The Trail Went Cold

May 14, 2008. Marshall, Minnesota. The parents of 19-year old Brandon Swanson receive a late-night phone call from their son, who claims that his car has become stuck in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. The Swansons leave to go pick Brandon up, but have trouble finding him. At one point, Brandon’s father hears him shout a swear word over the phone before the call abruptly cuts off, and there is no answer to repeated attempts to phone him back. Even though his abandoned car is eventually found on a rural road, Brandon himself is never heard from again. What happened to Brandon Swanson, and what could have prompted his final reaction during his final phone call? In our latest Halloween-themed extended minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we tackle one of the scariest, most baffling missing persons cases of the past decade. Special thanks to Joe from Thinking Sideways Podcast for popping in to share a theory. Be sure to check out their episode about this case.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Brandon_Swanson
http://charleyproject.org/case/brandon-victor-swanson
https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_–_Brandon_Swanson
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/18/grace.coldcase.swanson/index.html
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 27, 2007. Grand Forks, North Dakota. 38-year old Joel Lovelien and his fiancée attend a Halloween party at a local bar. When Joel takes a moment to step outside, he is beaten to death in the parking lot. The investigation leads to a suspect named Travis Stay, who was so intoxicated that night that he cannot even remember what happened. Travis goes on trial for Joel’s murder, but his defence team manages to generate reasonable doubt by diverting attention towards a group of costumed suspects from a party bus. Did Travis Stay commit this crime or have others managed to get away with it? We look at both sides of this case in another Halloween-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Special thanks to listener Scott Owings for providing the opening narration for today’s episode.
Additional Reading:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/halloween-murder-mystery-who-killed-man-hockey-costume-f8C11470596
http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/2086041-taxi-driver-tells-jurors-ride-travis-stay
http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/2086010-party-bus-riders-testify-lovelien-murder-trial
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 31, 1986. Long Beach, New York. Chaim Weiss, a 15-year old Orthodox Jewish rabbinical student, returns to his dormitory after attending Shabbat services at his yeshiva high school. The following morning, Chaim’s body is found on his dorm room floor. At some point during the night, an unknown individual entered his room and brutally murdered him while he slept. Police conduct an extensive investigation and interview students and faculty members from the yeshiva, but are unable to uncover a solid suspect or any discernible motive for Chaim’s murder. We examine a very perplexing cold case on this month’s first Halloween-themed minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/chaim-weiss/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/chaim-weiss-brutally-murdered-1986-article-1.2417684
http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/investigation-continues-1986-halloween-murder-article-1.2417285
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 24, 1961. Lincoln, Massachusetts. 30-year old housewife and mother Joan Risch vanishes from her home and the evidence at the scene suggests a violent abduction. Witnesses report seeing a bloody, disoriented woman matching Joan’s description walking down the road that day, but this woman is never found. Over one year later, evidence is uncovered to suggest Joan might have decided to stage her own disappearance. Was Joan Risch abducted, did she disappear voluntarily, or is there an altogether different explanation for what happened? We shall explore all the different angles of one of our most baffling and requested cases on this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Joan_Risch
http://charleyproject.org/case/joan-carolyn-risch
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/1996/08/28/8_28_96_spatterd_blood_and_speculation/
“The Search for Joan Risch: Presented by New England’s Untold Stories”
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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 4, 1999. Wasilla, Alaska. While spending the night at a friend’s house, 15-year old Michael Palmer slips out to attend a graduation party. While biking home with friends, Michael vanishes without a trace, but his bicycle and sneakers are soon discovered at separate locations. In April 2010, Michael’s older brother, Chucky, disappears while riding a snow machine in the Talkeetna Mountains. Even though his snow machine is recovered, Chucky himself is never found. This week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold” is one of the most tragic stories we’ve ever covered, as two brothers from the same family go missing under mysterious circumstances over a decade apart.
Thanks to HelloFresh for supporting our podcast. Go to www.HelloFresh.com and use the code cold30 to get $30 off your first week of deliveries.
Additional Reading:
http://charleyproject.org/case/michael-timothy-palmer
http://charleyproject.org/case/charles-edwin-palmer-v
http://www.akfatal.net/Palmer%2006-04-97.htm
http://www.frontiersman.com/news/youth-still-missing-after-seven-years/article_4778a9bd-9231-5e38-bf8a-d2aa21a7fba1.html
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/last-brother/2010/04/16/
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

September 13, 1992. Boston, Massachusetts. While working as the ramp supervisor for Northwest Airlines at Logan International Airport, 27-year old Susan “Su” Taraskiewicz leaves in the middle of her shift to purchase food for her crew. She never returns and is not reported missing by her co-workers before she is found murdered inside the trunk of her car the following morning. One year later, Su’s mother finds her diary and is shocked to read that Su was the victim of non-stop sexual harassment at her workplace. In addition, some of her harassers would be indicted in a credit card theft ring. Could any of these revelations have played a role in Su’s death? Our latest episode of “The Trail Went Cold” has been released to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Su Taraskiewicz’s unsolved murder. Special thanks to listener Casey James for providing the opening narration for today’s episode. At her request, we will also briefly discuss the unsolved murder of Donna Hart, which took place on August 8, 1968 in Dolgeville, New York.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/su-taraskiewicz/
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/cold_case_murder_of_susan_tara.html
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/14/mother-susan-taraskiewicz-still-seeking-justice-for-daughter-murdered/AJz9ePz8O0ozcxSGlmUR9J/story.html
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/13/mother_holds_hope_she_can_help_solve_daughters_killing/
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1010974.html
Thanks to Winc for supporting our podcast. Get $22 and free shipping on your first order of wine at http://trywinc.com/cold.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 22, 1982. Hamersville, Ohio. 46-year old appliance repairman Permon Gilbert leaves his family’s home to perform some service calls. He never returns and his nude body is found in a ditch the following day. Investigators fail to turn up any strong leads, but numerous theories surround Permon’s murder. Was his death connected to drug trafficking? Was he killed because of his brother’s recent testimony in an organized crime case? Or could his murder have been the result of a secret affair gone wrong? We explore each of these possibilities on our newest minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
Additional Reading:
https://unsolved.com/gallery/permon-gilbert/
http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/year-old-murder-case-investigated/article_7fe31cc0-93ef-5368-a534-ffeb277f87d6.html
http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/murder-case-getting-fresh-attention/article_f073c630-0f73-53cd-b489-0e8fc016c46e.html
Thanks to HelloFresh for supporting our podcast. Go to www.HelloFresh.com and use the code cold30 to get $30 off your first week of deliveries.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 15, 1930. Chicago, Illinois. After a newspaper ad seeks assistance for the poverty-stricken family of two-year old Mary Agnes Moroney, a woman calling herself Julia Otis shows up at their home to help. She offers to take Mary Agnes shopping to buy her new clothes, but they never return. 22 years later, a woman named Mary McClelland comes forward after suspecting she might be Mary Agnes and experts conclude that she is probably the missing child. However, after Mary McClelland passes away in 2005, DNA testing shows no genetic connection between her and the Moroney family. So what happened to the real Mary Agnes Moroney? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” features the oldest cold case we’ve ever covered, which has gone from solved to unsolved again over the course of several decades.
Additional Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Agnes_Moroney
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/moroney_mary.html
LIFE Magazine (Sep. 22, 1952)
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

November 30, 1990. Parma, Ohio. 41-year old Elaine Johnson vanishes without explanation from her apartment complex. She leaves behind her car and wallet, along with clothes in the laundry room dryer, and is officially reported missing three days later. A series of strange cryptic notes are found in Elaine’s apartment, leading to much speculation about her mental state at the time she went missing. However, suspicion also mounts against Elaine’s boyfriend, who changes his story about the last time he saw her. Did Elaine Johnson disappear voluntarily or did she meet with foul play? We explore each possible scenario on this week’s minisode of “The Trail Went Cold”.
Special thanks to Elaine’s daughter, Jodi, whose Facebook page, “Missing Person Elaine Benich Johnson”, is the source for much of the information on this minisode.
Additional Reading:
http://charleyproject.org/case/elaine-johnson
https://www.cleveland.com/parmasunpost/2011/11/parma_police_seeking_informati.html
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 4, 1982. Boise, Idaho. A stranger enters the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and takes his own life by swallowing a cyanide capsule. He carries a suicide note signed “William L. Toomey”, but this turns out to be a false name and the man is never identified. Years later, investigators explore a theory that Toomey’s suicide might be connected to the murders of two Catholic priests, Father Patrick Ryan and Father Benjamin Carrier. To further complicate matters, a suspect was arrested for Father Ryan’s murder only weeks before Toomey’s death, even though the evidence strongly suggested he was innocent of the crime. Who was the mysterious “William L. Toomey” and what compelled him to take his own life? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” is a very deep rabbit hole which explores multiple cold cases involving the Catholic Church and the possibility that they are related.
Additional Reading:
http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/William_L._Toomey
https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2005-06-17/275319/
http://podles.org/case-studies/Rev-Patrick-Ryan-Case-Study-page1.htm
http://kyma.dgt.me/father-benjamin-j-carriers-murder-remains-unsolved/
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.