Trace Evidence
Trace Evidence

Trace Evidence

Trace Evidence is a weekly true crime podcast that focuses on unsolved cases, from chilling murders to missing persons. Join host Steven Pacheco as he examines each case, diving deep into the evidence and exploring the theories which revolve around them. For each unsolved case, there are the victims and their families, who want answers and the abductors and murders who hide the truth.

Learn More

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
244 - The Vanishing of Loy Evitts
06 September 2024
244 - The Vanishing of Loy Evitts
When twenty-nine year old Loy Evitts failed to return to her Kansas City, MO office job after taking a late lunch, her co-workers were concerned.  When they found her car, parked in its assigned spot, but could find no trace of the woman, that concern transformed into worry.  They quickly called her home and spoke to her husband, Don, who immediately knew something had to be wrong.

The next day, Kansas City Police kicked off a massive search for Loy.  They interviewed co-workers and friends, they went around town and established a timeline which showed everywhere and everything the woman had done.  But they couldn't fill in a small window of time, five to ten minutes, and it's believed that is when she vanished.

When an anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the crime, police quickly located and questioned him but they could never confirm whether he had knowledge of the crime or was just a sick prank caller.  Forty-seven years later, Loy has never been found and her abductor has never been identified.  To date, her disappearance is the longest unsolved missing persons investigation in the history of Kansas City.

Sponsored by:  Shopify!  Visit Shopify.com/trace to sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today!


Trace Evidence LinkTree & Social Media

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #kansascrime #missouricrime #loyevitts #evitts #abduction

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
243- The Murder of Shirley McAvoy
10 August 2024
243- The Murder of Shirley McAvoy
When thirty-two year old Shirley McAvoy didn't show up for her youngest daughter's birthday everyone knew something was wrong.  After being unable to reach her, Shirley's estranged husband, Brian, reported her missing to the Pittsfield Police Department in Maine.

Initially, investigators found nothing to indicate a crime had been committed and did little other than issue a statewide bolo for Shirley and her car.  Thirty-four days later, a massive puddle of blood was discovered in Shirley's home.

Friends and neighbors told a strange tale about a man who called himself "Jerry."  Jerry moved into Shirley's home just days before her disappearance and gave many different, contrasting stories about his background.  He was missing, too.

Detectives soon learned that Jerry had been involved in an accident in Shirley's car in Boston the day after she was last seen alive.  One month later, the mother of two was found dead in a rural area of Virginia.  For detectives, solving the disturbing case appears to hinge entirely on identifying this so-called Jerry.

Composite Image of suspect "Jerry"

Trace Evidence LinkTree & Social Media

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #maine #mainetruecrime #maineunsolved #pittsfield #McAvoy #Delcourt #homicide #spotsylvania #shirleymcavoy

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
242 - The Murder of Randy Church
19 July 2024
242 - The Murder of Randy Church
Twenty-three year old Randy Church was a bright, talented and driven student attending Montana State University.  Majoring in electrical engineering, Randy was excited for what opportunities the future would afford.  Living off campus in Bozeman at the time, Randy picked up a part time job at a local Pizza Hut.  He quickly was promoted to the position of shift supervisor.

On the evening of Saturday, February 9th, 1985, Randy was scheduled on a closing shift.  Locking up just after midnight, he stayed behind with one other employee to clean and prep for the next day's business.  At approximately 3 AM, Randy's co-worker left and sometime shortly thereafter, an armed individual gained entry to the restaurant.

The next morning, co-workers discovered Randy's body.  The college student had been shot two times during what appeared to have been a robbery gone wrong.  No one has ever been charged, no suspect officially named, no motive confirmed.  Was he the victim of a random crime, perhaps committed by two escaped prisoners on the run?  Was he targeted by a local violent criminal or was he murdered by someone close, perhaps a friend or co-worker?

More than forty years later, Randy's murder remains the sole unsolved homicide on the books in the city of Bozeman.

Justice for Randy Church Facebook Page

Sponsored by:  Shopify!  Visit Shopify.com/trace and sign up for a $1 per month trial period.

Trace Evidence LinkTree & Social Media

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #montana #montanacrime #bozeman #havre #randychurch #randallchurch #murder #homicide #pizzahut

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
241 - The Disappearance of Amber Barker
16 June 2024
241 - The Disappearance of Amber Barker
Ten year old Amber Barker was riding her bike home from a friend's house.  It wasn't a long distance, just over half a mile through neighborhood roads she was highly familiar with.  Unfortunately, she never arrived.

Within hours, the Oklahoma City Police Department descended upon the neighborhood and began searching.  The next day they were joined by more than 30 FBI agents.  It was clear that something sinister had occurred.

While investigators maintained optimism in the beginning, the discovery of a disturbing trail of clues suggested the child was in grave danger.  Closing in on a person of interest, detectives were devastated when the man died, taking everything he knew with him to the grave.

Sponsored by:  Shopify!  Visit Shopify.com/trace and sign up for a $1 per month trial period.

Trace Evidence LinkTree & Social Media

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #oklahomacity #oklahomacitycrime #oklahomacrime #barker #amberbarker #bonniebarker #danielsmith #joeybishop #missingchild

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
240 - Latricia White and Lee & Chance Wackerhagen
05 May 2024
240 - Latricia White and Lee & Chance Wackerhagen
Two days after Christmas of 1993, thirty-eight year old nurse and mother of two, Latricia White failed to show up for work.  Hours later, her father went to her home and was devastated to find her lifeless body lying in bed.  It would later be determined she had been shot multiple times in the head as she slept.

Investigators soon learned of Lee Wackerhagen, Latricia's live in boyfriend, who was nowhere to be found.  Not only was Lee missing, but so was his nine year old son, Chance.  Days later, Lee's abandoned truck was found in east Austin, the bed smeared with blood.  It didn't take long for detectives to determine Wackerhagen had killed Latricia and fled, abducting his son in the process.

For twenty long years that is exactly as the case remained until a cold case investigator with the Texas Rangers found several problems with the original investigation. In 2016, the Texas Department of Public Safety officially announced they now believed that Lee and Chance were both victims of foul play, likely at the hand of Latricia's killer.

Sponsored by:  Shopify! Visit Shopify.com/trace and sign up for a $1 per month trial period.

LostnFound Blogs | LostnFound Podcast

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #texascrime #texasunsolved #texasmurder #homicide #unsolvedmysteries #latriciawhite #wackerhagen #chancewackerhagen #leewackerhagen #abduction

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
239 - The Murder of John Harden
08 April 2024
239 - The Murder of John Harden
On a warm spring night in March of 1975, thirty-two year old John Harden completed an emergency call for a client and returned home.  Less than an hour later, he'd be shot dead in his driveway.

After finishing his shower, John glanced out the window and saw his work truck engulfed in flames.  Running outside to try and snuff out the blaze, his killer got his opening and fired a single blast from his gun.  John fell to the pavement and died from his wounds less than twenty minutes later.
Investigators would later determine that the fire had been purposefully set to lure the father of five outside and into the kill zone.  They recovered the murder weapon, though they could never identify it or the owner.  As years wore on, the case grew increasingly cold.

In October of 1991 an episode of Unsolved Mysteries revitalized interest in the yet solved homicide.  Not by focusing on the murder and investigating the case, but by chasing alleged ghosts around the house in which John had been killed.

Was John Harden the victim of a random act of violence, had he been targeted by someone he knew and trusted or was his murder arranged by local union members who grew furious watching John take contracts they felt belonged to them.

Sponsored by:  Shopify! Visit Shopify.com/trace and sign up for a $1 per month trial period.

Social Media and Subscription Link Tree

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #JohnHarden #JohnHardin #floridaunsolved #floridacrime #floridamurder #homicide #assassination #ambush #clermont #clermontfla #unsolvedmysteries #prenticetyndal

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
238 - The Vanishing of Lola Katherine Fry
25 March 2024
238 - The Vanishing of Lola Katherine Fry
On November 13th, 1993, twenty-eight year old Lola Katherine Fry attended a party at a northeastside Indianapolis apartment owned by a friend.  She has never been seen again and more than thirty years later the mystery of her disappearance haunts family and friends.

Reported missing, the Indiana State Police began their investigation by interviewing everyone who had been at the party.  They all told the same story, that Kathy left with her former boyfriend, John Ryker.  Ryker would tell authorities that, the next morning he ran out on a job call and when he returned Kathy and her car were gone.

For seven long years the case grew cold until a new investigator took up the casefile and began unraveling years worth of lies and deception.  Two men who had been present at the party finally confessed; they had lied in 1993.  Kathy hadn't left voluntarily with John Ryker - she'd been taken out, wrapped in a blanket and unconscious.

Did Kathy Fry accidentally overdose leading her alleged friends to dispose of her body or was the twenty-eight year old murdered as the party goers made a pact to take the truth with them to their graves?

Family Website

Unfound - The Disappearance of Lola Katherine Fry:  A Matter of Timing

Social Media and Subscription Link Tree

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #LolaFry #LolaKatherineFry #indianacrime #indianatruecrime #missingwoman #abduction #indianapolis #greenwood #lawrence

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
237 - The Disappearance of Cathy Moulton
21 February 2024
237 - The Disappearance of Cathy Moulton
On Friday, September 24th, 1971, sixteen year old Cathy Moulton disappeared while walking home in downtown Portland, Maine. Despite the desperate pleas of her family, local law enforcement treated the case as that of a runaway and did almost no investigation whatsoever.

For more than twenty years, the Moulton family did their best to investigate the case themselves. They followed leads, interviewed witnesses and hired private investigators but could get no closer to the truth. Finally, in 1995, a new detective looked at the case and was determined to find answers.

Detective Kevin Cady would quickly uncover a series of eyewitnesses who were able to track the missing teen's movements out of Portland and to the northern tip of the state before she disappeared across the Canadian border. Perhaps what was most disturbing was the realization that, had investigators in 1971 taken the case seriously, they might have been able to bring Cathy home alive.

Sponsored by: Shopify! Visit Shopify.com/trace and sign up for a $1 per month trial period.


Social Media and Subscription Link Tree

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #homicide #detective #coldcase #creepy #truecrimestory #truecrimestories #CathyMoulton #MaineTrueCrime #MaineUnsolved #Portlandcrime #presqueisle #abduction #disappearance #Moulton #canadacrime #newbrunswick #tobique 

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
236 - The Disappearance of Bill Dwayne Shipley
05 February 2024
236 - The Disappearance of Bill Dwayne Shipley
Forty-seven year old Bill Dwayne Shipley was making final preparations for a multi-state trip for work. Operating as a contract painter, Bill would leave his home in Goldsby, Oklahoma, heading east into Arkansas, north into Missouri, west into Kansas and finally back home. It was set to be a fun and lucrative trip, but Bill never made it. In fact, no one can say with any certainty what exactly happened to him after July 19th, 2011.

When Bill failed to contact his family or return calls, his parents decided to stop by his home and check in on him. Instead of answers they found an empty home, with the doors left unlocked and clear indications that Bill had never actually left. Both of his trucks were gone, but his work clothes and computer had been left behind while a packed suitcase lie on the bed. When the McClain County Sheriff's Office was notified, they quickly found themselves ten steps behind in a case already growing cold.

Soon they would discover that Bill's disappearance was not the only mystery. His trucks couldn't be located, his cell phone was powered off and someone had been using his credit cards right up to the day police began investigation. Nearly thirteen years later, and both Bill's fate and the identity of the man using his cards has never been uncovered. What became of the missing brother and son and who might be responsible?

Person of Interest Images

Social Media and Subscription Link Tree

Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #OSBI #oklahoma #oklahomacrime #unsolved #homicide #murder #abduction #goldsby #norman #noble #riverwind #shipley #billshipley #billdwayneshipley #mcclaincounty #oklahomacity

Sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.
UPDATE  - Justin Turner & Dexter Stefonek
22 January 2024
UPDATE - Justin Turner & Dexter Stefonek
In today's special update episode we cover breaking news revolving around two infamous cases.

First we look into the announcement that the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office has officially charged Victor Lee Turner and Megan Turner with the 1989 murder of five year old Justin Turner whose body was found inside of a camper on his father and stepmother's property.

WCBD News 2 Archival Footage

In addition to this, we tackle breaking news regarding the closing of a case which had drawn national interest. Dexter Stefonek was murdered and his car burned at a rest area in Montana in November of 1985. Now investigators believe they know the man who committed this odious crime.

Sponsored by June's Journey! Download and play today!

Use promo code "TRACE" to save 10% on your CrimeCon pass at CrimeCon.com

Social Media and Subscription Link Tree

Music Courtesy of: "Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

#truecrime #truecrimepodcast #realcrimes #disappearance #disappeared #missing #unsolved #unsolvedmysteries #evidence #investigation #missingperson #traceevidence #murder #homicide #solved #DNA #newevidence #JustinTurner #VictorTurner #PamelaTurner #MeganTurner #Berkeley #MoncksCorner #southcarolina #southcarolinatruecrime #stefonek #dexterstefonek #charlessullivan #charlesgarysullivan #serialkiller #serial #reno #nevada #juliawoodward

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.