The Trail Went Cold

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.

December 26, 1985. Fayetteville, North Carolina. 28-year old nurse Debbie Wolfe leaves at the end of her shift at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, but does not show up for work the following morning. When Debbie’s mother checks her cabin, she discovers that Debbie is missing. Six days later, one of Debbie’s friends finds her at the bottom of a nearby pond, but even though he claims her body was inside a barrel, the local sheriff’s department rule that Debbie drowned accidentally and that the barrel never existed. However, Debbie’s loved ones uncover a lot of odd discrepancies to suggest she was a victim of foul play and point the finger at two potential suspects. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles a bizarre unexplained death surrounded with controversy which has never been solved.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/debbie-wolfe/
http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/murderofdebbiewolfe.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 8, 1976. Knoxville, Tennessee. 16-year old Trenny Gibson leaves on a high school field trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park alongside nearly 40 classmates. The students spend the day hiking through the park, but after Trenny is last seen turning off the trail at around 3:00 PM, she vanishes without explanation. During a search of the park, dogs would track Trenny’s scent to a spot next to the roadside, creating speculation that she was abducted. Did Trenny simply wander off and die of exposure, or was she a victim of foul play? And if she was harmed, could other students have been involved? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we chronicle one of the most mysterious unsolved disappearances of the Smoky Mountains. Special thanks to listener Laura for requesting this case. Be sure to visit her blog about Trenny Gibson at https://www.canadiangurl77.com.
Additional Reading:
http://charleyproject.org/case/teresa-lynn-gibson
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/appalachian-unsolved-trenny-gibson-lost-in-the-smokies/51-494178428
“Death in the Great Smoky Mountains: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardness in the Most Popular Park” by Michael R. Bradley
“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 31, 1975. Hamilton, New Zealand. 18-year old Mona Blades leaves to hitchhike hundreds of kilometres in order to attend her nephew’s birthday in Hastings, but never arrives. After Mona is reported missing, witnesses would recall seeing her inside an orange Datsun station wagon with an unidentified man. Over the years, investigators examine a number of different suspects, including a man who committed suicide only weeks after Mona went missing, a former traffic officer, and a biker gang. Who was actually responsible for Mona Blades’ disappearance? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” covers our first unsolved mystery from New Zealand, which happens to be one of the country’s famous missing persons cases. Special thanks to listener Loquin Britton for providing the opening narration for this episode.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Blades_case
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12099766
http://www.police.govt.nz/stolenwanted/coldcase/2018/mona-elizabeth-blades-1975
http://www.tonybaloney.co.nz/index.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.

August 28, 2008. Laurel, Maryland. While returning to her apartment after running errands, 28-year old Army veteran and government employee Kanika Powell is shot to death inside the building’s hallway. In the preceding days, Kanika claimed that separate men impersonating an FBI agent and a deliveryman had knocked on her apartment door, but she refused to let them inside. Two-and-half-months later, Sean Nicholas Green, a 31-year old government employee living in Oxon Hill 30 miles away, is shot to death by a masked gunman while parked in traffic. Could the two crimes be connected? Were Kanika and Sean both murdered because they happened to work government jobs requiring top secret clearance? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” examines a pair of baffling, seemingly motiveless unsolved murders which have left investigators stumped for the past decade.
Additional Reading:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090304010_2.html?noredirect=on
https://truecrimedaily.com/2015/10/09/unsolved-national-security-worker-gunned-down-amid-mysterious-circumstances/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/22/AR2008112202015.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.

August 14, 1986. Myrtle Point, Oregon. 14-year old Jeremy Bright attends a county fair with his younger sister, but after promising to meet her at a scheduled time, he does not show up and is never heard from again. After Jeremy is reported missing, it isn’t long before rumours start circulating throughout the community and many of them involve a group of local troublemakers causing Jeremy’s death and disposing of his body. Two years later, one of these alleged suspects would go to prison for an unrelated murder, but it still fails to turn up any answers about Jeremy’s disappearance. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover a frustrating missing persons case which has gone unsolved for three decades, even though there are people out there who might still know the truth about what happened.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Jeremy_Bright
https://unsolved.com/gallery/jeremy-bright/
http://charleyproject.org/case/jeremy-doland-bright
https://theworldlink.com/news/local/still-missing-after-years/article_2d8d4350-bd7f-5629-adb9-c8f0fed9ad05.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.

April 12, 1981. Keddie, California. 36-year old Sue Sharp, her 15-year old son John Sharp, and John’s 17-year old friend, Dana Wingate, are found brutally murdered inside Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort. Sue’s 12-year old daughter, Tina Sharp, is missing and her skeletal remains would be discovered in a remote area three years later. Sue’s two youngest sons, along with a 12-year old family friend named Justin Smartt spent the night in a separate bedroom and were left unharmed. Over the years, the investigation would uncover two promising suspects who happened to live in another cabin at the resort. Were these two men responsible for the Keddie Cabin murders? Was there was a cover-up by law enforcement which allowed them to escape justice? Did Justin Smartt witness the murders and block the event from his memory? Were other suspects involved in the crime? For our special Halloween episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be examining an infamous case which was voted on by our listeners. Special thanks to listeners Kelly Campbell, Stuart Davis, and Stephanie Kurtz for narrating sections of today’s episode.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keddie_murders
http://keddie28.com
https://www.plumasnews.com/keddie-murders-revisited/
https://www.plumasnews.com/keddie-murders-revisited-following-the-clues/
https://www.plumasnews.com/keddie-murders-revisited-part-3-hypnosis-counselors-revelations-mob-connections/
“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.

Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grows out of their control, as they discover that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace. Worse, there may be a reason why no one has ever uncovered the truth before. Someone is watching them, willing to do whatever it takes to keep the secret. Their recordings have finally been released.
In this bonus episode, Robin introduces Blackwood and offers up a preview of the show. Click here to subscribe to Blackwood.

October 31, 2002. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 21-year old university student Chris Jenkins celebrates Halloween by going to a local bar with friends. After he is ejected from the establishment, Chris vanishes without a trace and his body is found in the Mississippi River four months later. While police initially believe that Chris’ death was an accidental drowning, his family uncovers disturbing discrepancies to suggest his body was not in the river the entire time he was missing and that he was a victim of foul play. After four years, the Minneapolis police chief reopens the investigation, reclassifies Chris’ death as a homicide, and issues an apology to the Jenkins family. What actually happened to Chris Jenkins after he left the bar? Could his death somehow be connected to the infamous “Smiley face murder theory”? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” examines a truly baffling Halloween night mystery.
Additional Reading:
http://www.startribune.com/strange-case-of-son-s-death-propels-mom-on-tireless-quest/82751737/
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/11/20/jenkins
https://www.twincities.com/2007/07/31/no-charges-for-now-against-suspect-in-college-students-02-death/
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/38601514/ns/solve_my_mystery/t/investigators-notes/#.W8jIv2hKhO-
“Case Studies in Drowning Forensics” by Kevin Gannon & D. Lee Gilbertson
“Footprints of Courage: Our Family’s Struggle for Justice – Inside the Chris Jenkins Murder Investigation” by Jan Jenkins
“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.