In a departure from our usual schedule, this week we are slowing down to look backward. Driven by a surge of missing persons reports, and a personal desire to cut through the noise of a busy season, we are revisiting three names that the world has begun to whisper, but must never forget.
"Time heals all wounds" is a lie told to those who aren't waiting for a phone call that never comes. In this episode, we explore why a case only truly goes "cold" when the public stops looking. We discuss the shifting landscape of 2026, where forensic genealogy is turning decades-old dead ends into DNA matches, and why your memory of a "minor" detail from years ago might be the final piece of a family's puzzle.
We also take a quick look at 3 "cold" Oklahoma cases:
Billy “Wild Bill” Lange (2016): A ranch hand with a steady routine who vanished from a job site near Binger, Oklahoma. His truck was found abandoned on I-40, but Bill—and his cracked glasses—were nowhere to be found.
James Curt “Kirt” Peavy (2016): He walked away from a home in Broken Bow with a payroll check in his pocket and never looked back. Ten years later, his family is still haunted by a three-minute call from a blocked number that serves as his final footprint.
Ondre Vondell Ogans (2007): A Tulsa man who left on a bicycle to meet a friend and never returned. We discuss the suspicious circumstances of his disappearance and the fears that he may have been targeted for his sexual orientation.
We break down the data driving modern investigations:
The Scale: There are currently over 26,200 active missing persons cases and 15,480 unidentified remains in the NamUs system.
The Hope: Forensic science is peaking. In 2025 alone, breakthroughs in degraded DNA samples solved multiple "Jane Doe" cases from the 70s and 80s.
The Power of You: A 1% increase in the national homicide clearance rate means hundreds of families get answers. Public awareness is the fuel for that progress.
Justice doesn't have an expiration date. If you traveled I-40 in March 2016, or lived in Broken Bow or Tulsa during these disappearances, listen closely. You might be the witness who doesn't know they are one.
"To those who are missing: we are still looking. We haven't forgotten you, and we won't stop until your story has its final sentence."
Links & Resources:
OSBI Cold Case Tipline: (580) 248-4050
Tulsa Police Department: (918) 596-9143
National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Sources:
NameUS
OSBI Cold Cases
OK Cold Cases
The Charley Project
Missing & Murdered FB Page
TPD Unsolved Crimes