Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

In the late 1970s, the communities around Lake Granbury were still developing, with new roads, scattered homes, trailers, and weekend properties appearing along the shoreline. One of those communities was Whippoorwill Bay, where a Fort Worth woman and her husband regularly spent their weekends.

When Helen Holladay disappeared after a troubling weekend at the lake, her family immediately believed something terrible had happened. The circumstances surrounding her last known movements, along with what relatives knew about her marriage, raised questions they felt were not taken seriously enough by authorities. For years, the case remained largely dormant, leaving Helen’s daughters without answers and forcing the family to conduct searches of their own.

More than a decade later, a new investigator revived the case and began reexamining old leads, records, and theories about where Helen might have gone. Lake Granbury became a major focus, prompting a series of searches.

Thirty-five years after Helen vanished, an unexpected discovery finally answered one of the case’s longest-standing questions. But it did not explain what happened to her or resolve the concerns that had surrounded the investigation from the beginning.

If you have any information about the death of Helen Holladay, please contact the Hood County Sheriff’s Office at (817) 579-3307.

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During one of the deadliest years in Fort Worth history, two homicide victims were found months apart in very different parts of the city. Neither carried identification, and despite investigative efforts, both remained nameless for decades.

Their cases became part of the long list of unidentified people whose deaths could not be fully investigated without first answering the most basic question: who were they?

Decades later, preserved evidence and advances in forensic technology gave investigators new opportunities to revisit both cases. One would require modern DNA analysis and genealogical research, while the other depended on an unusual method of recovering fingerprints from evidence preserved since the original investigation.

After forty years, both victims finally got their names back. 

This episode examines their original discoveries, the evidence investigators had to work with, the forensic methods that eventually provided answers, and what remains unresolved now that their names are known. It also looks at another recent identification by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office and the continuing effort to locate relatives of people who remained unidentified or unclaimed for years.

If you have information about the 1986 murder of Brenda Darnell McLerran Smith, please contact the Fort Worth Police Cold Case Unit at (817) 392-4307.

If you have any information that might help locate the next of kin of Jose Francisco Reyes Ortega, whose body was found in October of 1986, please contact the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office at (817) 920-5700. If you have information about his murder, please contact the Fort Worth Police Cold Case Unit at the number above.

If you have any information that might help locate the next of kin of Ciro Estrada Hernandez, whose body was found in August of 2000, please contact the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office at (817) 920-5700.

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at https://www.gonecold.com

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#JaneDoe #HillsideJaneDoe #JohnDoe #FortWorth #FTW #TarrantCounty #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #UnidentifiedPerson

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Decades after the murder of 17-year-old Lecia McGee went cold, advances in forensic testing gave investigators an opportunity to take another look at the evidence that remained. Testing on a cigarette butt recovered from Lecia’s car produced a male DNA profile. That profile eventually matched a Fort Worth man already serving a prison sentence for a violent attack; a man who, as a teenager, had been questioned in the initial investigation.

The discovery led detectives into the man’s extensive history of violence. Years after Lecia’s murder, he deliberately struck a woman with his truck as she was speed walking in her neighborhood, leaving her critically injured before attempting to force her into his vehicle. He fled after a failed attempt to abduct her, but was eventually arrested and put back behind bars. Investigators also examined an earlier crime spree involving burglaries, armed robberies, stolen vehicles, and gunfire.

Perhaps most significant was his history before Lecia was killed. While living only a short distance from her family, he had already been involved in increasingly serious crimes. Shortly before Lecia’s death, he abducted a young woman after playing Good Samaritan. Luckily, she escaped before he could do his worst. After hearing about Lecia’s murder, someone familiar with that incident contacted homicide detectives and pointed out possible similarities between the two cases. Police questioned the teenager and his family, but the lead was never fully pursued.

Decades later, the DNA match brought investigators back to him. He denied knowing Lecia well or ever being inside her car, despite his DNA being found there. Detectives believed the accumulated circumstances were significant, but prosecutors concluded the available evidence was not enough to bring a murder charge. With key physical evidence gone and no additional DNA linking him directly to the killing, Lecia’s case remains unsolved.

Part two of two.

If you have any information about the murder of Lecia Ann McGee, please contact the Fort Worth Police Cold Case Unit at 817-392-4307.

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#JusticeForLeciaMcGee #FortWorth #FTW #TarrantCounty #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #MissingTrio #FortWorthMissingTrio #CarlaWalker

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In the late 1970s, Fort Worth was a city in transition. Although it had always been sleepy compared to other major Texas cities, downtown had begun to lose much of its former glory, parts of the Stockyards were in decline, and violent crime remained an increasingly serious problem across the entire region. Against that backdrop, the murder of a seventeen-year-old high school student became one of the city’s most disturbing unsolved crimes in 1978.

Lecia McGee was remembered as outgoing, kind, and well-liked, but also tough. She played sports, enjoyed spending time with friends, and took particular pride in the older Chevrolet Impala she carefully maintained. One bitterly cold winter night, she left a friend’s house after watching a movie and eating pizza but never returned home. Her disappearance was immediately considered unusual, and her family began searching before police were contacted.

The following evening, her abandoned car was found only a short distance from home. Evidence inside made it clear that a violent attack had occurred, and Lecia was found dead inside the vehicle. Investigators determined that she had fought desperately against her attacker. Robbery appeared unlikely, and detectives struggled to identify anyone who had a reason to harm her.

Police examined several possible suspects and compared the murder with other crimes in the area, but none of those leads produced an answer. As the months and years passed, coverage faded and the case grew cold, leaving Lecia’s family without justice and with few explanations for what happened during the short drive home that night.

Part one of two.

If you have any information about the murder of Lecia Ann McGee, please contact the Fort Worth Police at (817) 392-4307.

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at https://www.gonecold.com 

For Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.com

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#JusticeForLeciaMcGee #FortWorth #FTW #TarrantCounty #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #MissingTrio #FortWorthMissingTrio #CarlaWalker

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In May 1997, twenty-year-old Gregory “Keith” Mann Jr. was beginning to build a life for himself in Wichita Falls, Texas. He had recently started working at a local car dealership and was preparing to move into an apartment with his fiancé.

On Saturday, May 10, Keith worked a shift before spending the evening with friends. The group drove around Wichita Falls, stopped at a convenience store, and spent part of the night near Lake Wichita and Memorial Stadium. Before midnight, Keith told his friends that he needed to return home because he was supposed to meet someone.

His friends dropped him off at his apartment complex and watched him begin walking up the stairs toward his second-floor apartment. It was the last confirmed sighting of him.

The following morning, a car Keith had borrowed from his employer was found parked at a church near his parents’ home. But he was nowhere to be found. His belongings remained at his apartment, his bank account and gas card were never used again, and two paychecks waiting for him at work went unclaimed.

Over the years, detectives followed reported sightings, rumors, and tips but none led to Keith. A later cold-case review also failed to produce a breakthrough.

Authorities eventually came to suspect that Keith was the victim of foul play. His disappearance remains an active investigation, and his family continues searching for answers nearly three decades after he vanished.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Gregory “Keith” Mann Jr., please contact Wichita Falls Area Crime Stoppers at 940-322-9888. Tips can be made anonymously.

Check out the family’s page at themissingmannproject.com

You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at patreon.com/gonecoldpodcast

Find us at gonecold.com

For Gone Cold merch, visit gonecold.dashery.com

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#WhereIsKeithMann #FindKeithMann #KeithMann #WichitaFalls #Texas #TX #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #Unsolved #MissingPerson #Missing #Disappeared #Disappearance #Vanished #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast

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