2019-12

December 19, 1959. Osprey, Florida. After spending the day running errands and visiting a family friend, 25-year old Cliff Walker, his 24-year old wife Christine, and their two children, three-year old Jimmie and 23-month old Debbie, head back to their rural home in separate vehicles. The following morning, the family’s bodies are discovered inside their house. They were each shot in the head before Debbie was drowned in the bathtub and Christine has also been sexually assaulted. Over the next several decades, investigators would look at a number of different suspects, but two of the most promising turn out to be Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, who were responsible for the murder of the Clutter family in Kansas one month earlier, a crime which became the subject of the iconic book, “In Cold Blood”. However, DNA testing on the deceased killers turns out to be inconclusive and there is no evidence to conclusively implicate anyone. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” covers the harrowing murders of an entire family which have remained unsolved for 60 years. Special thanks to listener Alanna LaForce for providing the opening narration for this episode.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_family_murders
“In Colder Blood” by J.T. Hunter
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20051218/unsolved
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20051219/the-suspects-a-litany-of-names-and-clues
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20051220/a-last-hope-dna-could-crack-the-case
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20121209/what-if-in-cold-blood-got-it-wrong-about-walker-murders
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20121209/what-in-cold-blood-said
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20130813/no-dna-link-between-walker-murders-in-cold-blood-killers
“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.

December 17, 2006. Sydney, Australia. After spending the day with her family, 25-year old Katrina Ploy drives away from her parents’ house. Hours later, Katrina’s abandoned car and some of her possessions are found next to an oceanside cliff known as “The Gap”, but Katrina herself is missing. Katrina’s body is found floating in Sydney Harbour on Christmas Day, but since she has no noticeable injuries, the evidence suggests she did not fall off the cliff and entered the water at another location. An investigation reveals lot of complications in Katrina’s personal life, including a secret relationship with a former biker, sexual harassment at her workplace, and rumours about her being linked to powerful figures from organized crime. In the end, a coronial inquest fails to turn up any conclusive answers about what caused Katrina’s death or who might have been responsible. Join us as we travel down under to explore a baffling Australian mystery on this week’s holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
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This episode of The Trail Went Cold is also sponsored by Away Luggage. To learn more, go to awaytravel.com/cold. Plus, order by the end of the day on December 15 to get free ground shipping with guaranteed free delivery by December 20. Only Applicable if you live in the U.S., EU, UK, Canada or Australia.
Additional Reading:
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/can_you_help_us/rewards/100000_reward/murder_of_katrina_ploy
https://amp.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/mystery-meeting-may-hold-clue-to-murder-of-katrina-ploy/news-story/e90bb0e4114a10bb5bef75f7055c9e89
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2010-08-06/cliff-suicide-coroner-delivers-open-finding/935070
https://www.smh.com.au/national/death-at-the-gap-she-was-harassed-20070125-gdpbnc.html
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/ex-bikie-wont-talk-to-cops-about-death/news-story/a9cf556d51f431ebb77686314f4e4385
https://www.smh.com.au/national/gap-death-woman-had-wanted-to-die-20100803-1149y.html
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2010-08-03/cliff-death-coroner-issues-warrant-for-ex-boyfriend/930586
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/hitman-linked-to-sydney-suicide-probe/news-story/42de32ce5ddf73d43644fc8ad69ea1e0
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/five-key-suspects-in-bizarre-gap-murder-case/news-story/28c6f3e522726be191c69e6ec9392643?sv=32c6650a304da0466b92a82196e07f5c
“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.

December 27, 1928. Orrville, Ohio. Four-year old Melvin Horst leaves his home to play in the neighbourhood with friends, but never returns and a search of the area fails to turn up any trace of him. Over the course of the next two years, a number of different suspects would be arrested after allegations surface that Melvin’s disappearance was a revenge scheme orchestrated by local bootleggers because his uncle was the town marshal and rigidly enforced Prohibition. Two suspects are convicted of Melvin’s presumed abduction before their sentences are overturned while two other men make questionable confessions which cannot be backed up by evidence. Was Melvin Horst actually abducted by criminals who were involving in bootlegging? If so, could he have been passed around and raised under a new identity somewhere? On this week’s episode of the “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover the oldest unsolved missing children’s case in the history of Ohio, a crazy story which captured the entire nation’s attention when it happened.
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://charleyproject.org/case/melvin-charles-horst
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/07/a-missing-child-can-never-be-forgotten-police-surviving-sister-seek-answers-in-1928-disappearance-of-orrville-boy.html
http://strangec.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-lost-boy-mystery-of-melvin-horst.html
“Unsolved Murders & Disappearances in Northeast Ohio” by Jane Ann Turzillo
“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.