The Trail Went Cold – Episode 184 – George Owens & Walter Dunson

The Trail Went Cold

July 22, 1985. Nolensville, Tennessee. After failing to pick up his wife from the bus station, 79-year old George Owens and his car are discovered to be missing from his home. One week later, George’s abandoned vehicle is found on a hilltop in a rural wooded area over 100 miles away and piles of kindling are found outside and in the back seat. Eyewitnesses report having seen George in the area looking disoriented, leading to speculation that he wandered off into the woods, but an extensive search effort is unable find to him.
June 5, 1998. Cincinnati, Ohio. Gary Adams contacts the police and reports that his 98-year old father, Walter Dunson, has gone missing during a shopping trip at Findlay Market, but almost none of the other witnesses from the market remember seeing Walter there that day. Even though Gary claims that his father has lived with him for the past 20 years, the official paper trail for Walter seems to end in 1980 and virtually no one else can recall having seen him since then. Investigators soon uncover evidence that Gary was committing fraud by cashing his father’s Social Security checks and while he serves time in prison for that crime, no trace of Walter is ever found.
On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold’, we will be chronicling a pair of unsolved missing persons cases involving elderly victims. Special thanks to listener Laura Ayers for narrating the opening of this episode.

If you have information about the disappearance of George Owens, please contact the Perry County Sheriffs Department at [phone]. If you have any information about the disappearance of Walter Dunson, please contact the Cincinnati Police Department at [phone].

Additional Reading:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/George_Owens

http://charleyproject.org/case/george-owens

https://www.newspapers.com/image/112397889/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/113113271/

http://charleyproject.org/case/walter-dunson

https://cite.case.law/f-appx/39/52/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/102278366/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/102256146/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/102402055/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/98734213/

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The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.