The Trail Went Cold

January 15, 1991. Kingston, Tennessee. 35-year old Karen Farmer Beard, who happens to be seven-and-a-half months pregnant, drops off her two daughters at the residence of the parents of her ex-husband, Reece Beard. Hours later, Karen’s abandoned car is found next to a bridge located a quarter-mile away and while a woman claiming to be Karen had phoned a towing service and asked them to pick up her car, investigators believe the caller may have been an impostor. Since Karen was engaged in a heated child custody battle with Reece and alleged that he was the father of her unborn child, there is speculation that this may have been connected to her disappearance and multiple people were involved in covering the whole thing up, but no trace of Karen is ever found.

November 12, 1987. Phillips, Wisconsin. After finishing her shift at a factory, 23-year old Marchelle “Shelly” Hansen vanishes without a trace and her abandoned car is found in the parking lot of a resort over ten miles away. Shelly had recently told her family that she was two-to-three months pregnant and said that the child’s father would provide her with financial support if she kept his identity a secret. Less than one year later, a local resident named John Weber is arrested for the torture and murder of his sister-in-law, as well as the torture and attempted murder of his wife, but investigators find no evidence to link him to Shelly’s disappearance, so her whereabouts and the identity of her unborn child’s father remain a mystery.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/karen-farmer-beard

https://www.newspapers.com/image/775231377/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/775231393/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/775239035/

https://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/pregnant-womans-disappearance-remains-unsolved-ep-407130784-358316301.html/

https://charleyproject.org/case/marchelle-hansen

https://www.newspapers.com/image/241224377/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/241224389/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/116548314/

https://www.wsaw.com/2024/01/05/forgotten-wisconsin-cold-cases-marchelle-hansen-single-mom-missing/

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a pair of unsolved missing persons cases involving pregnant women.

“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.

September 24, 1963. Opa-locka, Florida. 29-year old pilot Geoffrey Sullivan takes off in a twin-engine Beechcraft Travel Air plane from Opa-locka Airport and is accompanied by 37-year old freelance journalist Alex Rorke, as well as a passenger believed to be a Cuban exile named Enrique Molina Garcia. Over the next several hours, Sullivan flies through the Caribbean and changes his flight plan several times, but after stopping to refuel on the island of Cozumel, the plane and its passengers vanish without a trace. Since Sullivan and Rorke were heavily involved in anti-communist missions against Fidel Castro, it is rumoured that they may have been captured and held prisoner in Cuba for years. Even though Sullivan’s daughter eventually files a wrongful death lawsuit against the Cuban government, she receives no conclusive answers about what happened. On this week’s episode, we explore a Cold War era mystery about a missing aircraft and two American men.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/geoffrey-sullivan/

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

https://www.newspapers.com/image/664216557/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/938207406/

https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/11/archives/25000-offered-for-lost-fliers-2-us-men-and-passenger-vanished-over.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/664065457

https://latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/sherry-sullivan.htm

https://www.newspapers.com/image/850157644/

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19946668#.XafOjehKhPY

https://www.click2houston.com/news/2012/01/16/a-daughters-mission/

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2012/04/22/news/waldo-county-woman-suing-cuba-for-nonpayment-of-21-million-wrongful-death-suit/

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2016/07/21/news/maine-woman-seeking-closure-for-dad-she-believes-was-shot-down-over-cuba/

https://fox23maine.com/news/local/after-a-30-year-search-will-new-relations-with-cuba-help-mainer-find-her-missing-father

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-med-1_16-cv-00310/pdf/USCOURTS-med-1_16-cv-00310-0.pdf

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-1st-circuit/1934306.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.

June 27, 2000. Warren, Massachusetts. After showing up at Comins Pond to work her shift as a lifeguard, 16-year old Molly Bish vanishes without a trace and leaves all of her personal belongings behind on the beach. The previous day, Molly’s mother had dropped her off and noticed a suspicious-looking man inside a white car in the beach’s parking lot and numerous witnesses report seeing a white car in the area on the morning of Molly’s disappearance. Nearly three years later, Molly’s remains are discovered in a wooded area five miles from Comins Pond and it is believed that she was the victim of an abduction and a homicide. Over the years, a number of different individuals are looked at as persons of interest, but there is not enough conclusive evidence to implicate any of them, so the crime remains unsolved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the disappearance and murder of Molly Bish, as well as its potential connections to the case featured on last week’s episode: the 1993 murder of ten-year old Holly Piirainen. Special thanks to listener Meghan Cotter for narrating the opening of this episode.

Additional Reading:

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

https://unsolved.com/gallery/molly-bish/

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

https://www.masslive.com/news/2011/11/gerald_battistoni_man_eyed_in.html

https://www.boston25news.com/news/molly-bish-rodney-stanger-may-have-crossed-paths-1/141310989/

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/north/2014/11/13/rapist-s-death-may-shed/35943050007/

https://www.wcvb.com/article/person-of-interest-in-bish-case-denies-involvement/10030222

https://www.wcvb.com/article/molly-bish-murder-person-of-interest-named-warren-massachusetts/36622524

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/frank-sumner-molly-bish-criminal-history-murder/

https://www.masslive.com/worcester/2021/07/molly-bish-murder-case-francis-sumner-sr-new-person-of-interest-remembered-as-hot-headed-as-dozens-of-new-calls-come-in-to-tip-line.html

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/2021/12/02/molly-bish-case-investigators-go-ohio-collect-dna-son-person-interest/8843156002/

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/dna-in-molly-bish-case-isnt-a-match-sister-says-its-disappointing/2775879/

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/molly-bish-case-remains-unsolved-25-years-later/3753477/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/molly-bish-massachusetts-unsolved-murder-48-hours/

“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.

August 5, 1993. Sturbridge, Massachusetts. After leaving her grandparents’ cottage to view some puppies at a neighbour’s farm, ten-year old Holly Piirainen disappears and one of her shoes is found next to the road. Over two months later, Holly’s skeletal remains are discovered in a wooded area five miles away and it is believed that she was the victim of an abduction and a homicide. Over the years, investigators look at a number of different persons of interest, including a man in a pick-up truck who was supposedly seen in the area right before Holly went missing. They also explore the possibility that the case might be connected to the 2000 disappearance and murder of 16-year old Molly Bish, which took place in the nearby town of Warren, but neither crime is ever solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the tragic abduction and murder of Holly Piirainen.

if you have any information about this case, please call a tip line which has been set up at (413) 426-3507.

Additional Reading:

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

https://www.helpholly.com/

"Holly's Been Taken" Podcast

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

https://www.newspapers.com/image/440696102/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/440696439/

https://www.masslive.com/news/2012/01/investigators_want_information.html

https://www.ibtimes.com/holly-piirainen-case-david-pouliot-linked-death-missing-girl-1993-390282

https://www.masslive.com/springfield/2019/08/massachusetts-unsolved-murder-26-years-after-holly-piirainens-disappearance-and-killing-family-renews-plea-for-help-to-solve-case.html

https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/source-body-exhumed-mass-connection-with-unsolved-disappearance-murder-holly-piirainen/2YVQ7VMJPFAIDG44SX53LJZ2HA/

https://www.wcvb.com/article/body-exhumed-in-connection-with-27-year-old-unsolved-murder-of-holly-piirainen/34242332

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/holly-piirainen-murder-evidence-white-tank-top-boston-shirt-sturbridge-brimfield-massachusetts-1993-cold-case/

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/crime/2023/05/21/family-of-abducted-teen-holly-piirainen-appear-in-podcast/70209627007/?gca-cat=p&gnt-cfr=1

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/2025/03/04/mother-of-holly-piirainen-who-sought-closure-for-decades-has-died/81341781007/?tbref=hp

https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/32-years-after-holly-piirainens-murder-family-holds-hope-da-creates-new-dna-drive-answers/ITCMLOT5FVADNGTGD2WGVUKM4I/

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/holly-piirainen-cold-case-brimfield-genealogy/

“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.

May 6, 2014. Putnam County, Georgia. After he is not heard from for over four days, the beheaded body of 88-year old Russell Dermond is discovered inside his garage and his 87-year old wife, Shirley Dermond, is missing. Ten days later, Shirley’s body is discovered five miles away in Lake Oconee after she was weighed down in the water with some cinder blocks. Her cause of death is determined to blunt force trauma, but Russell’s head is never recovered. Investigators are unable to uncover any strong suspects and there is nothing in the Dermonds’ background to indicate why they would be the victims of such a brutal crime. In recent years, traces of unidentified touch DNA has been found on Russell’s clothing, but the murders continue to remain unsolved. For our first episode of 2026, “The Trail Went Cold” explores the unsolved double homicide of an elderly couple, which is considered to be one of the most baffling cold cases of the modern era.

Additional Reading:

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

https://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article228972684.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/autopsy-elderly-georgia-man-dead-when-head-was-cut-off/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-have-person-of-interest-in-murder-of-georgia-elderly-couple/

https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/beheading-mystery-upscale-community-still-confounds-georgia-sheriff/FfLXS5am2RgITlUbahtphO/

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold-the-murders-at-lake-oconee-4-years-later-elderly-couples-son-opens-up/67-549362307

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/5-years-later-murders-of-lake-oconee-couple-continue-to-confound/946649166/

https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/years-later-murders-lake-oconee-couple-continue-confound/TozzJXuLvXXbu8f7zbWcPL/

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold/gone-cold-the-murders-at-lake-oconee-4-years-later-elderly-couples-son-opens-up/85-548449019

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/lake-oconee-beheading-mystery-russell-shirley-dermond-putnam-county

https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/community/more-than-a-number/sheriff-private-lab-finds-dna-in-dermond-murders-9-year-old-cold-case-3/93-007e80f5-99d4-4e50-adb0-5fabeaa17380

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/cold-cases/fbi-new-leads-cellphone-data-dna-evidence-brutal-killings-elderly-georgia-couple-lake-oconee/85-9de921b0-385c-4305-9ebe-615ab3031eb4

https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/03/01/georgia-sheriff-expecting-dna-results-2014-double-murder-atlvault/

“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.