The Trail Went Cold

December 13, 1976. Fairfield, Maine. The daughter of 31-year old Pauline Rourke kisses her sleeping mother goodbye before leaving for school, but when she returns home later that day, Pauline has vanished without a trace. Suspicion turns towards Pauline’s live-in friend, Albert Pat Cochran, who frequently fought with her and had developed an odd obsession with the recent murder of another woman from the area named Janet Baxter. Two decades later, Pat is charged and convicted of Janet’s murder, but even though he is suspected of being responsible for Pauline’s disappearance, there is not enough evidence to implicate him and Pauline is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore an unsolved missing persons case involving a victim who has not been seen in nearly 50 years.

If you happen to have any information about this case, please contact the Maine State Police at (207) 624-7143.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/pauline-rourke

https://www.maine.gov/dps/msp/investigation-traffic/major-crime-units/unsolved/missing-persons/rourke-pauline

https://www.newspapers.com/image/849371494/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/856346628/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/665025806/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/855868439/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/856276259/

https://www.centralmaine.com/2017/06/28/man-serving-life-sentence-for-oakland-womans-murder-dies-at-hospital/

https://www.fosters.com/story/news/2017/06/29/police-link-recently-deceased-killer-to-1976-disappearance/20405251007/

https://www.pressherald.com/2017/07/30/a-daughters-enduring-lament-her-remains-are-out-there/

https://www.wabi.tv/content/news/State-Police-Searching-Smithfield-Area-Wells-For-Remains-Of-Missing-Woman-444463513.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1147332553/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/309356419/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/829806532/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/830077499/

“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 29, 1965. Gothenburg, Sweden. After meeting together at a café, 21-year old Jan Olof Dahlsjo, 22-year old Gay Roger Karlsson and 16-year old Kjell-Ake Johansson all climb into a Volvo belonging to Jan Olof’s brother, but the three men and the car soon vanish without a trace. That very same day, 18-year old Hubner “Hymme” Lundquist also disappears after travelling from his family’s cottage in Torekov to Gothenburg Central Station. There is speculation that the two cases might be connected to each other, as well as a bank robbery which also took place in Gothenburg that same afternoon, but this is never conclusively proven and none of the four missing victims are ever found. For the first time ever, “The Trail Went Cold” will be travelling to Sweden to explore a mystery known as “The Dahlsjo Case”.

Be sure to check out the podcast, "Global True Crime", on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlsj%C3%B6_Case

https://www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/589089

https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6220069

https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6226177

https://www.land.se/allmant/dahlsjofallet-4-pojkar-forsvann-gatan-olost-efter-50-ar

https://www.expressen.se/gt/pojkarna-har-varit-forsvunna--i-50-ar/

https://gamlagoteborg.se/2017/04/02/dahlsjofallet/

https://gamlagoteborg.se/2017/04/02/grodmansranet/

https://www.expressen.se/gt/han-bryter-tystnaden-om-ranet--efter-50-ar/

https://audioboom.com/posts/6908628-the-dahlsjo-disappearance

“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 29, 2011. Florence, Kentucky. After missing their morning church service, 74-year old Bill Stephenson and his 74-year old wife, Peggy Stephenson, are found murdered inside their condo. Their causes of death are listed as blunt force trauma and sharp force trauma and while few details about the crime scene are released to the public, it’s reported that the victims’ bodies and a number of items in the condo were moved around and staged in a specific fashion in order to send some sort of message. It’s believed that the killer remained at the scene for hours after committing the murders and even though an unidentified DNA profile is found there, it is never matched to anyone and the crime remains unsolved.

July 30, 2011. Norwalk, Iowa. A fire breaks out at the rural home of 79-year old Bill Wood and his 72-year old wife, Kay Wood, and burns their residence to the ground. After the fire is put out, Bill’s charred body is found at the scene and it turned out he was shot to death, but there is no sign of Kay anywhere and the couple’s pick-up truck is missing. The abandoned truck is soon found 170 miles away in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Kansas City, Missouri. While witnesses report having seen a white middle-aged man near the truck, he cannot be identified and Kay is never found.

if you have any information about the murders of Bill and Peggy Stephenson, please contact the Boone County Sheriff’s Office at (859) 334-8496. if you have any about the Bill and Kay Wood case, please contact the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at (515) 961-1122 or the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (641) 342-6263.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Bill_and_Peggy_Stephenson

https://cdn.unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/46-Condo-Killings-.pdf?x36184

https://www.fox19.com/story/14747764/sheriffs-investigate-elderly-couples-death/

https://www.wlwt.com/article/police-have-killer-s-dna-determined-time-of-death-in-couple-s-slaying/3524741

https://www.fox19.com/story/25638081/bill-peggy-stephenson-couples-murder-remains-unsolved/

https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/cold-cases-dna-but-no-suspect-in-stephenson-double-murder-in-florence

https://www.wlwt.com/article/daughter-still-pleading-for-answers-in-nky-couples-brutal-slaying/20878864

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/accused/2020/08/26/backstory-stephenson-slayings-too-bizarre-believe-detective-says/3436127001/

https://www.fox19.com/2021/05/27/investigators-revealing-new-information-year-anniversary-couples-murder-approaches/

https://www.boonecountyky.org/government_administration/county_government/sheriff/stephenson_murder_case.php

https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2020/09/25/no-justice-decade-later-in-stephenson-murders

https://www.the-sun.com/news/9303347/stephenson-murders-linked-delphi-snapchat-richard-allen/

https://charleyproject.org/case/kaidena-lozelle-wood

https://www.newspapers.com/image/131607884/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/108751813/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/108766031/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/132317102/

https://www.kcci.com/article/mystery-behind-couple-s-death-disappearance-continues/6895215

https://who13.com/news/four-year-anniversary-of-unsolved-warren-county-murder-mystery/

https://www.kcci.com/article/5-years-later-investigators-narrow-search-in-deadly-mystery-1/6922131

https://kdsm17.com/news/local/seven-years-later-mysterious-homicide-and-missing-person-case-remains-unsolved

“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 7, 1973. Fontana, California. A CB radio operator hears a broadcast from a crying boy calling himself “Larry”, who claims that his father is dead and he needs help. Other CB operators throughout the United States start receiving broadcasts from Larry on their radios and he eventually reveals that he was involved in an accident in a remote part of New Mexico and is trapped inside an overturned pick-up truck alongside his father’s body. While Larry claims that he is using the truck’s CB radio to communicate, he fails to provide many specific details about his location or his background. Even though a massive search operation is launched, no trace of Larry or his truck can be found, leading to speculation that the whole incident was an elaborate hoax, but the mysterious broadcaster known only as “Lost Boy Larry” is never identified. To commemorate our episode’s release date of April 1, we will be doing something a little differently from the norm this week by chronicling the saga of “Lost Boy Larry”.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Boy_Larry

https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/10/archives/a-scared-boys-broadcasts-set-off-search-in-new-mexico.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/158062448/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/609038354/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/294018772/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/581417783/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/398941370/

“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 14, 2000. Callahan, Florida. After picking up a prescription from a pharmacy, 51-year old Jackie Markham returns home from work, but she soon vanishes without a trace and the prescription is found on the front seat of her car inside the garage. Jackie’s boyfriend, Archie Carroll, claims she phoned him to say that a drunk man named “Richard” had unexpectedly shown up at her house, but by the time Archie drove over there to check on her, Jackie was gone. Investigators explore a number of different leads, including the possibility that Jackie was harmed by a suspected serial killer or that Archie himself could have been responsible for her disappearance, but there is no evidence of what happened. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the disappearance of Jackie Markham, which has gone unsolved for 25 years. Special thanks to listener Ryan Sheesley for narrating the opening of this episode.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office at (904) 225-8984. 

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/jacquelyn-lorraine-markham

https://disappearedblog.com/jackie-markham/

https://nassauso.com/cold-cases/jacquelyn-markham-jackie/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1267470336/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1267497059/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1266249844/

https://www.news4jax.com/news/2001/10/03/suspected-serial-killer-found-hanging-in-cell/#:~:text=%E2%80%93%20Police%20say%20a%20man%20suspected,%22apologetic%22%20was%20found%20nearby

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/special-reports/cold-case-investigators-seeking-new-clues-in-13-1/288730538/

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/nassau-release-video-of-man-believed-disappearance/77-feaf8661-ec46-408d-8565-32ee47ee80ad

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/12/03/nassau-county-detectives-release-video-in-22-year-cold-case-investigation-of-missing-woman/

“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.