The Trail Went Cold

August 1, 1989. Prince George, British Columbia. After meeting an unidentified bearded man at a local pub, 26-year old Ronnie Jack is supposedly offered a temporary job at a remote logging camp located about 40 kilometres away. Later that night, Ronnie, his 26-year old spouse Doreen Jack, and their two children – nine-year old Russell and four-year old Ryan – are seen climbing into this man’s pick-up truck, but after they drive away, the family is never heard from again. Over the years, investigators explore some leads, including an anonymous phone tip about the victims’ remains being buried on a ranch, but no trace of the Jack family is ever found. To commemorate Canada Day, this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold” explores the unsolved disappearance of an Indigenous family, which is considered to be one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of the country.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Prince George detachment of the RCMP at (250) 561-3300 or Northern B.C. Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Additional Reading:

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

https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/mystery-remains-around-disappearance-of-jack-family-3737801

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/missing-jack-family-age-progressed-photos-1.5702888

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/tragic-and-haunting-memory-bc-family-has-been-missing-for-30-years/

https://globalnews.ca/news/2326515/old-wounds-open-as-missing-women-inquiry-looms/

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/deleted-emails-on-b-c-s-highway-of-tears-reopen-old-wounds/article_832715e1-e3d5-5c0b-ac3d-0f71fc336a76.html

https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20170926_MMIWG_Smithers_M._Jack_Statement_Vol_9_Public-15.pdf

https://www.newspapers.com/image/502873677/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/503323920/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/905432716/

http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgc:1989-09-07/-/Prince%20George%20Citizen%20-%20September%2007,%201989

http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgc:1995-04-18/-/Prince%20George%20Citizen%20-%20April%2018,%201995

http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgfp:1999-08-29-05

https://www.newspapers.com/image/324125839/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/899196080/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/899191299/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/904801053/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/904785136/

“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.

June 28, 2004. Newberry Springs, California. After experiencing a rough six months living in California, 30-year old April Pitzer makes plans to return to her home state of Arkansas to live with her mother, but before she can make the trip, she vanishes without explanation. Shortly before she went missing, April had crossed paths with the wife of a man who had gone to prison years earlier after she testified as an informant in a federal drug case, leading April to fear that her life might be in danger. A year-and-a-half later, some of April’s personal belongings are found scattered in a remote mining area of the Mojave Desert, but even though a number of abandoned mine shafts are searched and some sketchy local residents are looked at as potential suspects, no trace of April is ever found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the tragic story of April Pitzer, who went missing after finding herself trapped in a dangerous situation.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/april-beth-pitzer

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/april-beth-pitzer

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/family-still-struggles-10-years-after-disappearance-of-daughter/91-287109683

https://www.4029tv.com/article/clarksville-april-pitzer-missing/28234648

https://disappearedblog.com/april-pitzer/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/749698824/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/750159395/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1234363678/

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/unfoundpodcast/episodes/2017-07-21T10_43_21-07_00

“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.

May 9, 2013. Bowling Green, Ohio. The body of 66-year old Dawn Glanz, a retired art professor from Bowling Green State University, is discovered inside her bathroom by her husband, Bob Brown, and the authorities initially believe that she suffered a fatal stroke and died of natural causes. However, before Dawn’s body can be cremated, police receive an anonymous tip expressing concern that Bob may have killed Dawn in order to inherit her $2 million estate and a new autopsy reveals that she received a stab wound to the head and the shock caused her to succumb to a heart attack. After Dawn’s death is reclassified as a homicide, investigators uncover some troubling holes in Bob’s original story, but there is not enough evidence to file charges and her murder officially remains unsolved. 

November 22, 2009. Bowling Green, Kentucky. 54-year old Bettina Richmond, a mathematics professor at Western Kentucky University, leaves her home to play racquetball at the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation facility. When she fails to return home, Bettina’s husband goes to check the facility’s parking lot and discovers that Bettina has been fatally stabbed in the driver’s seat of her van. Bettina’s university identification badge is later found in a mailbox over two miles away and it is suspected that she was the victim of a robbery gone wrong, but no potential suspects are found for her murder. 

On this week’s episode of the “Trail Went Cold”, we explore a pair of unsolved murders involving female university professors from Bowling Green in both Ohio and Kentucky. Special thanks to listener Rachel Adams for narrating the opening of this episode.

Additional Reading:

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/bowling-green-cold-case-gets-national-attention/512-a2b34840-1737-45af-b2d3-0e9b77b9d12b

https://bgindependentmedia.org/investigation-into-dawn-glanzs-murder-continues/

https://www.13abc.com/content/news/Who-Murdered-Dawn-Glanz-A-Cold-Case-Murder--561465061.html

https://www.13abc.com/2022/02/15/case-files-murder-dawn-glanz/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1193897273/

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

https://www.kentuckynewera.com/web/news/article_6f58493e-1577-11e1-9853-001cc4c03286.html

https://bgdailynews.com/2011/11/22/richmonds-death-remains-mystery/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/664533225/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/663825900/

“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.

March 21, 2008. Cowan, Indiana. After leaving his job at Ball State University, 48-year old Garth Rector returns to his rented farmhouse before he is shot five times inside the kitchen by an intruder who presumably broke into the residence. While there is initial speculation that the crime was a burglary gone wrong, the only item which appears to be stolen is Garth’s wedding ring. At the time of the murder, Garth was separated from his wife and had conducted affairs with some other women who had spouses of their own, but while there are a number of persons of interest, investigators do not have enough evidence to implicate any of them. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved murder of Garth Rector.

So if you happen to have any information about this case, please contact the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at (765) 747-7878.

Additional Reading:

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

https://unsolved.com/podcasts/silent-witness/

https://cdn.unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/122-Silent-Witness.pdf?x36184

"Cold Case Muncie" by Keith Roysdon & Douglas Walker

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-4-q-spades-garth-rector-in-deck/id1504742935?i=1000485156322

https://www.wishtv.com/news/who-killed-garth-rector/

https://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/local_news/victim-s-family-organizes-walk/article_7ac14a43-f260-56ee-931d-62acb979f0fb.html

https://truecrimenews.com/2017/02/09/unsolved-beloved-high-school-wrestling-coach-killed-in-kitchen/

https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2016/05/21/cold-case-muncie-who-killed-garth-rector/84132360/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/254346620/

“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.

May 20, 2005. North Charleston, South Carolina. After returning to her apartment from work, 32-year old Brandy Hanna vanishes without a trace and after she fails to answer repeated calls to her cell phone over the course of the weekend, she is officially reported missing. One of Brandy’s neighbours report having seen her climbing into a red truck on the night she vanished and while it happens to match the description of trucks which are owned by two of Brandy’s ex-boyfriends, there is no evidence to implicate either of them. Eleven years later, one of Brandy’s former boyfriends is charged with obstruction of justice for having lied to police during the original investigation, but she continues to remain a missing person. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the unsolved disappearance of Brandy Hanna, who went missing after being involved in a love triangle with two men.

If you have any information about this cae, please contact the North Charleston Police Department at (843) 740-2800.

Join us on Saturday, June 6 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:

https://charleyproject.org/case/brandy-renee-hanna

https://disappearedblog.com/brandy-hanna/

https://abcnews4.com/news/crime-news/brandy-hannas-ex-boyfriend-arrested-charged-in-connection-with-her-disappearance

https://www.wyff4.com/article/police-new-developments-in-womans-2005-disappearance/8525078

https://abcnews4.com/news/crime-news/man-charged-in-hanna-disappearance-also-charged-with-sexual-abuse-of-minor

https://www.live5news.com/story/34107069/police-investigating-tip-missing-woman-was-sold-to-pay-drug-debt/

“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.