2019-11

February 10, 1990. Las Cruces, New Mexico. A pair of armed gunmen enter a bowling alley called the Las Cruces Bowl and bring everyone inside into the manager’s office. After stealing money from the safe, the assailants fire several bullets into seven people before fleeing the scene. Three of the victims – 33-year old Ida Holguin, 34-year old Stephanie Senac, and her 12-year old daughter, Melissia Repass – manage to survive the shooting, but the four other victims – 13-year old Amy Houser, 26-year old Steven Teran, his six-year old stepdaughter Paula Holguin, and his two-year old daughter Valerie Teran – wind up dead. While the crime generates a lot of publicity, the two perpetrators are never found or identified, and there is a lot debate about whether robbery was actually the true motive for this crime. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores the “Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre”, one of the most horrific and senseless crimes ever featured on the podcast. Special thanks to listener Rob Polanco for providing the opening narration for this episode.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Cruces_bowling_alley_massacre
https://www.cnn.com/2015/02/05/us/bowling-alley-massacre-anniversary/index.html
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/30-years-later-bowling-alley-massacre-still-unsolved/5523494/
https://unsolved.com/gallery/bowling-alley-murder/
http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/crime/2016/02/09/bowl-alley-massacre-case-remains-unsolved-26-years-later/80089278/
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-mexico-murders-still-a-mystery-after-21-years#ixzz1wBH3crfh
“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 5, 1974. Coconut Grove, Florida. 17-year old Amy Billig phones her father from her home and arranges to meet him at his workplace in order to borrow money to have lunch with friends. Amy is last hitchhiking next to a highway, but she never shows up to meet her father or her friends and is subsequently reported missing. After being informed that Amy was abducted by a gang of bikers, her mother, Susan Billig, spends the next several years attempting to track her down and even encounters a biker who claims to have bought and owned Amy for a time. The Billig family also has to endure two decades’ worth of harassing phone calls from another man who claims to have kidnapped Amy, but even after the caller is identified and arrested, no trace of Amy is ever found. Was Amy Billig actually abducted and held captive by bikers? Was the tormenting caller responsible for Amy’s disappearance? Or could an unknown third party have murdered her instead? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles one of the most convoluted missing persons cases we’ve ever covered, which has still not found a conclusive resolution after 45 years.
Additional Reading:
“Without a Trace: The Disappearance of Amy Billig” by Greg Aunapu and Susan Billig
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Amy_Billig
http://charleyproject.org/case/amy-billig
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/03/us/the-night-caller-21-years-of-unspeakable-grief.html
http://people.com/archive/the-night-caller-vol-45-no-8/
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1998-02-26-9802250754-story.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article226721904.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.

July 28, 2013. Newtown, Connecticut. 50-year old Robert “Hoagy” Hoagland is last seen mowing the lawn outside his house. The following day, his wife, Lori, returns from a trip to Turkey, but Hoagy fails to pick her up at the airport as scheduled. When Lori returns home, she discovers that her husband is missing and that his vehicle and all of his personal possessions have been left behind. Investigators explore the possibility that Hoagy’s disappearance might be connected to drug addiction issues involving his son, Max, and a recent confrontation Hoagy had with some of Max’s criminal associates. However, they also cannot rule out the idea that Hoagy disappeared voluntarily, as he had once run away from his family on a previous occasion. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores a truly perplexing missing persons case in which there is no conclusive evidence to suggest what happened.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Robert_Hoagland
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Newtown-Man-Missing-for-Nearly-a-Year-268545472.html
https://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Newtown-man-s-disappearance-featured-on-TV-show-7954415.php
https://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Man-s-disappearance-still-a-riddle-4757047.php
https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Six-months-after-Newtown-man-s-disappearance-no-5218083.php#photo-5843666
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Newtown-man-s-disappearance-troubles-loved-ones-a-5677519.php
“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, 1947. Woodward, Oklahoma. Four-year old Joan Gay Croft is taken to the local hospital after an F5 tornado devastates her hometown and takes the lives of over 100 people, including her mother. While Joan Gay and her half-sister are recovering from injuries in the basement, two men show up and take her away. They claim that they are taking Joan Gay to another hospital to see her family, but she is never seen again. Over the next several decades, there would be a number of odd developments, including an anonymous E-mailer claiming to be Joan Gay. Did Joan Gay Croft go on living her life under a new identity? If so, who were the two unidentified men who took her? Could she still be alive today? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores a truly baffling mystery surrounding one of the worst tornados in history.
This episode of “The Trail Went Cold” is sponsored by Native. For 20% off your first purchase, please visit nativedeodorant.com and enter the promo code “cold” during checkout.
Additional Reading:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2557dfok.html
https://newsok.com/article/2468875/dna-test-may-solve-47-year-old-woodward-mystery-woman-believes-shes-joan-gay-croft
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/woodward-mystery-believed-solved/article_0fb79ae6-33a1-5c44-9938-f9559581419e.html
http://newsok.com/where-is-mystery-woman-connected-to-1947-woodward-tornado/article/3666941
https://newsok.com/article/2609396/woman-seeks-cousin-lost-after-tornado
https://www.enidnews.com/opinion/after-years-joan-croft-still-a-mystery/article_9eefe3d7-1ca3-5af8-a438-efe4e2d71ea9.html
http://kfor.com/2016/05/05/search-still-on-for-woodward-5-year-old-who-vanished-after-tornado-69-years-ago/
“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.