Episode description

February 23, 1946. Grandview Heights, Ohio. 24-year old Lola Celli leaves her parents’ residence in order to walk to the bus stop, but she soon vanishes without a trace. An eyewitness later reports seeing a woman struggling with a man inside a moving vehicle before a red shoe is thrown out the window. Since Lola was wearing shoes like that when she went missing, it is suspected that she was the victim of an abduction. Ten years later, the Grandview Heights police chief announces that the case has been closed because Lola was found alive in another town, but he never produces any evidence to confirm this and it eventually comes out that he may have been mistaken. Did Lola Celli disappear voluntarily or was she the victim of foul play? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore an older missing persons case known as “The Red Shoe Mystery”. Special thanks to Miranda Merrick of “The Midnight Library” podcast (https://www.midnightlibrarypod.com/) for narrating the opening of this episode.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the Grandview Heights Police Department at (614) 488-7901.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/lola-ada-celli

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/grandview-heights/2021/02/19/grandview-heights-moment-time-missing-lola-celli/4509663001/

“Murder & Mayhem in Columbus, Ohio” by Nellie Kampmann

https://www.newspapers.com/image/295841035/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/324768888/

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“The Trail Went Cold” is doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl 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 going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon UK” at the Tower Bridge, Leonardo Royal Hotel & Spa in London on June 10-11, 2023, as well as “Crimecon” at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida on September 22-24, 2023. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD23”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.co.uk or https://www.crimecon.com.

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.