Episode description

January 31, 1976. Bastrop County, Texas. After 73-year old John Whatley and his 68-year old wife, Faye Whatley, fail to show up at the wedding for Faye’s granddaughter, the police are asked to perform a wellness check at their ranch. John and Faye are discovered to be missing, but there is a bullet hole in their bedroom window and the entire bedroom door has been removed from the residence. Years later, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confesses to having murdered the Whatleys and disposed of their bodies, but there is no evidence to corroborate his story and the couple are never found. Who was actually responsible for the Whatleys’ disappearance and what was their motive? Could it even be possible that John murdered his own wife before fleeing the country? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a truly baffling cold case involving a missing elderly couple.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office at (512) 549-5100.

Join us on Saturday, March 27 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/john-whatley

https://charleyproject.org/case/faye-eva-whatley

http://www.henryleelucasconfessions.com/post/the-strange-whatley-case

https://www.newspapers.com/image/378691622/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/355977952/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/378993252/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/378711031/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/362820190/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/358299642/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/358301851/

“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 going to be appearing on podcast row at  “Crimecon 2021: Austin” at the Fairmont Hotel in Austin, Texas on June  2-4, 2021, as well as “Crimecon UK” at the Leonardo Royal Hotel &  Spa in London on September 25-26, 2021. To get a 10 % discount on the  purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo  code, “COLD21”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.com/CC21 or https://www.crimecon.co.uk.

“The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on  GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True  Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.