The Trail Went Cold

March 15, 1989. Frederick, Maryland. 17-year old Tracey Kirkpatrick spends the evening working alone at a shopping center clothing store. Nearly two hours after the store was supposed to have been closed, a security guard discovers Tracey’s body in the rear storage room and she has been stabbed seven times. Three months later, a man calling himself “Don” phones a national confession hotline and claims that he is responsible for Tracey’s murder. Police manage to track down a promising suspect, but find no evidence that he was involved in the crime. However, as the years go on, rumours start to circulate about another suspect being the perpetrator. Was the confession to Tracey Kirkpatrick’s murder genuine or nothing more than a hoax? Was a cover-up orchestrated to protect the real killer? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” we cover a controversial 30-year old cold case which some people believe should have been solved a long time ago.
We would like to thank Postmates for sponsoring this episode of The Trail Went Cold. For a limited time, Postmates is giving you $100 of free delivery credit for your first 7 days. To start your free deliveries, download the Postmates app, and use the promo code “COLD”.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/tracey-kirkpatrick/
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2009-03-16-0903150097-story.html
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/cops_and_crime/who-killed-tracey-kirkpatrick/article_53efa27e-793f-5871-8719-435bd265f58f.html
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/archive/he-lived-it-he-breathed-it/article_3f5be63f-159a-5fc5-a861-77542b082ea1.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.

October 12, 2000. Houston, Texas. After leaving her home, 48-year old Mary Henderson Morris does not show up for work and her body is discovered inside her burned-out car on a remote road later that afternoon. Four days later, another Houston woman, 39-year old Mary McGinnis Morris, is discovered shot to death inside her car under eerily similar circumstances, but other than their name, there doesn’t appear to be any link between the two victims. However, the investigation uncovers potential suspects in Mary McGinnis Morris’ murder, including her husband and a hostile co-worker, which leads to speculation that Mary Henderson Morris’ murder may have been a botched contract hit in which the wrong person was killed. Was Mary McGinnis Morris the intended target all along? If not, then how are these two crimes connected? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we chronicle “The Mary Morris Murders”, the bizarre story of two women with the same name from the same city who happened to be murdered within days of each other.
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/mary-lou-mary-mcginnis-morris/
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125738
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/689789/posts
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Two-Mary-Morris-slayings-remain-unsolved-1637059.phpgoog
“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 16, 1952. Salisbury, Connecticut. While spending the summer at Camp Sloane, ten-year old Connie Smith skips breakfast and leaves the campground. Numerous witnesses see Connie walking down the road and attempting to hitchhike, but before she reaches the nearest town, she vanishes without a trace. Since Connie’s grandfather is the former Governor of Wyoming, there is a massive search effort and her case receives extensive publicity. Over the years, there are a number of unusual leads, including an anonymous letter stating that Connie might be an unidentified murder victim named “Little Miss X”, whose skeletal remains were found in Arizona in 1958. Did Connie Smith become an unidentified Jane Doe? If not, what actually happened to her? And what compelled her to walk away from Camp Sloane to begin with? We explore one of America’s most baffling unsolved missing children’s cases on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
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:
http://charleyproject.org/case/constance-christine-smith
https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Missing-girl-s-unsolved-case-draws-theories-13164163.php
https://www.courant.com/hc-cc-smith-051709-story.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1193ufaz.html
http://charleyproject.org/case/donnis-marie-redman
http://charleyproject.org/case/michael-lawrence-griffin
“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 11, 1988. Walnut Creek, California. Lester Garnier, a 30-year old vice officer with the San Francisco Police Department, is found shot to death inside his car in a shopping center parking lot. Eyewitnesses recall seeing at least two unidentified blonde women in the parking lot the previous night and speculation mounts that Lester’s murder might be connected to his involvement in the recent high-profile bust of a teenage prostitution ring. Twenty years later, authorities announce that a partial fingerprint from the crime scene has been matched to Catherine Kuntz, a Scottish woman with an extensive criminal history, but there is not enough evidence to file charges. Was Kuntz responsible for Lester Garnier’s murder? If so, what was her motive? Were other people involved in this crime? What was Lester doing in that parking lot to begin with? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores a baffling unsolved murder of a police officer which has a number of unanswered questions.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/lester-garnier/
https://www.sfgate.com/magazine/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-S-COLDEST-CASE-A-coverup-is-still-2669756.php
https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Fingerprint-may-solve-mystery-of-cop-s-killing-3281170.php
https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Suspect-in-S-F-cop-s-1988-slaying-is-deported-3173664.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.

May 4, 1996. Sitka, Alaska. While walking home from her sister’s place after celebrating her 17th birthday, Jessica Baggen is attacked on a bicycle path. Her body is soon found in a wooded area, where she has been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated to death. Eleven days later, a suspect named Richard Bingham turns himself in to the police and after making a videotaped confession, he is charged with Jessica’s murder. However, none of the physical evidence matches Bingham and it becomes apparent that his confession was coerced by investigators, so when he goes on trial the following year, Bingham is found “not guilty”. Did the jury make the right decision by acquitting Bingham? And if he didn’t kill Jessica Baggen, then who did? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a controversial murder case which has been without closure for two decades.
Additional Reading:
http://vots.altervista.org/AK/index.html
http://www.thenorthernlight.org/thawing-out-alaskas-cold-case-murders/
“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 12, 1994. Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 23-year old Karen Denise Wells has left on a cross-county road trip from her hometown in Oklahoma in order to visit her friend, Melissa Shepard, in New Jersey. After checking into a motel, Denise phones Melissa and asks her to come meet her there, but when Melissa arrives, Denise has vanished. Later that morning, Denise’s abandoned rental car is discovered 35 miles away on a remote road. The gas tank is empty and it turns out there are 700 miles on the vehicle’s odometer which cannot be accounted for. Investigators eventually start noticing discrepancies in Melissa’s story, leading them to believe she is withholding information about Denise’s disappearance. What actually happened to Karen Denise Wells? Why did her vehicle wind up in such a remote area? Where did those additional 700 miles on her odometer come from? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles one of the more baffling missing persons cases we’ve ever covered.
Additional Reading:
http://charleyproject.org/case/karen-denise-wells
https://www.abc27.com/news/midstate-mystery-the-disappearance-of-karen-denise-wells/
https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/04/evidence_sparse_in_15yearold_d.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.

September 14, 1965. Coral Gables, Florida. After leaving work, 22-year old Judith Hyams vanishes without a trace and her rental car is found abandoned in Atlanta. It turns out that Judith had become pregnant and was seeking an illegal abortion from a shady doctor, but after he is arrested, he jumps bail and disappears. 24 years later, the case is suddenly re-opened after a police captain receives a series of bizarre anonymous phone calls stating that Judith is still alive. Even after investigators receive an anonymous letter which reveals what happened to Judith, she is never found and there are a number of unanswered questions. For our first episode of 2019, “The Trail Went Cold” tackles a very odd cold case which was revived in the most unlikely fashion.
We would like to thank Postmates for sponsoring this episode of The Trail Went Cold. For a limited time, Postmates is giving you $100 of free delivery credit for your first 7 days. To start your free deliveries, download the Postmates app, and use the promo code “COLD”.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/judith-hyams/
http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Judy_Hyams
http://charleyproject.org/case/judith-carole-himes
“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.

Listeners of “The Trail Went Cold” have always had a number of questions about the podcast and its host, Robin Warder. What unsolved cold case have you covered which you’d most like an answer to? What is the biggest challenge of producing a weekly podcast? Have you ever been contacted by any of the people involved in the cases you have covered? Are there are any cold cases you would not cover? What is your favourite thing about being a podcaster? These questions and many others will be answered as we close out 2018 with our very first Q&A episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
This episode of The Trail Went Cold is brought to you by Care/Of, a monthly subscription vitamin service that delivers completely personalized vitamin and supplement packs right to your door. For 25% off your first month of personalized Care/Of vitamins, visit takecareof.com and enter the promo code “cold.”
“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.

Christmas Eve 1975. The Isle of Mull, Scotland. 54-year old Peter Gibbs, a former Royal Air Field pilot and World War II veteran, has dinner with his girlfriend at the Glenforsa Hotel, but decides to go for an evening flight. After taking off from an adjacent airfield in a Cessna, Gibbs never returns. Four months later, Gibbs’ body is discovered on a hill one mile away from the hotel and his cause of death is determined to be exposure, but the missing aircraft is never found. An enquiry concludes that Gibbs likely crashed the Cessna into the water, swam to shore, and subsequently died on the hill, but there are a number of discrepancies to suggest this scenario would have been impossible. How did Gibbs’ body remain undiscovered on the hill for four months? If he crashed his aircraft, how did he avoid sustaining any serious injuries? What prompted Gibbs to take such a dangerous nighttime flight to begin with? For our final holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a baffling unexplained death known as “The Great Mull Air Mystery”.
Additional Reading:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-riddle-of-the-lost-flight-69672.html
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/10/the-great-mull-air-mystery/
https://www.historicmysteries.com/peter-gibbs-great-mull-air-mystery/
https://mysteryinksite.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/the-mull-air-mystery/
“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.

Christmas Day 1996. La Vernia, Texas. Patty Vaughan, a 32-year old mother of three, vanishes without a trace and her van is found abandoned by the side of the road the following day. According to her estranged husband, J.R. Vaughan, Patty had stormed out of their house following a heated argument. Traces of Patty’s blood are found inside the house and her van and seem to indicate she was a victim of foul play. At the time, Patty was in the midst of a trial separation from her husband and recently started a relationship with another man. J.R. becomes the primary person of interest by filing for divorce the day after Patty went missing, but investigators lack enough evidence to file charges. This week’s holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold” covers a Christmas Day spousal disappearance which has yet to be solved.
Additional Reading:
http://charleyproject.org/case/patty-inez-brightwell-vaughan
https://www.ksat.com/news/new-dna-findings-in-patty-vaughns-1996-disappearance
https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/family-of-patty-vaughan-searches-for-answers-20-years-after-her-disappearance
http://www.analyticalq.com/patty/
“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.