The Trail Went Cold

November 12, 1988. Chandler, Oklahoma. While transporting a shipment to Oklahoma City, 27-year old truck driver Dwayne McCorkendale pulls over at a rest area to phone his wife, but he is fatally shot in the back before he is robbed. During this time period, numerous truck drivers report being harassed by the occupants of a brown Ford Pinto, who allegedly made remarks over their CB radio about having killed a trucker. Three decades later, investigators explore the possibility that a deceased woman known only as the “El Dorado Jane Doe” was involved in Dwayne’s murder, but even though she is eventually identified, this crime is never solved.

September 22, 2000. Primm, Nevada. While transporting a shipment from Los Angeles to Alberta, 28-year old Canadian truck driver Trevor Angell stops at Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino, but he vanishes without a trace and his abandoned truck is discovered in the parking lot. Prior to his disappearance, Trevor’s ATM card was used to make nine withdrawals from his bank account and he was last seen looking sick and disoriented and asking people for help. Investigators later express their belief that Trevor may have disappeared voluntarily and was still alive somewhere, but no trace of him is ever found.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved cold cases involving long-haul truck drivers.

if you have any information about the murder of Dwayne McCorkendale, please contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s confidential tip line at 1-800-522-8017. If you have any information about the disappearance of Trevor Angell, please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at (702) 828-2907. 

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/dwayne-mccorkendale/

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

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1988/11/14/shooting-victims-body-identified/62633136007/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/680934348/

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1988/11/17/reward-being-offered-in-slaying-of-trucker/62632829007/

https://tulsaworld.com/archives/unsolved-mysteries-comes-to-oklahoma/article_f8739cbd-fbdb-5c5b-b633-3fbbb264ba40.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/207621708/

https://tulsaworld.com/archive/tv-show-prompts-leads-in-truck-driver-slaying/article_930d2264-4b52-5a7b-81b9-b9a73fb41a91.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eldorado-jane-doe_n_56e6d679e4b0b25c918276a3

https://charleyproject.org/case/trevor-george-angell

https://www.newspapers.com/image/493391219/

“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.

October 7, 2015. La Grange, California. After he fails to return to his home in San Jose from a motorcycle trip to Oroville, 53-year old Robert Kope is found dead by the side of a remote country road. Robert has been strangled to death with a zip tie, but there are no apparent signs of struggle and his motorcycle is located down the road a quarter-mile away from his body. Seven years earlier, Robert had been engaged to be married to a woman who died after being strangled with a zip tie, but her death was ruled to be a suicide and investigators are unable to uncover a connection between the two deaths or a logical motive for Robert’s murder. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a perplexing crime known as “The Zip Tie Murder” which has gone unsolved for over a decade. Special thanks to listener Phoebe Holmes for narrating the opening of this episode.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department at (209) 525-7080.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/podcasts/the-zip-tie-murder/

https://cdn.unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/71-The-Zip-Tie-Murder.pdf?x49380

https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article264615151.html

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-zip-tie-murder-17771869.php

https://www.newspapers.com/image/667895551/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/706304353/

“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.

April 9, 2008. Gastonia, North Carolina. After having spent the previous day suffering from a stomach virus, 22-year old Jamie Fraley speaks to a friend on the phone from her apartment during the early morning hours. She says that someone has shown up to give her a ride to the hospital, but after the call ends, Jamie is never heard from again. Suspicion turns towards her fiancée’s father, Ricky Simonds Sr., who lived at Jamie’s apartment complex and had allegedly displayed inappropriate behavior towards her. Two months later, Ricky Sr. is found dead after trapping himself inside the trunk of his estranged ex-girlfriend’s car and succumbing to heat stroke, but even though he is investigated for potential involvement in Jamie’s disappearance, there is not enough evidence to implicate him and Jamie is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved disappearance of Jamie Fraley.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Gaston County Police Department at (704) 866-3320.

Additional Reading:

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

https://charleyproject.org/case/jamie-michelle-fraley

https://www.wbtv.com/story/8483895/son-of-man-found-dead-in-trunk-speaks-out/

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/missing-womans-angels-wont-give-up-search/275-374098694

https://www.wbtv.com/story/28767264/missing-gaston-county-womans-family-still-desperate-for-answers-seven-years-later/

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2016/04/07/mother-observes-somber-anniversary/32006351007/

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2018/04/19/10-years-later-no-answers-in-gaston-cold-case/12660238007/

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/somebody-has-to-know-something-11-years-later-jamie-fraley-still-missing/275-55ba517d-9205-42fc-95c6-a181afd1ea93

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/heartbroken-mother-refuses-give-search-answers-2008-disappearance-daughter-jamie-n1232334

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2015/09/05/killer-confesses-to-more-crimes/33582124007/

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2015/09/05/killer-says-he-s-dying/33582162007/

https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1991/313a86-0.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 produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

March 18, 1981. Springfield, Illinois. An unknown assailant walks into the Lauterbach Cottage Hardware Store to commit a robbery and grabs an axe from the shelf to bludgeon three victims: the 48-year old co-owner, Yvonne Lauterbach; a 37-year old sewing machine repair shop owner, Floyd Giddings; and a 64-year old customer, John Ewing. While John is pronounced dead at the scene, Yvonne and Floyd manage to survive, but are left with debilitating injuries. Numerous witnesses describe seeing a light-skinned man leaving the store right before the bodies were discovered, but even though a psychiatric patient and a convicted robber are each looked at as potential suspects, there is not enough evidence to implicate anyone and the Lauterbach Hardware Axe Attacks remain unsolved. 

November 10, 1993. Warminster, Pennsylvania. 20-year old Seann Campbell and his 20-year old friend, Bryan Benson, show up to work the closing shift together at a West Coast Video store, but when the owner arrives the following morning, he discovers that the front door is unlocked and Seann and Bryan have been murdered. Their bodies are found in the adult films section at the back of the store, as both victims were stabbed numerous times and have defensive wounds to indicate that they put up a violent struggle against one or more attackers. While money is stolen from the register, there is debate about whether robbery was the actual motive, but even though an earring is found on the floor at the crime scene, there is not enough evidence to determine who was responsible for the murders.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the “Lauterbach Hardware Axe Attacks” and the “West Coast Video Murders”, a pair of cold cases in which multiple victims were violently attacked inside a place of business.

If you have information about the Lauterbach Hardware Axe Attacks, please contact the Springfield Police Department at (217) 788-8311. If you have information about the West Coast Video Murders, please contact the Warminster Township Police Department at (215) 443-5000 or the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office at (215) 348-6354. 

Additional Reading:

https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/lauterbach-cottage-hardware-ax-attacks-1981/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307541603/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1306795519/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307544293/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1306795538/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307559975/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1307727598/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1318645104/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1319129351/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1301177798/

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2011/01/16/first-in-print-30-years/44237723007/

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/crime/2018/04/20/city-to-demolish-scene-37/12624959007/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/178466254/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/170119080/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/198104998/

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/2011/07/12/a-decade-unanswered-questions-10/17880603007/

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/crime/2011/08/11/bryan-benson-seann-campbell-warminster/17868157007/

https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/crime/2013/11/29/da-actionable-info-in-93/17976178007/

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/bryan-benson-seann-campbell-cold-case-murders-1993-bucks-county-warminster-reward-fund-exclusive/

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/cbs3-mysteries-bryan-benson-seann-campbell-warminster-west-coast-video/

“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 17, 1969. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 12-year-old Patty Chesher leaves her residence in order to go door-to-door and sell some raffle tickets, but after her next-door neighbour purchases a ticket, she vanishes without a trace. While the police initially suspect that Patty ran away voluntarily, her family does not believe this and when she fails to resurface, investigators start exploring the possibility that she was the victim of foul play. Four decades later, it is announced that no less than four persons of interest popped up on the radar after drawing suspicion with some questionable behaviour after Patty went missing, but there is no conclusive evidence to implicate any of them and Patty is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we travel to Albuquerque in order to explore a missing children’s case which has gone unsolved for over 57 years.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Albuquerque Police Department at (505) 242-2677.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/patricia-joan-chesher

https://www.newspapers.com/image/157109930/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783485569/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783465617/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783465670/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/783500523/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/784316247/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/148646739/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206266437/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262759977/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262760009/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/262759993/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/784648330/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/206266611/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at AdvocacyCon, which is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 11-13, 2026. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAILCOLD10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.

“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.