night of her disappearance. Amber expresses fear that this man is taking her to a remote area and it seems likely she was murdered shortly after the call ended. Within days, Amber’s skeletal remains are discovered in a farmer’s field, but the voice of the male driver is never positively identified.

October 12, 2011. Parkland County, Alberta. After spending the night playing in a soccer tournament, 36-year old wife and mother Jolene Cote stops to make some purchase at Wal-Mart before heading home. The following morning, Jolene’s husband wakes up and discovers her body on the grass outside their rural home, and it becomes apparent that she was attacked shortly after pulling into the driveway. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police remains very secretive about many aspects of this investigation, but express their belief that Jolene was not a randomly targeted victim.

Listen to "The Secret Room" podcast, hosted by Ben Hamm. Special thanks to Ben for providing the opening narration on today’s episode, which covers two unsolved cold cases from Alberta.

Additional Reading:

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/amber-alyssa-tuccaro

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/amber-tuccaro-s-unsolved-murder-do-you-recognize-this-voice-1.3102635

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ab/community-communaute/historical-homicide-groupe-non-resolues/amber-tuccaro-eng.htm

https://globalnews.ca/tag/jolene-cote/

https://country105.com/news/204299/timeline-the-jolene-cote-murder-investigation/

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 119 - Lindsay Baum Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

June 26, 2009. McCleary, Washington. After stopping by a friend’s house, 10-year old Lindsey Baum leaves walk home. Even though her trip should have only taken ten minutes, Lindsey never arrives and is soon reported missing, but a massive search effort fails to turn up any trace of her. Eight years later, skeletal remains are discovered in a remote area 150 miles away and DNA testing eventually matches them to Lindsey. While the investigation turns up a couple of persons of interest, including two local residents who provided false information about their alibis on the night Lindsey went missing, no one has ever been charged with her murder. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we chronicle one of the most heavily discussed unsolved missing children’s cases of the past decade.

Additional Reading:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/05/13/weve-brought-lindsey-home-search-ends-for-10-year-old-girl-who-vanished-in-2009/

https://truecrimedaily.com/2017/04/24/lindsey-baum-10-goes-missing-persons-of-interest-lie-to-investigators/

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/sunday-marks-7-years-washington-girl-lindsey-baum-s-mysterious-n599316

https://komonews.com/news/local/person-of-interest-identified-in-lindsey-baum-disappearance

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/brothers-accused-abuse-probed-lindsey-baum-cold-case-hopes-article-1.3440214

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 118 - Tom Roche Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

September 13, 1991. Burbank, California. 37-year old Tom Roche makes plans to meet his spouse, Barbara Rondeau, for lunch, but never shows up. When Barbara returns to their apartment, she discovers that the front door is unlocked and Tom is missing. Six days later, Barbara receives an envelope containing some of Tom’s personal items, along with an anonymous confession letter to his murder. While there is some speculation that Tom could have staged his own disappearance, some of his skeletal remains and personal possessions are eventually discovered in a remote area 500 miles away. Tom’s cause of death is determined to be a gunshot wound, but the circumstances of how he wound up dead remain unclear. Was Tom Roche abducted and murdered? Was the anonymous confession letter actually written by his killer? We will explore a number of these unanswered questions as we cover a very baffling case on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/tom-roche/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-19-me-4840-story.html

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 117 - Rick Hochstetler Mar 27, 2019

Show notes

January 10, 1999. Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. While walking home from a friend’s house during the early morning hours, 17-year old Ricky Hochstetler is fatally struck by a vehicle on the shoulder of a county highway in a hit-and-run. The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department soon announce that parts from a Chevrolet truck or van were found at the scene, but an extensive investigation fails to turn up the vehicle which hit Ricky. As the years go on, the sheriff’s department start facing allegations that they mishandled crucial evidence and orchestrated a cover-up, and rumours spread that an off-duty police officer may have been responsible for Ricky’s death. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore another controversial cold case which took place in Manitowoc County six years before Steven Avery was arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach and involves many of the same law enforcement figures featured in “Making a Murderer”. Special thanks to listener Stephanie Rouleau for providing the opening narration on today’s episode.

Additional Reading:

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2016/09/12/manitowoc-sheriff-under-fire-1999-homicide/80862938/

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2016/09/13/missteps-hamper-1999-hit-and-run-death-probe/87390800/

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2016/09/08/mother-wants-forgive-hersons-killer/87542208/

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2016/09/12/whos-who-ricky-hochstetler-homicide/82207652/

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2016/09/07/timeline-ricky-hochstetler-hit-and-run-homicide/82112394/

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2017/01/09/ricky-hochstetler-case-unsolved-18-years-later/96339982/

http://www.stevenaverycase.org/ricky-hochstetler-case/

https://www.wiscnews.com/hit-and-run-death-unsolved-after-years/article_8a71d26d-ba10-5608-b7a7-9ddabd243dc8.html

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 116 - The Sarah Joe Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

February 11, 1979. Hana, Hawaii. Five men – 27-year old Scott Moorman, 31-year old Peter Hanchett, 38-year old Benjamin Kalama, 26-year old Patrick Woesner and 27-year old Ralph Malaiakini – leave the island of Maui on a fishing trip in a boat named the “Sarah Joe”. When a violent storm hits the area, the Sarah Joe and its crew do not return and an extensive search effort fails to find them. Nine-and-a-half years later, the Sarah Joe is discovered over 2,300 miles away on a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands, along with a marked grave containing the skeletal remains of Scott Moorman. However, no trace of the other four missing men is ever found. How did the Sarah Joe wind up so far away? Were any of the crew members still alive when it arrived? If not, who was responsible for burying Scott Moorman? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we examine one of the most bizarre and unique mysteries involving the disappearance of a boat.

This episode of “The Trail Went Cold” is brought to you by “Murder Book”, a new true crime podcast hosted by bestselling author Michael Connelly, available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/lost-hawaiian-fishermen/

http://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2019/02/40-years-later-mystery-still-surrounds-the-sarah-joe-and-its-five-hana-fishermen-who-didnt-return/

http://articles.latimes.com/1988-11-06/local/me-455_1_jack-moorman

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

“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.

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