Cold Case: True Crime

Creator at Obomedia

Unresolved DNA leads, fading witness memories, and legal blind spots are where Cold Case True Crime starts. Each episode pulls apart forensic records, genealogical breakthroughs and investigative detail to reopen files that time nearly closed. This show focuses on cold-cases-adn: how DNA evidence, genetic genealogy and modern lab work change what was once unsolvable into a path toward answers. Expect methodical narration, primary-source documents explained in plain language, and the procedural context that separates speculation from evidence. New installments arrive every day — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday — at 9:00 AM, so you can follow breakthroughs as investigations evolve. Episodes vary in length but consistently deliver case background, DNA analysis walkthroughs, and the legal and ethical implications that follow new identifications. Cold Case True Crime is for listeners who want more than headlines: family members seeking clarity, armchair investigators who value forensic accuracy, and true crime fans fascinated by genetic genealogy and laboratory methods. If you want clear, evidence-centered storytelling about cold cases where ADN plays a decisive role, subscribe and listen at 9:00 AM daily to stay updated. Follow now to get notified when a dormant file gets new life.

  1. 4 hr ago

    The Dry Sneaker That Betrayed a Killer: Rebecca Patterson Revealed

    The Dry Sneaker That Betrayed a Killer: Rebecca Patterson Revealed A single white canvas sneaker, size seven, was found wedged against tree roots below a concrete culvert on February 11, 2003 - its top surface dry despite 31°F water; nineteen years later a discarded paper cup 400 miles away would shift the case. Who placed that impossibly dry shoe where physics says it could not be, and what did it point investigators toward? In this episode, we tell the timeline and evidence surrounding Rebecca Patterson’s disappearance and murder, from the locked apartment and packed green tote bag to the Midstate Gas jacket knock on doors and the frozen nail-swab logged into evidence. How did a shoe, a jacket, and one frozen nail-swab eventually connect to a conclusion reached nearly two decades later? Person: Rebecca Patterson Date (body recovered): February 13, 2003 Cause of death: Strangulation Evidence preserved: Nail-swab logged February 17, 2003 and frozen for 19 years Distance mentioned: 400 miles (discovery related to a discarded paper cup) - One white canvas sneaker, size seven, found wedged against tree roots on February 11, 2003 with a strawberry-embroidered wool sock inside - Water temperature measured at 31 degrees Fahrenheit the morning the sneaker was found - Rebecca died between 9 and 11 PM on February 6, 2003, seven days before her body was recovered - Nail-swab collected during autopsy on February 17, 2003 and stored in Seline County evidence freezer for 19 years - A man wearing a Midstate Gas jacket knocked on doors on February 3, 2003, three days before Rebecca was killed, with no company record of that service call To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Dry Sneaker That Betrayed a Killer: Rebecca Patterson Revealed

  2. 1 day ago

    The Blue Mug, the Chair, and the Man Who Confessed

    The Blue Mug, the Chair, and the Man Who Confessed A dead woman posed in a plastic lawn chair with a pale blue mug still steaming in the January cold - a scene arranged by someone who knew Heather Riley's routines and a gate that opens in three seconds if you know how. Who brought the chair and the coffee, and why did evidence sit frozen until science and one determined reader reopened a retired detective's notes? In this episode, we tell how Heather Riley - a 54-year-old hospital records coordinator found dead on January 9, 1987 - was discovered staged in her own backyard, and how a hand-written investigative trail, a partial fingerprint, and DNA decades later would point investigators toward answers. What Pamela White found in those notebooks and in a public DNA database changed two cold cases. Person: Heather Riley Date: January 9, 1987 Location: Unit seven, Sycamore Court, Portsmith County Status: Case cold for 32 years until notebooks reviewed in February 2019 Person: Detective Ron Acker - Heather Riley was 54 years old and worked as a records coordinator at Portsmith Community Hospital since 1979. - She was last seen alive at the Bluebird Grill on Thursday, January 7, arriving at 7:15 and leaving before 8:00. - Donna Mitchell found Heather seated in a white plastic lawn chair in the frozen backyard on the morning of January 9, 1987. - The rear gate to unit seven had a defective latch that could be pushed open from the outside if lifted and pushed at a precise angle in about three seconds. - Investigators recovered a partial fingerprint from the handle of the pale blue ceramic mug and a biological sample from beneath Heather’s fingernails, both initially insufficient to identify a suspect. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Blue Mug, the Chair, and the Man Who Confessed

  3. 2 days ago

    The Glove in the Dark: How a 1993 Cold Case Finally Broke

    The Glove in the Dark: How a 1993 Cold Case Finally Broke Cold evidence, a missing latex glove, and a twenty-two-year-old nursing aide who vanished after a night shift - this episode opens with the moment a retired librarian found a sealed evidence bag labeled December 1993 and a genetic genealogist delivered a name that had never appeared in the file; how did one left-hand glove disappear from custody for decades and suddenly help break the case? Who did that glove belong to, and why was it misrecorded as missing for thirty years? In this episode, we tell the sequence of discoveries and record-keeping errors that connect the missing glove, the 1993 homicide of Darlene Vickers, and the late recovery of new genetic evidence; what the record shows, and what questions about chain of custody remain unresolved. Person: Darlene Vickers Date: December 3, 1993 Location: Calvary Lutheran fellowship hall basement, Aldgate Avenue, Portsmith Detective: Pauline Marsh, 38 years old Evidence found: partial left-hand latex glove with blood and partial DNA profile (3 of 6 loci) - Nicole Weaver found a black plastic evidence bag with an Elden County Sheriff's Office label dated December 1993 on December 9, 2023. - Darlene Vickers was 22 years old and last seen after her night shift on December 3, 1993; roommate Pam Ochoa reported her missing at 6:15 a.m. - The glove produced three usable loci out of six targeted using 1993 RFLP technology, sufficient to exclude suspects but insufficient to search databases at the time. - In 2001 the Vickers evidence box was moved to a shared facility on Drummond Road and intake paperwork recorded three items received, not four, omitting the glove. - In 2011 evidence coordinator Patrick Ryans found a misfiled chain-of-custody log during a routine audit, which later contributed to reconnecting missing documentation. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Glove in the Dark: How a 1993 Cold Case Finally Broke

  4. 3 days ago

    The Wallet Root: How a Creeper Solved a 31-Year Disappearance

    The Wallet Root: How a Creeper Solved a 31-Year Disappearance A single Virginia creeper root, thin as wire and threaded through the spine of a leather wallet, proved the item had lain in soil for at least twenty years - and it was the clue that reopened a 31-year missing-person case. How did a false classified ad, a payphone, and a wallet in a drainage ditch connect to one man's disappearance? In this episode, we tell the story of Carl Dalton’s November 1991 disappearance, the long police investigation, and the unexpected botanical evidence that changed everything. What did a root through a wallet reveal about where Carl had been, and who arranged the meeting that never existed? Person: Carl Dalton Date: November 1991 Location: gravel lot behind a closed bait shop off Route 49 Status: missing (disappearance first reported November 19, 1991) Evidence: wallet with Tennessee driver's license found in Colby Reservoir buffer zone - Carl Dalton drove 40 miles from home to look at a used truck and did not return on a Sunday in November 1991. - The classified ad phone number traced to a public payphone at a gas station in Macon Hollow, Tennessee. - Detective Ed Posey worked the case for 11 years and preserved two cotton swabs from a related vehicle in cold storage. - A wallet containing Carl Dalton’s Tennessee driver's license (expiration February 1993) was found 31 years later in a drainage ditch. - A forensic botanist determined a Virginia creeper root had grown through the wallet spine, requiring a minimum of 20 years to reach that stage. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Wallet Root: How a Creeper Solved a 31-Year Disappearance

  5. 4 days ago

    The Buckled Shoe and the Name That Never Appeared

    The Buckled Shoe and the Name That Never Appeared The shoe was buckled, the camera lens cracked, and a pickup sat in a corner of the Pinecrest Lounge parking lot for eleven minutes-the woman who never missed her Tuesday call vanished that night. Nearly twenty years passed with no name on a suspect list, until preserved evidence and genetic genealogy forced a long-hidden truth into the light: who placed the burgundy shoe and why? In this episode, we follow the timeline from the Pinecrest Lounge parking lot to the Mabry River bank and through the investigation that focused on one man before another finally spoke, asking how a workplace dispute, a buckled shoe, and a delivery driver intersected on October 21, 2001. Person: Alice Smith Date: October 21, 2001 Location: Pinecrest Lounge parking lot on Route Nine; body found in Mabry River two miles south of Harwick County boat launch Age: 62 Occupation: Billing coordinator at Harwick Regional Medical Center for 14 years - The pickup truck remained in the Pinecrest Lounge parking lot for eleven minutes at 9:41 p.m. - Alice’s beige Oldsmobile Cutlass was found locked in the lot the next morning with her purse and $63 in cash on the passenger seat. - Alice did not make her habitual 10:30 p.m. Tuesday call to her sister Donna that night. - Curtis Larsen found a left, burgundy leather shoe with a brass buckle, size seven, on trotline number four upstream of the body. - Alice’s body was found face down in 18 inches of water on October 22, with cause of death ruled homicide and no defensive markings consistent with an accidental fall. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Buckled Shoe and the Name That Never Appeared

  6. 5 days ago

    The Surveyor's Find: Jaw, Wire, and a 40-Year Secret

    The Surveyor's Find: Jaw, Wire, and a 40-Year Secret White bone, a surgical-grade retainer wire still curved against molars, and a bite mark preserved in mineralized tissue - all unearthed less than two feet below the surface after forty years. Who had the motive and the mouth to leave that telltale imprint, and why was the jaw buried against the eastern fence line of the refrigeration cooperative where the missing man last worked? In this episode, we follow the discovery from the morning Raymond Berry found the jaw on September 11, 2019, through the forensic match that identified it as Terry Lewis, missing since September 10, 1979. We trace the case file, the long-suspected coworker, and the puzzle left by a surviving retainer wire and a textbook-quality bite impression - what do they finally reveal about Terry's fate? Person: Raymond Berry Person: Terry Lewis Date: September 11, 2019 Date: September 10, 1979 Location: eastern fence line of the Millhaven refrigeration cooperative - The jawbone was found less than two feet below the surface at approximately sixty centimeters depth. - Raymond Berry called his finding in at 9:51 AM after standing over the jaw for four minutes. - Terry Lewis was 24 years old and last seen at about 9:15 PM on September 10, 1979, at a Hendricks Avenue gas station. - Forensic anthropologist Dr. Linda Pruett matched the jaw to Terry Lewis seven weeks after discovery. - The retainer wire was surgical-grade stainless steel and survived roughly forty years due to partially anaerobic soil conditions. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Surveyor's Find: Jaw, Wire, and a 40-Year Secret

  7. 6 days ago

    The Single Shoe That Broke a 30‑Year Murder Silence

    The Single Shoe That Broke a 30‑Year Murder Silence A single white canvas sneaker-size seven, left foot, double‑knotted lace-was found perched, dry and clean, on an iron grate on Thornfield Road with no second shoe and no footprints nearby. That lone shoe, linked to 48‑year‑old Gail Phillips, sat in evidence for nearly thirty years while her strangulation remained unsolved; how did it get there and who set it upright? In this episode, we follow the known facts of Gail Phillips’s disappearance and the evidence trail from the grate to the ravine and the people closest to the case. What can a solitary shoe, a blue synthetic fiber, and decades of paperwork tell us about what really happened that Tuesday? Person: Gail Phillips Date: August 10, 1993 Location: Thornfield Road (grate) and Spruce Hollow Road (ravine) Status: Homicide by strangulation; case unresolved Investigator: Detective Frank Obenhaus - Shoe recovered at 7:42 AM on a Tuesday morning was a white canvas sneaker, size 7, left foot, with a double‑knotted lace. - Gail Phillips, age 48, left home at 1:40 PM on August 10, 1993, to walk 1.5 miles to a friend’s house and never arrived. - Gail was found on August 16, 1993, in a ravine approximately two miles from the Thornfield Road lift station, wearing the same clothes she left home in. - A blue synthetic fiber scraped from the iron lip of the grate was logged by the lab as consistent with postal uniform fabric. - Neighbor Terry Abbot, age 34 in 1993, lived 0.3 miles from the lift station, was interviewed four times, had prior disorderly arrests, and died in 1999. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Single Shoe That Broke a 30‑Year Murder Silence

  8. 9 Sept

    The Running Watch: How a Woman's Timepiece Solved a 32-Year Murder

    The Running Watch: How a Woman's Timepiece Solved a 32-Year Murder A gold-tone Seiko bracelet kept ticking on a murdered man's wrist for thirty-two years inside a sealed evidence envelope, and no one who knew him recognized it. The watch was buckled over Gordon Gallagher's wide wrist when his body was found face-up in eleven inches of water - so whose watch was it, and how did it become the thread that pulled a name out of four generations of family trees? In this episode, we tell the two halves of the story: the July 1991 night when Gordon Gallagher disappeared after a cookout and his body was discovered at Cutter's Bluff Nature Preserve, and the later forensic work and small lead - a disposable coffee cup and a Tennessee woman who never heard Gordon's name - that finally moved the case. How did a running woman's watch and a single discarded cup close a gap that lasted over three decades? Person: Gordon Gallagher Date: July 11-14, 1991 Location: Cutter's Bluff Nature Preserve; Orchard Terrace, Fenwick Cause: Manual strangulation Evidence item: Gold-tone Seiko women's bracelet watch - Gordon Gallagher was thirty-one years old and woke at 5:20 a.m. to run four miles along the east side of Fenwick. - His body was found face-up in eleven inches of standing water on the morning of July 14, after being in the channel 36 to 48 hours. - He worked as a parts coordinator at Bryson Supply and drove a company-use Dodge pickup that remained behind his duplex. - The cookout where he last left was at Terry Mack's house; he declined a ride from Alan Covey around 9:30 p.m. - The watch remained in a sealed evidence envelope in Weston County for thirty-two years, still running. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.

    The Running Watch: How a Woman's Timepiece Solved a 32-Year Murder
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About

Unresolved DNA leads, fading witness memories, and legal blind spots are where Cold Case True Crime starts. Each episode pulls apart forensic records, genealogical breakthroughs and investigative detail to reopen files that time nearly closed. This show focuses on cold-cases-adn: how DNA evidence, genetic genealogy and modern lab work change what was once unsolvable into a path toward answers. Expect methodical narration, primary-source documents explained in plain language, and the procedural context that separates speculation from evidence. New installments arrive every day — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday — at 9:00 AM, so you can follow breakthroughs as investigations evolve. Episodes vary in length but consistently deliver case background, DNA analysis walkthroughs, and the legal and ethical implications that follow new identifications. Cold Case True Crime is for listeners who want more than headlines: family members seeking clarity, armchair investigators who value forensic accuracy, and true crime fans fascinated by genetic genealogy and laboratory methods. If you want clear, evidence-centered storytelling about cold cases where ADN plays a decisive role, subscribe and listen at 9:00 AM daily to stay updated. Follow now to get notified when a dormant file gets new life.

Information

  • Creator
    Creator at Obomedia
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    99
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 OBOMEDIA Creators
  • Show Website
    Cold Case: True Crime