The Trail Went Cold

Since “The Trail Went Cold” originally launched in February 2016, we have featured over 500 cold cases on the podcast, a number of which have wound up being solved or  experienced major developments. As a result, we have now released a total of seven special “update” episodes. In this particular episode, we’ll share a number of major updates which occurred in 2025, such as a resolution in the 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, Tommy Zeigler’s most recent attempts to overturn his conviction for the 1975 Winter Garden Furniture Store Murders, the potential discovery of three missing victims from the 1958 Martin Family Disappearance, and the identification of a 1971 murder victim formerly known as “Little Miss Panasoffkee”. These are just some of the cases we’ll be discussing on our most recent “update” episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Here are the links to our six previous “update” episodes:  https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-155-update/  https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-257-update-part-2/  https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-310-update-part-3/  https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-359-update-part-4/ https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-369-update-part-5/ https://trailwentcold.podbean.com/e/the-trail-went-cold-episode-412-update-part-6/ “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.

For the month of December, True Crime creators are getting together for a series titled “True Crime Convos” in which we have conversations about podcasting, true crime, and the nexus between the two. We discuss creating our shows, behind-the-scenes moments, fears and hopes, the cases that have gripped us, and more. In this episode, I will be joined by Nina Innsted from “Already Gone” and John from “Sins & Survivors”, as we discuss how we got into podcasting, our passion projects, what we have in store for 2026, our favourite holiday traditions, and also things you might not know about us! Enjoy this conversation and be sure to check out the rest of the “True Crime Convos” series: • Jessie (Love Murder), Bob (Buried), Joshua (Somewhere in the Pines) • Javier (Pretend), Kristen (Murder, She Told), Shaun (Sins & Survivors) • Patrick (True Crime Obsessed), Josh (True Crime Bullshit), Eric (True Consequences) • Gillian (True Crime Obsessed), Alvin (Affirmative Murder), Lanie (True Crime Cases with Lanie) • Aaron (Generation Why), Lucy (Wine & Crime), Kristen (Murder, She Told) • Amanda (Wine & Crime), Josh (True Crime Bullshit), Andie (Love Murder), Charlie (Crimelines) The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Christmas Eve 1963. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 34-year old Lucille Rinaldi, who happens to be five months pregnant, is bludgeoned and suffocated to death inside an apartment belonging to her husband, Frank Rinaldi. Even though Frank was supposedly out Christmas shopping when the crime took place, he is charged and convicted of Lucille’s murder after investigators learn that Frank took out a life insurance policy on his wife and there are also allegations surface that he was a closeted gay man. However, after the Supreme Court of North Carolina rules that the jury was unfairly prejudiced at Frank’s trial, his conviction is overturned and he is acquitted at his retrial. Was Lucille Rinaldi actually murdered by her husband or did the real killer manage to get away with it? On this week’s holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a controversial and sensationalist Christmas Eve murder case. Join us on Saturday, December 20 at 8:00pm ET for an online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link. Additional Reading: "Time of Death: The True Tale of a Quest for Justice in 1960s Chapel Hill" by Nora Gaskin https://www.newspapers.com/image/652430172/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/939529735/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/791770654/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/1026944384/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/463569154/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/463569188/ https://indyweek.com/news/archives-news/cautionary-tale-d-a-jim-hardin/ “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.

January 18, 2001. Miami, Florida. Geralyn Graham, the foster mother of four-year old Rilya Wilson, claims that a female caseworker from the Florida Department of Children and Families took Rilya from her residence for a medical evaluation, but never returned. Rilya is not officially reported missing until 15 months later, but the authorities become convinced that Geralyn fabricated her story and is personally responsible for Rilya’s disappearance. Geralyn is eventually charged with numerous crimes and receives a lengthy prison sentence after she is convicted of kidnapping and child abuse at her trial. Since the jury is unable to convict Geralyn of murder and Rilya’s remains are never found, there are a lot of unanswered questions about what actually happened. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a heartbreaking and controversial missing children’s case which came about as the result of a major scandal within Florida’s foster care system. Special thanks to listener Jaclyn Collins for narrating the opening of this episode. If you have any information about this case, please contact the Miami-Dade County Police Department at (305) 418-7302. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Rilya_Wilson https://charleyproject.org/case/rilya-shenise-wilson https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/652361189/ https://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/18/fla.missing.girl/index.html https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7210798 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proving-murder-in-case-of-missing-girl/ https://www.tampabay.com/incoming/informer-testifies-caretaker-confessed-to-killing-rilya-wilson/1266933/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/25/woman-convicted-missing-girl/1865543/ https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/geralyn-graham-faces-sentencing-in-rilya-wilson-case/2015825/ https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/rilya-wilson “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.

January 31, 1985. West Seneca, New York. 21-year old Leichia Reilly spends the night hanging out at a nightclub called the Pierce Arrow, but she never returns home and vanishes without a trace. Numerous witnesses recall having seen Leichia leaving the club during the early morning hours with an off-duty state trooper named Daniel Rose, but he denies this and stops cooperating with the investigation. Even though Rose is soon fired by the New York State Police and there appear to be some holes in his story, there is no evidence to implicate him in Leichia’s disappearance and she is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the controversial disappearance of Leichia Reilly, which has gone unsolved for more than 40 years. In addition, we will also discuss the unsolved 1982 murder of James Adamski, who went missing during the early morning hours of Halloween after leaving a bar in the nearby village of Depew before he was found in a shallow grave in a wooded area just under two months later. Additional Reading: https://charleyproject.org/case/leichia-m-reilly https://www.newspapers.com/image/875577695/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/875582162/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/875637060/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/875577847/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/875673768/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/874757072/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/877043776/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/875897927/ https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/cold-case-crime-west-seneca-missing-person-wny/71-ad11d332-e29e-44b4-a933-90d8c33edebe https://buffalonews.com/news/local/article_b226ae35-9eb5-5afa-8c9d-64ed07491fc5.html https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/investigations/2-investigates/cold-case-leichia-reilly-disappeared-1985/71-a0527b9d-fda9-4ae4-817b-9ceb49af06e0 https://www.wivb.com/news/36-year-old-cold-case-still-haunts-lancaster-cheektowaga/ https://www.wkbw.com/news/who-killed-james-adamski https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/unsolved-37-years-later-investigators-still-search-for-clues-in-lancaster-murder/71-ba70ad6f-195d-4bf6-b3bd-e47f3cd94590 “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.