Texas is known for being tough on crime and those who commit it. Or at least the ones who get caught. There are tens of thousands of unsolved homicides in Texas and nearly as many open missing persons cases. Every week, Gone Cold Podcast—Texas true crime—presents in-depth accounts of unsolved murders and missing persons cases throughout the lone star state, concentrating on lesser-known cases that the media has long left behind.  Cases like the recently solved 1974 abduction and murder of Fort Worth High School student Carla Walker, the brazen 2019 murder of Liz Barraza, and the mysterio ..read more

After Laura Ackerson lost full custody of her sons, she was heartbroken, but she sprang into action. Within 2 weeks, she got another hearing but she still only got weekends. She had to completely overhaul her life. Within a year, Laura found a great apartment and opened her own ad agency—not just a stable job, but a career she was proud of. Meanwhile, Grant Hayes had blown through most of his new wife’s money. His life was swirling down the drain. And with the court ordered pysch evaluation, he knew he was about to lose custody of his kids. Laura had won. He couldn’t let that happen. So when s ..read more

25-year-old Shadow McClaine was 39 days from retiring from the US Army. She’d begun her service in 2011 and, now, her contract was up. She was thrilled to go back home, enroll in college, and try her hand at a different career. In 2015, Shadow alleged that her ex-husband, an Army sergeant, had sexually assaulted her. After that, Shadow’s experience in the military rapidly deteriorated. As a result, she was eager to start this new path, but she would never get the chance. On the evening of September 2nd of 2016, Shadow sent her mother one final text at 7:07 p.m. She was never seen alive again ..read more

In August and September of 1969, one man killed five people in the span of 29 days in Memphis, Tennessee. These violent crimes shook the city of Memphis to its very core. Lock sales skyrocketed. Families adopted large dogs. People refused to leave their house after sunset. It felt like no one was safe. The police searched day and night for this elusive serial killer. They doubled—then tripled—their staff, canceled all vacation time, and poured over $100,000 into paid overtime. But were it not for the brave actions of the killer’s final victim, Mary Christine Pickens, the perpetrator might have ..read more

Today's episode is a "best of October" Southern Fried is from 2022, 167: The Murder of Fred Jablin Dr. Fred Jablin, a highly regarded professor of communication, was a dedicated husband to his wife, Piper Rountree. For years, he did everything in his power to make her happy, but nothing he did was ever enough. In 2002, the Jablin marriage came to an end and Fred was awarded full custody of their three children.  Following the divorce, it took some time for Fred and the kids to adjust to their new normal. Luckily, by the fall of 2004, things were starting to look up. The children were ad ..read more

Late on a Sunday night in September of 2016, Atlanta power couple, Tex and Diane McIver, were driving back into the city and got caught in Atlanta’s notorious traffic. Diane’s best friend was driving as Diane rode in the passenger seat and her husband, Tex, sat directly behind her. When they were stopped in what they considered a dangerous part of town, Tex asked for his gun, and then fell asleep. What happened next would cause one of the most hotly debated criminal cases in recent Atlanta history. I covered this case in August 2019. But In June 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rev ..read more

The last time anyone saw 49-year-old Emily Anderson was December 29, 2005. As husband, Jerry Anderson was naturally the first suspect. But he seemed to be able to account for his time that day and he passed a polygraph. After an anonymous call, Emily’s body was discovered on January 7, 2006. As the investigation ramped up, police found that the Andersons’ marriage was on the rocks and Jerry had recently taken out more life insurance on his wife. Part 1 of 2.  Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley  Researched and written by Erica Kelley & Andrea Marshbank Original Graphic Art by Co ..read more

On September 1, 2016, 52-year-old Rhonda Oakley was due home from a business trip. Only gone one night, she and her husband of less than three years had missed each other. The empty nester and single dad had been inseparable since they met. Rhonda had recently become a full time stepmom to Phillip’s teenaged kids, who had moved from Indiana to the Oakley’s home on the outskirts of Danville, Kentucky. That afternoon, her stepson came home and found Rhonda in a pool of blood, viciously murdered. His father was devastated and his sister was missing. A national manhunt ensued as investigators real ..read more

In the dark morning hours of September 11th 1991, in the small town of Jasper Alabama, a couple named Earl and Carrie Lawson were awoken by a fake emergency phone call that lured them out of the house. A masked man was waiting in their carport. Earl was bound with duct tape and the assailant forced Carrie their SUV and sped off into the darkness. Carrie had been kidnapped for ransom. It seemed like something you only saw in movies. In the last episode, I told you all about the parade of mistakes the FBI made in this case. Now we’re getting into the repercussions of those mistakes, and even mor ..read more

In the wee hours of September 11, 1991, Earl and Carrie Lawson were awoken by an urgent phone call from a woman claiming to be a nurse who said Earl’s father was hospitalized and might not make it through the night. The couple threw on clothes and rushed out the door, only to be stopped by a masked man as they were getting in their Ford Explorer. He bound Earl with duct tape, then forced 25 year-old Carrie into the Explorer and raced off into the darkness. Their families were shocked to discover this was a kidnapping for ransom. It seemed like something you only saw in movies…but it was very r ..read more