Trace Evidence

Nineteen year old Rachel Cooke had been attending college in San Diego. There, she met and fell in love with a man with whom she hoped to create a brilliant and beautiful future. Rachel was pursuing a career in fashion, and she had completely fallen in love with California, which was entirely different from her small hometown of Georgetown, Texas.In December of 2001, Rachel returned home for the holidays. Her boyfriend came along, though he would return back to California before New Years. He had work to attend to, and the two of them had recently decided to move in together in the new year. Rachel decided to stay in Georgetown a little longer, so she could attend her cousin’s wedding. Everything was going well, until the morning of January 10th, 2002.Rachel went out for her usual morning run, but she never came home. When her parents realized she was missing, the Sheriff’s department was contacted. Despite exhaustive searches, media coverage and endless missing person’s fliers, Rachel was nowhere to

Short update episode regarding sentencing of a suspect in the Disappearance of Heather Elvis, examined in episode 33 of Trace Evidence."Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Seventeen year old Norman Ladner loved spending his free time on his family's land. He would walk through the 122 acre plot, exploring the open pastures and dense forestry. Fishing and hunting were two of his favorite activities, but on the night of August 21st, 1989, Norman didn't come home.After searching for over an hour, Norman's father made the terrible discovery of his son's body. Norman had died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and while investigators initially considered it an accidental shooting, the final ruling was suicide. Unable to accept this, Norman's parents began an investigation of their own.Over the next several weeks, the Ladner's discovered a blood stained bullet, too large for their son's rifle, a radio transmitter they were told was often used by drug smugglers and were even threatened by an unknown individual not to reopen the case. What happened to Norman Ladner, was this a tragic case of a teenager taking his own life, a terrible accident or a case of homicide either cov

It was a hot summer afternoon in Newark, New Jersey in 1978.  Five close friends, Melvin "Ricky" Pittman (17), Ernest Taylor (17), Alvin Turner (16), Randy Johnson (16) and Michael McDowell (16) had all gotten together to play basketball at West Side Park.As the afternoon turned to evening, the friends went their separate ways, planning to meet up again later.  They were going to help a local business owner move boxes in preparation for his purchase of a new home, grab a few extra bucks for their trouble, and then see what this summer night had to offer.  Sadly, none of them would ever return home.Over the next thirty-three years, theories and rumors would run rampant.  Psychics would claim to hold the answers, tipsters would call in with leads that led to nowhere and eventually, a confession would result in a trial that would end with unsatisfying results.  What happened to the young men, since then referred to as the Clinton Avenue Five and who may hold the answers to this haunting mystery?For more informat

Twenty year old Angela Hammond was living in rural Clinton, Missouri.  Everything in her life seemed to be coming together:  she'd fallen in love, gotten engaged and was pregnant with her first child.  The bright, sweet and beautiful young woman was excited for the days ahead and the future she was building.On April 4th, 1991, she had plans to meet her fiance, Rob, downtown for a night out.  As the evening wore on, she found herself getting tired and decided she'd rather just go home.  She stopped at a payphone at the edge of a supermarket parking lot and called Rob to cancel their plans.  In the midst of this conversation, Angie was abducted by a man in a green pickup truck.Angie screamed into the phone.  Rob sped over to the scene and caught sight of the truck.  As it passed him, Rob saw Angie struggling with the driver and heard her screaming his name.  He spun his own truck around and gave chase, but in doing so he had severely damaged his transmission and the last thing he saw were the abductor's tail li

Twenty year old Karina Holmer wanted to see more of the world beyond her Swedish home town.  In the Spring of 1996, she decided to go to America, working as an Au Pair for a well to do family in the Boston suburb of Dover.  At first, everything was going great, but soon problems began to rear their head.In letters home, the young woman went from positive and excited to negative and eventually, frightened.  Karina promised to explain it all when she got home, but unfortunately, she would not return home alive or in one piece.In a case which has become the Boston Black Dahlia case, the young nanny was found murdered in a dumpster not far from the club she was last seen dancing at.  Her dismembered remains were discovered by a homeless man, kicking off a massive investigation in which everyone was a suspect. Despite all of the media attention at the time, this terrible incident has been mostly forgotten over time, and Karina herself has become a name most no longer recall.Join host Steven Pacheco as he examined

Six year old Isabel Celis disappeared from her family's home in April of 2012.  Despite extensive searches, nothing could be found.  Rumor quickly built up suggesting that a member of her own family had been involved in the crime.  In March of 2017, Isabel's remains were recovered in rural Pima County.  Now, a year later, an arrest has finally been made which not only connects to Isabel and another young woman who was murdered, but which also exonerates her family.This short update episode briefly summarizes the case and then discusses breaking news of the arrest of thirty-six year old Christopher Clements in connection with the abduction and murder of Isabel Celis, as well as the 2014 murder of thirteen year old Maribel Gonzalez."Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In her early twenties, April Pitzer found herself on the wrong side of the law.  In order to wipe the slate clean, she agreed to become a confidential informant.  She had no idea the dangerous world she was entering, and ultimately had to flee Arkansas when her identity was compromised.  Years later, she was brought back to testify in a trial which sent over twenty members of a major drug ring to federal prison.April was never the same after that, scared and paranoid she began to fall into alcoholism and was diagnosed with bi-polar.  After losing her marriage and having her children taken away, April decided to go to California in search of perspective and to put her life back together.  Unfortunately, she would never make it back.In a terrifying twist of fate, a chance encounter with a woman from Arkansas revealed April's history as a drug informant and many of the people she found herself surrounded by had been involved in the very drug ring that she had testified against.  Frightened and desperate, April w

Jeramy Burt was last seen on February 11th, 2007.  Ninety six days later, the vehicle he had driven off in, his ex-wife's Mercury Cougar, was discovered abandoned and torched in the Bruneau desert in Southwest Idaho.  The discovery of the car caused the Boise Police Department to officially launch an investigation into his disappearance.During the course of the investigation they examined his bank and phone records, revealing details about his final moments and the days after he vanished.  His ex-wife, Kim, who he had been dating again at the time, married another man shortly after Jeramy disappeared, raising many suspicions.  His former girlfriend, and ex-lawyer, Jeannie Braun, became a person of interest for almost everyone associated with the case, but was there more to the story?In the conclusion to this story, host Steven Pacheco examines the investigation, missing audio files, polygraph tests, suspects and a possible link between Jeramy's disappearance and that of another Idaho man, Ahren Barnard.For mo

Thirty-three year old Jeramy Burt was putting his life back together.  After an affair with his lawyer, his wife, Kim, filed for divorce and the two went their separate ways, though they were forever bonded through their young daughter.  Jeramy regretted his mistakes and worked hard to make amends and regain Kim's trust.  After his lawyer tried to coerce him into lying under oath in an attempt to frame her assistant, Jeramy recorded their conversations and testified against her in front of the grand jury.While his ex-lawyer, and former girlfriend, served a year in prison, Jeramy and Kim reconnected and began to repair the damage to their relationship.  In February of 2007, they were living together and talking about future possibilities.  Unfortunately, his old girlfriend had gotten out of prison and was pressuring Jeramy to come back to her.  While Kim was in Las Vegas, for a work seminar, Jeramy spent the weekend with family back in his hometown of American Falls, Idaho.  Upon returning, on Sunday evening,

Twenty-two year old Jamie Fraley was working hard to put her life on track.  After a life wrought with health issues as the result of complications are birth, she had gotten a slow start.  Unable to complete high school, or obtain a driver's license, she struggled to strike out on her own and put a future together.In 2006, everything changed when she moved out on her own, met the man of her dreams and entered a GED program.  She had recently tried to help a friend overcome a drug addiction, and this awoke in her a desire to help others.  She wanted to attend college and pursue a career in drug counseling.  Her life took a heavy blow when her fiancee was sentenced to fifteen months in prison for larceny, but Jamie remained devoted and determined to marry him when he was released.  In the meantime, she developed a close bond with her soon to be father-in-law who lived in an apartment just two doors down from her.  Unfortunately, as time moved on, her future in-law became obsessive about her and began making ina

On July 6th, 2001, ten year old Tionda Bradley was looking after her three year old sister, Diamond while their mother, Tracey went to work.  The children were reportedly last seen by their mother at 6:30am, and when she returned home at 12:30 they were nowhere to be found.  All that was discovered was a note, allegedly written by Tionda, saying that the girls were going to walk to the store and then a nearby school.Tracey searched for the girls, and didn't call the police until 6:30 that evening, at which point they had been missing for at least six hours.  Investigators launched one of the largest searches in Chicago history, but the wider their radius grew, the more they felt the answers may reside closer to home.  There were suspicions early on of Tracey and the man she was seeing, George Washington, Diamond's father.  The note didn't make sense, and a voice mail discovered later, left by Tionda the day they vanished, stated that a man named George was at the door. The family was divided about what they

Dorothy Kilgallen was one of the most well known and prominent reporters in American history.  Her tenacious personality and intense columns examines major stories of her time, including the murder trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard and the Cuban Missile Crisis.  While her readers loved her dynamic style, powerful figures in Hollywood and Intelligence Agencies were not fans of her work.After the assassination of President, and her close friend, John Kennedy in November of 1963, Dorothy dedicated her work to uncovering what she believed to have been a massive conspiracy and cover-up.  She had a contact in the Warren Commission who leaked information to her, which she in turn published.  The FBI began keeping a file on her, and tapping her phone after Dorothy refused to reveal her sources. Dorothy became the only journalist to get a private, one on one interview with Jack Ruby, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald.  In the days and weeks leading up to her death, Dorothy told friends she was going to break the c

On February 7th, 1999, in Westminster, Colorado, thirty-nine year old Paul Skiba brought his nine year old daughter, Sarah, to work at his moving company while covering a shift for an employee.  They were met by Lorenzo Chivers, one of Paul's employees, to go out on a job.  The three drove off in a moving truck and were never seen again.Police initially believed the disappearance was related to a custody battle between Paul and his ex-wife, Michelle.  Despite friends and family urging them to investigate, authorities delayed for days.  Finally, when Paul's mother, and two friends found bullet holes, blood and hair at the company parking lot, Police launched an investigation.No suspects were named, though many have made links between the triple murder and Paul's then girlfriend, Teresa Donovan.  Paul was looking to split up and wanted Teresa out of his home by the very day he disappeared.  Teresa's sister was living with Lorenzo and her brother, Tom, had a vendetta against Paul.Blood found at the scene belonge

Twenty year old Irina "Ira" Yarmolenko was finishing up her sophomore semester at UNC Charlotte in May of 2008.  She planned to begin her junior year at UNC Chapel Hill where she would pursue a career in Public Health, an area near and dear to her kind and compassionate sensibility.  Tragically, Ira would never begin her junior year.On May 5th, 2008, just days after her twentieth birthday, Ira began her day by taking a final exam.  She had another scheduled for 5pm, and so she ran some errands.  Surveillance footage tracks much of her travels that day, but when she drove down to the banks of the Catawba river, no one was aware.  Two jet skiiers discovered Ira's lifeless body on the bank of the river, beside her car.She had died as the result of asphyxia secondary to ligature strangulation.  There were three ligatures around her neck.Investigators were baffled, and for many months, they failed to determine a motive or drum up a suspect.  On the day of the crime, they spoke with Mark Carver, who had been fishin

Logan Schiendelman had just finished his first year of college as Washington State University.  He had spent a little too much time having fun, and not as much attending classes, and so he wasn’t able to return and instead planned to get a job, put some money in his pocket and see where the world would take him.  He was on a journey of self discovery, hoping to find his place in life, and within his own community.                On May 19th, 2016, he told his grandmother that he’d had an epiphany but before they could discuss it further, she had to go to work.  They made plans to talk that evening, but when she returned home, Logan was gone and as the days passed, she filed a missing person’s report, which would lead to bizarre eye witness accounts and the discovery of Logan’s car abandoned along Instate Five, just five miles from his home.  According to witness accounts, the car had drifted across multiple lanes before crashing into the center divider.  One witness reported seeing a man leap from the passeng

Case Update:  Episode 10 - The Bizarre Murder of Arlis Perry has been SOLVEDOn June 26th, 2018, Deputies of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department moved to execute a search warrant on suspect Steve Blake Crawford, the security guard who originally found Arlis Perry's body.  During the execution of that warrant, Crawford committed suicide with a self inflicted gunshot wound.This is a short episode discussing the events of the day and the news about how this case was solved and the state of further investigations to come.For more information please visit: https://www.trace-evidence.comhttps://www.patreon.com/traceevidence Social Media:https://twitter.com/TraceEvPodhttps://www.instagram.com/traceevidencepod/https://www.facebook.com/groups/traceevidencepodMusic Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Twenty-three year old Brandi Wells was beginning to put her life back on track.  After a failed marriage and traveling throughout Texas, she moved to Brownsboro, just twenty minutes away from her hometown of Tyler.  She re-enrolled in college, to pursue a degree in education, and had just gotten a new job.  Things were looking up.  On August 2nd, 2006, Brandi decided to go out for one last night of fun before she had to focus on her studies and job.  This night, she would decide to go to Longview, TX, to a club known as Graham Central Station.  Only a few people knew her destination, and no one knew why.  Brandi was seen entering and exiting the club, but after that, she vanished.  Her car was found the next day, abandoned along Interstate 20.  Sadly, the connection between the car, and her disappearance wouldn't be made for days.  By the time investigators knew what they were dealing with, they were a week behind.  The investigation was flawed, involving mis-identifications, tracking the wrong cell phone and

Fifteen year old Kayla Berg was excited to move back to her hometown of Antigo, Wisconsin after spending the previous two months in Texas with her mother, Hope.  While Texas hadn't worked out for the pair, Kayla was looking forward to seeing her father and brother, as well as all the friends she had left behind.Kayla returned on August 2nd, 2009, and immediately took advantage of the dwindling weeks of summer before she'd be returning to High School as a Junior.  Living with her grandparents, while her mother attempted to find more permanent housing, wasn't ideal, but Kayla was just happy to be home. Just a little over a week after coming back, on August 11th, Kayla makes arrangements to hang out with twenty-four year old Kevin Kielcheski, a friend of her brother's who she has known since she was young.  Kevin picks her up around 9pm, and is home by midnight, but Kayla never makes it back.  The next day, when Kayla is noted as missing, Kevin states that he dropped her off at a friends house.  The problem with

 Chuck Morgan worked as an escrow agent in Tucson, Arizona in 1977.  Far from an exciting life, Chuck enjoyed the quiet calm and exactness of his work, and in his free time, delighted in joy and excitement of raising four daughters with his wife, Ruth.  Suddenly, Chuck's life would be thrust into danger and mystery when he vanished on March 22nd.  Chuck resurfaced three days later and told his wife a bizarre tale about being abducted, torture and having his throat coated with a potent hallucinogen.  From that day forward, Chuck was extremely safety conscious and even went so far as to wear a bullet proof vest and he began carrying a .357 magnum handgun.  Several months later, in June, when things seemed to be back to normal, Chuck vanished once again.  Nine days later, a mysterious woman called his wife and gave her a cryptic statement about a Bible passage in Ecclesiastes.  Two days after that, Chuck's body was discovered in a remote area forty miles outside of Tucson.  Police ruled his death a suicide, desp