The Trail Went Cold

December 6, 1975. Teaneck, New Jersey. After spending the night in New York City, 40-year old bar owner Wesley Diggs returns to his suburban home and discovers that his entire family has been murdered. Wesley’s 39-year old wife, Jean, and their four children – 17-year old Audrey, 16-year old Allison, 12-year old Wesley Jr. and 5-year old Roger – have each been shot multiple times and there are no signs of any forced entry. While Wesley is not considered to be a suspect, police express their belief that he might know more about the crime than he’s letting on, a claim which he denies. Over the years, a number of different theories are explored, including a botched robbery and a murder-suicide, but the investigation fails to turn any conclusive answers. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved murders of an African-American family, a crime which has stumped investigators for nearly 45 years. Additional Reading: https://web.archive.org/web/20151207224334/http://www.northjersey.com/news/who-killed-the-diggs-family-40-year-old-mass-murder-in-teaneck-remains-a-mystery-1.1468498 https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/07/archives/mother-4-children-are-shot-to-death-in-home-in-teaneck-a-mother-and.html https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/14/archives/fathers-tribute-is-read-at-diggs-familys-rites-classmates-are.html https://www.newspapers.com/image/493146333/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/494150568/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/494156883/ “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 now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 11, 1930. New York City. While parked inside his car with his mistress at a secluded lover’s lane area, 39-year old Joseph Mozynski is shot to death by an unidentified assailant, who leaves Joseph’s female companion alive and gives her a cryptic note. Five days later, 26-year old Noel Sowley is fatally shot inside his car under similar circumstances and the gunman also leaves Noel’s girlfriend alive and gives her another note. The killer sends out a series of letters claiming that he is a special agent from an organization called the Red Diamond of Russia and committed the murders while on a secret mission to recover some important documents. All of his letters are signed “3X”, but in spite of an extensive police manhunt, the perpetrator is never identified. Who was the mysterious “3X” and what his actual motive for these crimes? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” chronicles the bizarre saga of the “3X Murders” which have remained unsolved for 90 years. Additional Sources: “Famous Crimes the World Forgot: Ten Vintage True Crime Stories Rescued from Obscurity – Volume 1” by Jason Lucky Morrow “The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes” by Michael Newton “New England Nightmares: True Tales of the Strange and Gothic” by Keven McQueen https://www.nytimes.com/1930/06/18/archives/insane-man-hunted-in-second-killing-queens-shooting-is-linked-to.html https://www.nytimes.com/1936/06/02/archives/suspect-seized-in-queens-3x-murders-reported-to-have-confessed.html http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/farmville/eidisi/history/3X.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 now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

January 31, 1993. Amarillo, Texas. The wife and daughter of 39-year old David Lewis return home from a weekend trip and discover that David is not at the house and has left his watch and wedding ring behind. David’s abandoned car is soon discovered in the downtown area with his identification and many other personal items inside, but even though investigators turn up a series of bizarre clues, including a pair of plane tickets purchased under David’s name, they are unable to find him. Eleven years later, David is positively identified as a John Doe who was fatally struck by a vehicle on a highway in Yakima County, Washington just over 24 hours after he originally went missing. But how and why did David wind up nearly 1,600 miles from his home? Did he travel there voluntarily or was he abducted? Was David’s death a random hit-and-run accident, an elaborate suicide, or an intentional homicide? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores the truly bizarre unexplained death of David Lewis, one of the most baffling mysteries we’ve ever covered. Additional Reading: https://www.newspapers.com/image/643939517/?terms=%22David%2BLewis%22%2BAmarillo https://www.newspapers.com/image/589655486/?terms=%22David%2BLewis%22%2BAmarillo https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2004/oct/09/search-engine-helps-police-identify-hit-and-run/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-helps-solve-john-doe-case/ http://www.doenetwork.org/media/news73.html https://old.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/gcrufz/in_1993_a_mother_and_daughter_returned_home_to/ https://ididitforjodie.com/2016/10/15/♪-do-you-know-the-way-to-jonbenet♫-anomalous-crimes-and-the-unsettled-death-of-david-glenn-lewis/ https://strangeco.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-mysterious-death-of-david-glen-lewis.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 now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

October 24, 1992. Marietta, Georgia. 22-year old Heather Uffelman and her 22-year old fiancée, Jeremy Rolfs, make a lengthy drive from Tennessee in order to sell expensive computer equipment to a man calling himself “Tom Johnson”. After meeting Johnson in a motel room, he bludgeons the couple with a hammer before stealing the equipment. While Jeremy survives the ordeal, Heather succumbs to her injuries. Eighteen months later, a Nashville man named Thomas Steeples is arrested for the brutal murders of another couple in a motel room and becomes a promising suspect in this crime, but soon dies in jail of a drug overdose. Was Thomas Steeples the mysterious “Tom Johnson”? If not, then who was the actual perpetrator? April 23, 1992. Athens, Georgia. 22-year old University of Georgia student Jennifer Lynn Stone is found raped and strangled to death inside the bedroom of her off-campus home. Two of Jennifer’s cameras have been stolen, but they are eventually recovered and linked to an unidentified man who traded them for drugs on the morning of the crime. Even though investigators have a lot of physical evidence to work with, including DNA, they are unable to match it to the perpetrator. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved murders which took place in Georgia in 1992. Special thanks to listener Kelly Tucker for narrating the opening of this episode. Additional Reading: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Johnson https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/bitstream/handle/mtsu/620/15756.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://www.newspapers.com/image/422354231/?terms=%22Heather%2BUffelman%22%2BSteeples https://www.newspapers.com/image/422355961/?terms=%22Heather%2BUffelman%22%2BSteeples https://www.newspapers.com/image/113137202/?terms=%22Thomas%2BSteeples%22%2Bvenereal http://patch.com/georgia/athens/who-killed-jenny-stone http://www.redandblack.com/news/after-years-university-student-murder-still-unsolved/article_08155807-e68b-5c9f-8df9-e40df9aa2e88.html https://www.onlineathens.com/article/20120421/NEWS/304219925 “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 now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 12, 1962. Worthington, Minnesota. 20-year old Marlys Gross gives birth to a baby daughter named Mary Agnes, but is told by the hospital staff that the child died shortly after she was born. Mary Agnes is given a funeral and buried in a grave, but months later, Marlys is mailed a photograph of an unidentified family holding a baby whom she believes is her daughter. Over the next three decades, Marlys would discover a number of suspicious discrepancies to make her believe that Mary Agnes is still alive, so she petitions to have her gravesite exhumed in 1996. While skeletal remains of a deceased child are found, DNA testing reveals that they do not belong to Mary Agnes. Did the hospital orchestrate a cover-up in order to perform a black-market adoption and sell Mary Agnes to another family? If so, then whose remains were buried in Mary Agnes’ grave? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores a very bizarre and complicated mystery about the disappearance of a newborn infant. Additional Reading: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Mary_Agnes_Gross https://www.newspapers.com/image/240234019/?terms=%22Mary%2BAgnes%2BGross%22 https://www.newspapers.com/image/454862991/?terms=%22Mary%2BAgnes%2BGross%22 https://www.newspapers.com/image/240973566/?terms=%22Mary%2BAgnes%2BGross%22 https://www.newspapers.com/image/240282173/?terms=%22Mary%2BAgnes%2BGross%22 https://www.newspapers.com/image/336511442/?terms=%22Mary%2BAgnes%2BGross%22 https://www.newspapers.com/image/336776572/?terms=%22Mary%2BAgnes%2BGross%22 “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.

February 26, 1980. Berkeley, California. 51-year old Al Mills, his 40-year old wife, Jeannie, and Jeannie’s 16-year old daughter, Daphene, are all shot to death, execution-style, in their home. Jeannie’s 17-year old son, Eddie, is left unharmed inside his bedroom, but claims he did not hear the murders take place. Years earlier, the Mills family had defected from the Reverend Jim Jones’ infamous cult, the Peoples Temple, and become outspoken advocates against them. Following the Jonestown Massacre, rumours circulated that surviving members of the cult were going to target the family as revenge. However, investigators suspect that Eddie was the actual perpetrator and make an unsuccessful attempt to charge him with the crime 25 years later. Did Eddie Mills murder his own family, or were they victims of an assassination by outside intruders? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores an unsolved triple homicide and its potential connection to the Jonestown saga. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannie_Mills https://people.com/archive/the-mills-family-murders-could-it-be-jim-jones-last-revenge-vol-13-no-11/ https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BERKELEY-Man-jailed-in-family-slayings-from-25-2557794.php https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/12/09/son-wont-be-charged-in-1980-slayings/ https://archives.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2015/11/12/yesterdays-crimes-peoples-temple-hit-squads-and-jonestowns-last-victims https://www.sfweekly.com/news/yesterdays-crimes-jonestown-was-just-the-beginning-for-one-peoples-temple-family/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/articles/199203/the-truth-about-jonestown “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. This episode of The Trail Went Cold is brought to you by Best Fiends, a unique and exciting puzzle experience unlike other puzzle games out there. Download it FREE on the Apple App Store or Google Play. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 19, 1990. Madison, Wisconsin. After coming home from his job at a bicycle shop to grab food during his lunch break, 19-year old Chad Maurer tells his parents that he is going to return to his workplace, but he soon turns up missing. Two days later, Chad’s body is found in his car inside a garage on the South Side of Chicago and his cause of death is determined to be carbon monoxide poisoning. While the police initially believe that Chad’s death was a suicide, there are numerous bruises and injuries on his body which seem to indicate foul play. Chad’s parents receive information to suggest he may have been murdered because he became involved in drug trafficking, but there are no conclusive answers about what happened to him. This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores the bizarre case of a young man who turned up dead under mysterious circumstances at a location over 150 miles from his home. In addition, we will also discuss the strange 1988 death of 25-year old Kenneth Engie, who also succumbed to carbon monoxide inside his garage in his hometown of Edmore, North Dakota. Additional Reading: https://unsolved.com/gallery/chad-maurer/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-12-11-9104210361-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-08-mn-6302-story.html https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/columnists/doug-moe/doug-moe-twenty-five-years-on-remembering-chad/article_6a943b8e-e3de-5e6d-8d0d-602f290fa507.html https://mytruecrime.com/the-mysterious-death-of-chad-maurer/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-12-11-9104210361-story.html https://unsolved.com/gallery/kenneth-engie/ “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 27, 2000. Negril, Jamaica. After she is denied entry into Cuba for a junket, 29-year old travel writer Claudia Kirschhoch is rerouted to a Sandals beach resort in Jamaica while she waits for a flight back home to New York. After last being seen walking along a beach, Claudia vanishes without a trace and most of her personal items are left behind in her hotel room. The investigation leads to a resort bartender whom Claudia went out on a date with before she went missing and there are enough suspicious actions from the resort to suggest that a cover-up might have taken place. Who was responsible for Claudia Kirschhoch’s disappearance and how many people were involved? This week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores a frustrating cold case about an American citizen who went missing during an unscheduled trip to a foreign country and has still never been found. Special thanks to listener Allysa Ramkerrysingh for narrating the opening of this episode. Additional Reading: http://www.unsolved.com/gallery/claudia-kirschhoch http://charleyproject.org/case/claudia-ann-kirschhoch https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Claudia_Kirschhoch https://www.cbsnews.com/news/natalee-like-case-5-years-later/ http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/12/travel/tr-33308 https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/22/nyregion/queens-travel-writer-who-vanished-in-jamaica-is-declared-dead.html http://www.sabrinaerdely.com/docs/MurderInParadise.pdf “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.

March 18, 2009. York, England. 35-year old Claudia Lawrence speaks on the phone with her parents and texts her best friend about meeting for drinks the following evening. When Claudia fails to show up for work the next morning and misses her meet-up with her friend, she is subsequently reported missing. The investigation would uncover allegations that Claudia was involved in some secret relationships which may have led to her disappearance, causing the story to become sensationalized by the media. Over the next decade, a number of different men are arrested on suspicion of Claudia’s murder, but due to a lack of evidence, none of them are formally charged. Was Claudia victimized by someone from her personal life, or could a stranger have been responsible for her disappearance? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to the United Kingdom to explore one of their most prominent unsolved missing persons cases of recent memory. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Claudia_Lawrence https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/what_happened_to_claudia https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35759574 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/18/ten-years-on-claudia-lawrence-search-frustrated-by-information-withheld-police https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27418063 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/claudia-lawrence-murder-theories-latest-becky-godden-serial-killer-christopher-halliwell-yorkshire-a7986021.html http://nyenquirer.uk/did-halliwell-murder-claudia-lawrence/ https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/everything-know-disappearance-claudia-lawrence-17946108 http://www.findclaudia.co.uk “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.

June 13, 2001. Dallas, Texas. 51-year old teacher Sharon Davis drops her daughter off at a bus depot, but fails to show up for a scheduled training session at her school later that morning. Five days later, Sharon’s abandoned minivan is discovered in the parking lot of a local fitness club. Suspicion turns towards Sharon’s estranged husband, Ron Davis, as Sharon had filed for divorce from him only two days before she vanished. Ron maintains his innocence and claims that Sharon stole money from him and took off on her own. Did Sharon disappear voluntarily or was she the victim of a marriage gone bad? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we cover a missing persons case which proved so controversial that “Unsolved Mysteries” produced a segment about the case and elected not to air it on television. Additional Reading: http://charleyproject.org/case/sharon-eugenia-davis https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Sharon_Eugenia_Davis http://www.dallasobserver.com/2002-07-18/news/the-reluctant-witness/ https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/a-fool-for-a-client-6388562 “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.