Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders

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” mean...

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 chang...

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 Andre...

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 prot...

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 t...

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 a...

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: @gone...

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 re...

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...

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 inter...

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 o...

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 (@Kristen...

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 McGowa...

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 fin...

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?...

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, c...