Unanswered Questions: The Unsolved Murder of Austin Colson

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The case of Austin Colson, whose promising life was cut short by a chilling mystery. We try to uncover the circumstances surrounding his disappearance on January 11, 2018, diving deep into Austin's story. Our investigation leads us to a man with a sketchy past and connections to Austin. Austin' story continues to be a trail of unanswered questions. We urge anyone with information to contact the Vermont State Police to bring justice for Austin and closure for his family.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Welcome to Dark Crossroads Podcast, hosted by
Roxanne Fletcher.
This is your stop for allthings true crime and paranormal
.
From the infamous story of theNew Bedford Highway Killer to
the chilling tale of the BlackEyed Children, dark Crossroads
Podcast is a truly deep diveinto the stories that frighten
and fascinate you.
All links to the show will beprovided in this episode's

(01:33):
description, and don't forget tolet us know what you think of
today's episode.
Today, we're going to beexploring the disappearance of
Austin Coulson, a young manwhose life took a tragic turn in
a cold January day in Vermont.

(01:56):
It was January 11th of 2018,and around 11 am in Royalton,
vermont, 19-year-old AustinCoulson stepped out of his
apartment ready for what hethinks will be just another day
of work.
He's wearing a camouflagedjacket, a white baseball hat
with his company logo on it anda pair of blue jeans.
His plans for the day were tocollect scrap metal from around

(02:17):
the area, but little did anybodyknow that this would be the
last time that he would be seenalive.
Austin was not your typicalteenager.
Austin played soccer,basketball and baseball at
Hartford High School.
His family described him as agood kid who was doing very well
for himself.
He had his own company, a&cPainting, and he was not afraid

(02:40):
of hard work.
When painting jobs were scarcein the winter he would turn to
odd jobs like scrapping metal tomake ends meet.
He had a girlfriend of twoyears and they were planning a
future together Marriage, kids,the whole nine yards.
Austin was also working towardshis GED, showing his
determination to better himself.
But on that fateful day inJanuary something went terribly

(03:03):
wrong.
Austin's mother and girlfriendare convinced that he didn't
just walk away.
It was not in his nature.
They knew he planned to collectscrap metal that day, which
meant that he would have neededto stop by his father's house on
Route 14 and Sharon to borrow atrailer.
Austin's own car, a small sedan, was not up for the job of
hauling scrap metal.

(03:23):
Here's where things start toget interesting.
About two hours and 40 minutesafter Austin left his apartment,
his mother drove by hisfather's property.
She noticed Austin's sedan wasthere, but the trailer was gone.
For his mother this raised ared flag.
It suggested that somebody elsewith a vehicle capable of
towing a trailer might havepicked Austin up.

(03:45):
Days passed and then thetrailer turned up, abandoned
near Downer Road.
It appeared to have beenpartially loaded with scrap
metal Hoping for leads.
The police released photos ofthe scrap to the public, but
Austin's personal belongings,including his maroon cell phone,
which had been turned off theday he vanished, were nowhere to
be found On the surface.

(04:07):
Austin was a hard-working youngman with multiple small
businesses.
His grandmother had taught himto make handmade soap and
candles, which he turned into amodest side hustle.
But there was another, moresecretive side to Austin's
entrepreneur efforts, one thatlikely brought in more money
than all of his other venturescombined.
Austin was involved in sellingcocaine.

(04:29):
This information brings us toan alleged person of interest,
in this case 38-year-old RichardWhitcomb Jr from White River
Junction, which was just a25-minute drive from Austin's
apartment.
Richard told Austin's motherthat he was supposed to meet her
son on the day he disappeared.
He claimed he sent Austin amessage about collecting scrap
metal together, something theyhad done before, but Austin

(04:51):
never replied to his message.
Richard's story, however, doesnot add up.
He said he went to Manchesterwith a friend named Mark that
day, but this turned out to be alie.
His cell phone data placed himnear Sharon, contrary to all of
his claims.
And what about his friend Mark?
He told the court that Richardhad called him asking for an
alibi.

(05:12):
Now things get even moresuspicious.
Just days before Richard wasnamed as an alleged suspect, he
was arrested for illegalpossession of firearms.
When police searched his phone,they found a safari search
asking how long gunshot residuelasted before breaking down.
Almost everything else on thephone had been deleted and

(05:33):
erased.
Richard, it turns out, hasquite a rap sheet Drug and
alcohol abuse, aggravateddomestic assault, probation
violations, federal gun chargesand drug trafficking.
But perhaps the most telling isthe revelation that Richard and
Austin were involved in cocainedeals together.
More information about Richardhas recently come to light,

(05:55):
including the fact that,apparently, the federal firearm
charges that he is currentlyfacing derive from a cocaine
deal that he was involved inalong with the missing teenager,
where a handgun, presumably inhis possession, was used as
collateral damage.
In 2019, richard took a pleadeal on the charges of being a
felon in possession of a firearm.

(06:15):
According to court paperwork,he was arrested for violating
the conditions of his release byusing meth, cocaine and
marijuana.
They also say he failed toreport to his probation officer.
On May 23rd of 2018, more thanfour months after Austin's
disappearance, human remainswere discovered during a search
in Norwich, on Beaver MeadowRoad.

(06:36):
The property where the remainswere found belongs to a man
named Buck Carlton and,interestingly, richard had
worked on this property at onepoint in his past.
As of the initial research forthis episode, the remains have
not been identified, but in aheartbreaking update they were
later confirmed to be Austin's.
Austin died from multiplegunshot wounds to the head,

(07:00):
according to the medicalexaminer at the time.
Richard Whitcomb has never beencharged in connection with
Austin Coulson's death, andVermont State Police say that
the case is still very much openand active.
So the question still remainswhat happened to Austin Coulson
on that January day?
Did a drug deal with Richard gowrong, or is there more to the

(07:22):
story that we still don't know?
Austin's family, who suspectedfoul play from the very
beginning, finally have someclosure, but many questions
remain unanswered.
For now, all we can do is wait.
If you have any informationregarding this case, please
contact Vermont State Police at802-234-9933.

(07:53):
Alrighty, so it's that time,guys, to say goodbye, but before
I do so, I just want to send athank you to all of my listeners
for your continued love andsupport and for sending in cases
that you want covered andstories that you want read on
the podcast.
We truly accept all stories,including scary, paranormal and
funny.
Any cases you want covered orstories that you want read on

(08:15):
the podcast, just please sendthem in to
darkcrossroadspodcasts atgmailcom.
Thank you for hanging out againtoday, and if you want any more
information about the podcastor cases and stories that we
cover, then head on over to thewebsite at
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link to our merch and also ourblog covering all of the cases

(08:40):
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(09:01):
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