January 10, 1999. Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. While walking home from a friend’s house during the early morning hours, 17-year old Ricky Hochstetler is fatally struck by a vehicle on the shoulder of a county highway in a hit-and-run. The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department soon announce that parts from a Chevrolet truck or van were found at the scene, but an extensive investigation fails to turn up the vehicle which hit Ricky. As the years go on, the sheriff’s department start facing allegations that they mishandled crucial evidence and orchestrated a cover-up, and rumours spread that an off-duty police officer may have been responsible for Ricky’s death. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore another controversial cold case which took place in Manitowoc County six years before Steven Avery was arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach and involves many of the same law enforcement figures featured in “Making a Murderer”. Special thanks to listener Stephanie Rouleau for providing the opening narration on today’s episode.

Additional Reading:

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing on podcast row at CrimeCon 2019 from June 7th-9th at the Hilton Riverside hotel in New Orleans. Listeners can receive a 10% discount on the purchase of a standard badge by using the promo code “COLD19”.

“The Trail Went Cold” will also be appearing at True Crime Podcast Festival 2019 on July 13th at the Marriott Downtown in Chicago. Please visit their website for more details.

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

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Episode description

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 117 - Rick Hochstetler

Episode description