Episode description

June 1, 1948. Denton, Texas. 21-year old Virginia Carpenter takes a train trip from her hometown of Texarkana to enrol at the Texas State College for Women. That evening, Virginia is dropped off at her dorm by a cab driver, who claims he last saw her speaking with two unidentified males. Virginia is never seen again and it would be three days before she is reported missing. Over the next several years, there would be numerous twists and turns, including alleged sightings of Virginia and suspicions about her cab driver. It is even theorized that Virginia’s disappearance might be connected to the infamous Texarkana Moonlight Murders, which took place in her hometown two years earlier. In this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we chronicle one of the most baffling missing persons cases in the history of Texas.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Virginia_Carpenter

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/carpenter_virginia.html

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/opinion/editorial/story/2013/may/01/vanished-1948-case-remains-unsolved/314009/

“In the Line of Duty: Reflections of a Texas Ranger Private” by Lewis C. Rigler & Judyth Wagner Rigler

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.