The Trail Went Cold – Episode 363 – Heidi Seeman and Erica Botello

October 24, 1998. Brooklyn, New York. 28-year old Kristine Kupka, who happens to be five months’ pregnant, is seen leaving her residence alongside the father of her child, Darshanand “Rudy” Persaud. Kristine never returns, but even though Rudy claims that he took her to a shopping mall and dropped her off a few blocks from her home, his story cannot be corroborated. It turns out that Rudy was married to another woman and had asked Kristine to get an abortion for fear that the revelation about her pregnancy would ruin his life. Even though a cloud of suspicion surrounds Rudy, there is no evidence to implicate him in Kristine’s disappearance and no trace of her is ever found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a missing persons case involving a pregnant woman which has gone unsolved for over 26 years. Join us on Saturday, May 10 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/kristine-kupka https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/1032/ https://www.kristinekupka.com/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kristines-story/ https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/31/nyregion/pregnant-honor-student-is-missing-family-says.html https://nypost.com/1999/01/03/missing-womans-ex-love-faced-ostracism-report/ https://www.nydailynews.com/2010/03/06/a-break-in-kristine-kupka-case-is-a-ray-of-hope-for-sister-of-missing-college-student/ https://www.wtsp.com/article/home/tampa-dentist-a-suspect-in-12-year-old-cold-case/67-390710770 https://www.newspapers.com/image/522621310/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/479369403/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/410123826 "The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/.  “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 produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

January 23, 1999. Tacoma, Washington. Two-year old Teekah Lewis accompanies her family to the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley, but while playing inside the arcade, she vanishes without a trace. It seems apparent that Teekah was the victim of a stranger abduction and there is speculation that her disappearance might be connected to a recent series of incidents in which other children from the area were preyed upon by an unidentified white male. Twenty-five years later, investigators announce they have been looking into a person of interest who seems like a compelling potential suspect, but there is no conclusive evidence to implicate him and Teekah is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a heartbreaking missing children’s case which has remained unsolved for over a quarter of a century. Special thanks to listener Rey Hettrick for narrating the opening of this episode. Additional Reading: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/teekah-lewis-disappearance-tacoma-washington-1999-rcna190347 https://komonews.com/news/local/tacoma-police-person-of-interest-in1999-disappearance-of-2-year-old-teekah-lewis-is-dead-baby-toddler-missing-abduction-safety-stranger-interview-seattle-washington-children-crime-investigation-update-kidnapping https://komonews.com/news/local/tacoma-marks-26-years-since-2-year-old-girl-vanished-from-bowling-alley-crime-abduction-missing-girl-toddler-washington https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/25-years-after-disappearance-in-tacoma-its-time-to-bring-teekah-home/ https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/us/tacoma-washington-teekah-lewis-missing-reaj/index.html https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/missing-girls-mother-hopes-solve-1999-case/281-383caa31-efb6-43cf-8945-8722cbbdf95c https://www.fox13seattle.com/washingtons-most-wanted/teekah-lewis-21-years-later-witness-account-could-be-key-to-solving-case-of-missing-girl https://charleyproject.org/case/teekah-latres-lewis https://apbcoldcase.substack.com/p/taken-in-tacoma-where-is-teekah-lewis https://www.newspapers.com/image/740752057/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/740752264/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/740769868/ "The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/.  “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 produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

August 19, 1984. Manassas, Virginia. At around 4:15 AM, the doorbell rings at the residence of Johnny Bowman, a 31-year old trooper with the Virginia State Police. When Johnny answers the door, he is viciously attacked by an assailant who stabs him over 40 times before fleeing the scene and they leave behind a wig, glasses and hardhat which were possibly used as a disguise. Years later, investigators announce that their prime suspect is Perry Worrell, a former state trooper who happened to be one of Johnny’s closest friends, and they believe the murder was committed over some sort of personal dispute. However, there is not enough evidence to make an arrest and the crime continues to be surrounded by unanswered questions. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the murder of a Virginia state trooper which has gone unsolved for over 40 years. Additional Reading: https://www.odmp.org/officer/2106-trooper-johnny-rush-bowman https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/seeking-info-in-1984-murder-of-virgina-trooper-johnny-bowman-092418 https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/trooper-johnny-rush-bowman https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/advancements-in-forensic-technology-renew-investigation-into-30-year-old-murder-of-virginia-trooper https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-solve-1984-murder-virginia-state-trooper-stabbed/story?id=58091478 https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/northern-virginia/decades-old-of-virginia-state-trooper-remains-unsolved-vsp-continues-to-pursue-leads/ https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/murder-of-virginia-state-police-trooper-still-unsolved-35-years-later/65-83929bda-2a59-40b6-b038-3f9ca43c7363 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/08/20/20-years-later-still-tracking-a-killer-of-one-of-their-own/41c88673-53e1-4b7e-b529-023e74f6d117/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/renewed-push-to-solve-virginia-state-troopers-1984-murder/2012/08/15/6ed57874-e6ff-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html https://wjla.com/news/local/johnny-bowman-murder-fbi-police-step-up-investigation-into-1984-murder-78848 https://www.newspapers.com/image/1142213702/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/917727554/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984481810/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984481897/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984401040/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984401500/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/985892491/ "The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/.  “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 produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

August 1, 2007. Powder Springs, Georgia. After not being heard from for over 30 hours, 46-year old Jane Kuria and her two daughters - 19-year old Isabella and 16-year old Annabelle - are found bludgeoned to death inside their home. Jane’s eight-year old son, Jeremy, and her eleven-year old nephew, P.K. Thande, are also severely beaten and left comatose, but while they wind up surviving their injuries, they are unable to provide much information about who attacked them. Since the Kurias originally hailed from Kenya and had been seeking asylum in the United States, investigators explore a number of different scenarios, including the possibility of some family friends being responsible for the murders, but the case is never solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a horrific and baffling crime known as the Kuria family murders.  Additional Reading: https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kuria_Family https://unsolved.com/podcasts/the-kuria-family-murders/ https://unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/108-The-Kuria-Family-Murders-Web-Final.pdf https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/archive/police-question-survivor-of-attack-that-killed-3-in-georgia-home/article_aa17ad8f-fd8d-5827-b222-886708c23c60.html https://www.wave3.com/story/6875529/police-searching-for-suspect-in-attack-that-killed-3-in-georgia-home/ https://mshale.com/2007/09/06/detectives-progress-on-murders-of-kenyan-mother-daughters/ https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/us/02attack.html https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold/gone-cold-a-family-massacred-a-case-left-cold/85-511736512 https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/powder-springs-community-rallies-around-teen "The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/.  “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 produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

May 28, 1981. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 30-year old Christine Schultz, the ex-wife of police officer Fred Schultz, is shot to death inside her home and Fred’s current spouse, Laurie “Bambi” Bembenek, is soon charged with the crime. Even though Laurie insists that she was framed by the police and the evidence against her was planted and fabricated, she is convicted of first-degree murder and receives a sentence of life imprisonment. In 1990, Laurie manages to escape from prison with the assistance of her new spouse before they are recaptured in Canada, but even though Laurie continues to maintain her innocence, she is allowed to walk free after agreeing to enter a plea of “no contest” to the crime. Was Laurie “Bambi” Bembenek actually responsible for the murder of Christine Schultz or was she the victim of an elaborate frame-up job? Last week, in Part One of our series, we chronicled the events in this case leading up to Laurie Bembenek’s prison break. This week, we will share the rest of the story and provide our theories and analysis about this very controversial and sensationalistic case. Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Bembenek "Run Bambi, Run" by Kris Radish https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/1991/10/was-bambi-framed https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-trouble-for-dr-phil-guest/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/01/18/bembenek-case-takes-new-turns-with-dna-and-dr-phil/ https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/us/22bembenek.html https://web.archive.org/web/20141019065121/http://www.milwaukeemag.com/article/6212011-laurieslastdays https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2023/09/12/lawrencia-laurie-bembenek-run-bambi-run-facts-murder-escape-from-prison-cause-of-death/70794066007/ https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/life/2023/09/07/laurie-bembenek-tried-for-murder-in-1982/70791199007/ "Run Bambi Run" Podcast "The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/.  “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 produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.