The Trail Went Cold - Episode 139 - The Short Family Murders

August 15, 2002. Bassett, Virginia. 50-year old Michael Short and his 36-year old wife, Mary, are found shot to death inside their home, but the couple’s nine-year old daughter, Jennifer, is missing. Over one month later, Jennifer’s remains are discovered over 30 miles away in a rural area of North Carolina and it turns out she has been shot to death as well. The investigation turns up some promising leads, including a person of interest named Garrison Bowman, as well as an eyewitness sighting of an unidentified man who was seen parked across the street from the Short residence in a truck on the morning of the murders. However, these leads fail to bring about a resolution and no one can figure out a motive for this crime. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the truly horrific and baffling unsolved murders of an entire family. Special thanks to listener Jackie Elliott for providing the opening narration for this episode.

Additional Reading:

https://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/news/local/short-case-timeline/article_55042b5d-f433-5452-ab8d-e5519441a59a.html

https://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/mystery-of-who-killed-the-shorts-remains-unsolved-year-after/article_3b8582e5-a76c-59ca-b84a-74af81dd9eec.html

https://www.greensboro.com/friend-witness-wasn-t-fleeing-john-beasley-says-garrison-bowman/article_5a9adebc-249e-58af-9728-54576c95e5dd.html

https://www.greensboro.com/angry-landlord-fingered-bowman-friends-say-gary-lemons-was-furious/article_3b513ad9-d436-560a-84d0-a622c8bd6bb5.html

https://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/man-s-life-upturned-i-didn-t-know-them/article_f7037a40-68dd-5ccc-82f6-30519e08a2d7.html

https://truenoirstories.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/the-short-family-murders/

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.