Jhalil Shands, 25 years old, was out on a date with his high school sweetheart in Old City, Philadelphia, when three people jumped out of a car and brutally shot and killed him. He was loved by his family and lived a good life, but still found himself in the middle of a dangerous world. In the final episode of “Ricochet”, we hear from Jhalil’s family and other mothers who have lost their children to gun violence, and two psychologists break down how trauma impacts both parents and children, how race and toxic masculinity are tied into the cycle of violence, and what kids need in order to see a different path. See photos and read more about this episode here. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris

Sixteen-year-old Kahree Simmons was playing basketball on a Thursday evening when a van pulled up and bullets started firing. He was hit in the neck and died. We hear Kahree’s story, ride along on patrol with police officers in the neighborhood where he was killed, and talk with law enforcement and prosecutors about what goes into a shooting investigation and charging. Plus, we talk about what the word “gang” means in Philadelphia and why young people join these violent groups. See photos and read more about this episode here. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris

Lou Berrios was coming home from his first Eagles game, about to open his front door, when he was shot in the back in a suspected attempted robbery. He survived, but between surgeries and PTSD, his recovery is a lifelong struggle. In this episode, we focus on the physical impacts of getting shot, how doctors respond, and how guns and ammunition have become more powerful over the years. Medics tell us about how their jobs have changed. And we speak with one advocate who explains how fear is a major factor in gun violence, and how those moments of fear may be the best time for intervention to help stop the bloodshed. Read more about this episode here. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris

Jermaine Robinson was bullied as a kid, until his mom, Andrea, taught him how to box and “protect himself.” She says something clicked in her son’s head that day. He began to carry a gun, run with the wrong crowd, and get picked up by police. His friends called him "Shooter". He was in and out of the court system for years, and Andrea says she tried everything, until one day, Jermaine was shot and killed. As Andrea shares her story of grief and anger, we try to understand what drives a person to pick up a gun and shoot, and how trauma is often the trigger. Read more about this episode here. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris

In October of 2019, two children were shot within hours of each other, including two-year-old Nikolette Rivera.  A bullet from an assault rifle struck her head and instantly killed her. It was at the hands of a man named Tayvon Thomas, who grew up abused and neglected, and turned to drugs. We dig into both sides of this tragedy, examine the systemic failures that contributed, and ask why the most vulnerable feel the least protected. See photos and read more about this episode here. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris

Gun violence is a national crisis. In Philadelphia, more than 10,000 people have been shot in the last five years. 2,100 people have died.  Every bullet fired has a ripple effect. In this series from Gone Cold, we’ll examine the issues through stories from those affected the most: victims, defendants, law enforcement, medical workers, judges and families, while highlighting unsolved cases. What makes someone pull the trigger? What is the lasting impact? And what, if anything, can make it stop? Hear the first episode of “Ricochet” on Wednesday, January 24 on the Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders feed. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for free downloads delivered to your phone every week. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris

Danelo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison on August 31 after being sentenced to life in prison without parole the week before for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend.For two weeks, neighbors in a quiet and mostly rural suburban county west of Philadelphia anxiously waited for the capture of the 34-year old Cavalcante, as state police launched a massive manhunt.How did a late-night cigarette break tip authorities off to the whereabouts of the escaped killer? How did a dog named Yoda helped detain him? And, moving forward, can the public be reassured that an escape like this will never happen again?KYW Newsradio's Suburban Bureau Chief Jim Melwert covered the search from beginning to end. He joins Brian Seltzer and Phil Casey to empty his notebook from a wild story. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

His name is Joseph Augustus Zarelli. He was found dead in a cardboard box in February 1957, naked, scratched, bruised and scarred. More than 65 years after he was found, investigators have answered maybe the most important question in the mystery of the “Boy in the Box.” This is the story of how they found Joseph's name, and what it means to the people who have spent a lifetime searching for his identity. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Philadelphia Police Department has released a new composite picture of the suspect known as the “Fairmount Park Rapist” based on his genetic profile. It’s the first time the department has used the technology. Parabon NanoLabs used DNA collected at the crime scenes to create a composite of the suspect, using genetic markers. You can look at the photo on social media or on kywnewsradio.com --Twitter: @gonecoldphilly (https://twitter.com/GoneColdPhilly)Instagram: @gonecoldphilly (https://www.instagram.com/gonecoldphilly/)Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gonecoldphilly/It’s been 18 years since the serial rapist’s first attack, and still no arrests. Read Kristen's article about the DNA composite on kywnewsradio.com :  https://www.audacy.com/kywnewsradio/news/local/philadelphia-police-release-dna-composite-fairmount-park-rapistGone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

September 11th is a day America will never forget. What began as a ‘bright blue day’, quickly turned into a generationally traumatic event -- the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in US history. While the nation watched in horror, first responders and investigators jumped in, trying to pick up the pieces and give the victims back to their loved ones.  Two of those people were from the Philadelphia region. Veteran Philadelphia police officer Jon Taggart works in the Crime Scene Unit. He travelled to Ground Zero with a small team and they spent weeks collecting the remains of victims and locating pieces of the planes. Dr. Bridget McLaughlin is a dentist in New Jersey. She was one of dozens of dentists who assisted the New York Medical Examiner’s office in identifying 9-11 victims through dental records. Stay in touch with Gone Cold by following us online:Twitter: @gonecoldphilly ( https://twitter.com/gonecoldphilly )Instagram: @gonecoldphilly ( https://www.instagram.com/gonecoldphilly/ ) Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoneColdPhillyGone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is a true crime podcast about unsolved murders and cold cases in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The show is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick) at KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In July of 2003, a woman driving through Fairmount Park called 911 after hearing a bloodcurdling scream. Police followed her back to the spot where she first heard the scream and then walked into the woods. There, they found the body of med student Rebecca Park. She had been raped and murdered while out for a jog.It's been nearly two decades since Rebecca Park was murdered. Philadelphia Police have never stopped hunting for the man who killed her, known only as the Fairmount Park rapist.Contact the Philadelphia Police Department online at https://www.phillypolice.com/Stay in touch with Gone Cold by following the podcast:Twitter: @gonecoldphilly ( https://twitter.com/gonecoldphilly )Instagram: @gonecoldphilly ( https://www.instagram.com/gonecoldphilly/ )  Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoneColdPhillyGone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is a true crime podcast about unsolved murders and cold cases around Philadelphia. The show is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick) at KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia. Subscribe to Gone Cold wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The young woman known only as Publicker Jane Doe for more than three decades was identified as Lisa Todd earlier this year. It was a triumph of investigative work and genealogy, and it was also the first time that we here at Gone Cold worked on a story -- and then saw a major update happen in the story.On this bonus episode, Gone Cold's Kristen Johanson and Tom Rickert talk about what that was like. Then, you'll hear the full interview with Kristen, Bensalem Police Detective Chris McMullin, and Yolanda McClary, the longtime investigator who led the team that used genealogy and DNA to name Lisa Todd.Part 1: What Happened to Publicker Jane Doe? LISTEN: https://bit.ly/3t2E60I Part 2: What Happened to Jeanette Tambe? LISTEN: https://bit.ly/3sZ5CMwPart 3: Update: Naming Publicker Jane Doe LISTEN: https://bit.ly/3xz2fzi Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick).Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhillyInstagram: @GoneColdPhillyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gonecoldphilly/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an update to the episode "What happened to Publicker Jane Doe," from November of 2020. Make sure you listen to that episode before starting this one.The remains of a young woman were found on the property of the abandoned Publicker distillery in Bensalem in January of 1988. For more than 30 years, she was known only as Publicker Jane Doe. Bensalem Police Detective Chris McMullin has spent much of his career trying to find out her name. And then earlier this year, it happened. Through the efforts of the Bensalem Police Department and their law enforcement partners, the scientists at Bode Technology, and the incredible work of the DNA genealogy team lead by Yolanda McClary – we now know that Publicker Jane Doe is Lisa Todd. This episode is about how the remains of Lisa Todd were identified, and what it means for everyone who has been invested in this case that Publicker Jane Doe has a name. Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick).Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhillyInstagram: @GoneColdPhilly To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On March 15th, 2018, Shelton Hayes was shot and killed in his mother's house in Northwest Philadelphia. Shelton's mother, Rhonda, was upstairs. He was 39 years old. He was a son, a brother, and a father. If you know what happened to Shelton Hayes, please call Philadelphia Police. The tip line is 215-686-tips, or send an email to tips@phillypolice.com Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick).Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhilly Instagram: @GoneColdPhilly To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the morning of October 20th, 2005, a man was cutting the grass around Memorial Park in Lansdale, PA. The 10-acre park has a veterans memorial wall, tennis courts, and a baseball field with a dugout. After he drove by the dugout a few times and looked inside, he knew that something horrible had happened.More than 15 years after the murder of Michael Ewer, Lansdale Police Chief Mike Trail and Montgomery County Detective Jim McGowan are still going to work every day looking for his killer.Do you know anything about what happened to Michael Ewer? There's a $5,000 reward for information. Contact Montgomery County Detectives at 610-278-3368, or call Lansdale Police at 215-368-1801.What Happened To is a series from Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders, a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. Gone Cold is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick). Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhilly  Instagram: @GoneColdPhilly To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On August 8, 1986, a couple drove from Philadelphia to Buena Vista, New Jersey to check on a home they were building. They pulled into the driveway, walked around the property, and found something horrible: the mangled body of a woman, wrists shackled, in the blood soaked yard.This story started in the last episode, "What Happened to Publicker Jane Doe?" When Bensalem Police Detective Chris McMullin was trying to find the identity of the murder victim known only as Publicker Jane Doe, one of the leads he followed was the disappearance of a young woman named Jeanette Tambe. After a lot of boots on the ground police work and DNA analysis, he found something he wasn't expecting, and ended up helping to unravel another mystery that had gone unsolved for decades.If you know anything about the murder of Jeanette Tambe, please send an email to ColdCase@NJSP.org.Thank you to Detective Sergeant Joseph Itri and Detective Taylor Bonner with the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit, and Bensalem Police Detective Chris McMullin.What Happened To is a series from Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders, a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. Gone Cold is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick). Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhillyInstagram: @GoneColdPhilly To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In January of 1988 a young girl's remains were found near the old Publicker Distillery in Bucks County, PA. She was pregnant when she died. For more than 30 years, her name has remained a mystery.Bensalem Police Detective Chris McMullin has followed leads in the case that have taken him across state lines and even across the country in his mission to find two things: Who was the girl known as Publicker Jane Doe? And who killed her? If you have information about who Jane Doe may be, call Detective Chris McMullin at the Bensalem Police Department: 215-633-3700.Or, you can leave an anonymous tip here: https://bucks.crimewatchpa.com/bensalempd/15488/submit-tipWhat Happened To is a series from Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders, a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. Gone Cold is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick).Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhilly Instagram: @GoneColdPhilly To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was the Thursday after Mother's Day. A group of teenagers on Park Avenue in Philadelphia saw something large, wrapped in blankets on the back seat of a white Pontiac.A few days earlier, Melvin Dunn's family sent out a desperate plea for help. Melvin had missed Mother's Day for the first time ever, and they couldn't find him. If you have any information about what happened to Melvin Dunn, contact the Philadelphia Police Department.Leave an anonymous tip at 215-686-8477, or send an email to tips@phillypolice.comWhat Happened To is a new series from Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders, a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. Gone Cold is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick).Follow the show on Twitter: @GoneColdPhilly https://twitter.com/GoneColdPhilly >Instagram: @GoneColdPhilly https://www.instagram.com/gonecoldphilly/?hl=en > To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In February of 1957 the body of a young boy was found in a box in the woods near Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia. More than 60 years later, the identity of The Boy in the Box and the identity of his killer remain unknown.  When the Boy was found, his body was photographed and flyers seeking information were distributed all over Philadelphia. Bill Fleisher and Barb Cohan were kids at the time. They saw the flyers, and the image of the boy's body was permanently etched in their minds. Fleisher became one of the founders of the Vidocq Society, a group of investigators, forensic scientists, and experts who help law enforcement solve crimes. Cohan, a former federal prosecutor, has been a member of the Vidocq Society for more than two decades. Walt Hunter covered the investigation into the Boy in the Box for all of his 30-plus year career as a Philadelphia investigative reporter. Now, he's the public voice and face of the Vidocq Society. Cohan, Fleisher, Hunter, and the rest of the Vidocq Society have remained dedicated to solving the mystery of the Boy in the Box and putting a name on his gravestone.  You can find the Philadelphia Police Department online at https://www.phillypolice.com/ Read more about the Vidocq Society: https://www.vidocq.org/ Stay in touch with Gone Cold by following us online: Twitter: @gonecoldphilly  ( https://twitter.com/gonecoldphilly ) Instagram: @gonecoldphilly ( https://www.instagram.com/gonecoldphilly/ )   Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoneColdPhilly Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders is a true crime podcast about unsolved murders and cold cases in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The show is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick) in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. Subscribe to Gone Cold wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Tong was taken from her Marple Township home and murdered in 1993. Her children were 11 and 14 years old, left without a mother. Jeanette Tong doesn't like to talk about the day her life changed forever, 26 years ago, when she learned her mom was murdered. But she came to talk to us anyway. Joe Maguire clearly remembers June 26, 1993. He was the Radnor Police detective on duty that weekend, and he was taking a class at the firehouse when his pager went off, summoning him to the scene. 26 years after the murder, Jeanette, Joe, and T.J. Schreiber, the Radnor Police detective now in charge of the investigation, want to make sure you don't forget about Jennifer Tong. If you know anything about the murder of Jennifer Tong, contact Radnor Detectives by email at detectives@radnor.org, or call them at 610-688-0503 and ask to speak to a Radnor detective. You can see videos and photos from the people you heard in the episode on all our social media places: Twitter: @GoneColdPhilly  Instagram: @GoneColdPhilly  Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/gonecoldphilly   Gone Cold is a true crime podcast about unsolved murders and cold cases in the Philadelphia area. The show is made by Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) and Tom Rickert (@teerick)  in the KYW Newsradio Studios in Philadelphia. Subscribe to Gone Cold on the radio.com app or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices