Episode description

December 17, 1993. Merced, California. 27-year old Paul Armstrong, a tow truck operator employed by RTS Towing, vanishes without explanation from his home. Later that day, 34-year old Steven Lombard, another tow truck operator from the same company, goes to the towing yard to pick up his paycheque before he also disappears and his abandoned pick-up truck is found in a K-Mart parking lot the following morning. Over 15 years later, the owner of RTS Towing, Randal Wright, becomes a person of interest in the disappearance of his 50-year old estranged wife, Karen Wright, who vanishes from their vacation home in Mexico. While there is suspicion that Randal might have been involved in all of these disappearances, no trace of any of the victims is ever found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be covering a trio of unsolved missing persons cases and explore whether or not they are actually connected to each other. After that… the trail went cold.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Merced County Sheriff’s Office at (209) 385-7445.

Thanks Ana Luisa. Get 10% off at shop.analuisa.com/cold by using the promo code “cold”.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/paul-henry-armstrong

https://charleyproject.org/case/steven-lincoln-lombard

https://www.mercedsunstar.com/latest-news/article3240379.html

https://abc30.com/archive/6719241/

https://sanbenito.com/updated-former-local-missing-in-mexico-for-3-months/

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/crime/article24554236.html

https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/article3251777.html

https://www.modbee.com/latest-news/article3127847.html

https://www.modbee.com/latest-news/article3133722.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/784386582/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/784386631

https://www.newspapers.com/image/667636945/

“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 UK” at the Leonardo Royal Hotel &  Spa in London on June 11-12, 2022. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to the event, please use our specialized promo  code, “COLD22”, by visiting 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.