Defrosting Cold Cases

Research website by Alice de Sturler

A Maine Murder by Leola McBreairty Cochran

By

The book ‘A Maine Murder’ by Leola “Lee” McBreairty Cochran is dedicated to Michael Craig Cochran (Oct 4, 1956 – Feb 18, 1981), Lee’s beloved son. The book is a tremendous case encyclopedia detailing every step that Lee had to endure to receive a part of the truth and some justice for her son. The […]

Gina Renee Hall partial remains found

By

Gina Renee Hall went missing on June 28, 1980. She was a freshman at Radford University, Radford, Virginia. After a night out in Blacksburg, she left with Stephen Epperly, a former Virginia Tech football player. Epperly was ultimately charged with Hall’s murder and “became the first person in Virginia — and only the fourth in […]

Barbara Ann Blatnik update

By

In the Barbara Ann Blatnik case, I just read that James Zastawnik posted bond. The amount was previously set at $100’000 but Summit County Common Pleas Judge Kelly McLaughlin granted the request from defense council to lower it to $35’000. There are conditions though: Zastawnik must wear an electronic monitoring device and must live with […]

Missing: Dean Curtis Mortensen  

By

Early in the morning of January 23, 1992, Dean Curtis Mortensen disappeared. He had been in a pub called ‘The Ship’ at Lister Hall on campus. Dean was a first year general science student at the University of Alberta St. Joseph’s College (SJC) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His case remains unsolved.  Tribute Ever since he […]

Missing: Jefferie Hill

By

Jefferie Hill (2) was last seen on September 28, 1968, in Tokoroa, New Zealand. He was almost three years old when he vanished. Authorities assume that he drowned in the Matarawa Creek that ran behind his home. But, doubt remains. This is the Case of the Month for July 2020. Missing On Saturday, September 28, […]

Justice for Cheri Domingo and Greg Sanchez

By

Justice at last. On June 29, 2020 at 130pm EST, we heard Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a.k.a. the Golden State Killer plead guilty to the murders of Cheri Domingo and Greg Sanchez. Today, DeAngelo Jr is pleading guilty to a string or murders, rapes, robberies, and other crimes that were committed from the mid-70s to […]

David Alonzo Van Meter (1904-1975)

By

David Alonzo Van Meter is one of those cases you hit upon after an email, a tweet, and then a reader sent an old newspaper clipping. According to the family, his name is Alonzo and not Lonzo. As I have no further documentation, I use the name Alonzo. This case is unsolved however, I did […]

The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan

By

The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan may not seem a logical choice for a book review on a website about old, unsolved cases. However, her book is exactly that. Cahalan wrote a book about the Rosenhan Experiment in which unknown people posed as patients in unknown medical facilities. There are indications of truth, lies, fraud, […]