September 24, 1963. Opa-locka, Florida. 29-year old pilot Geoffrey Sullivan takes off in a twin-engine Beechcraft Travel Air plane from Opa-locka Airport and is accompanied by 37-year old freelance journalist Alex Rorke, as well as a passenger believed to be a Cuban exile named Enrique Molina Garcia. Over the next several hours, Sullivan flies through the Caribbean and changes his flight plan several times, but after stopping to refuel on the island of Cozumel, the plane and its passengers vanish without a trace. Since Sullivan and Rorke were heavily involved in anti-communist missions against Fidel Castro, it is rumoured that they may have been captured and held prisoner in Cuba for years. Even though Sullivan’s daughter eventually files a wrongful death lawsuit against the Cuban government, she receives no conclusive answers about what happened. On this week’s episode, we explore a Cold War era mystery about a missing aircraft and two American men.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/geoffrey-sullivan/

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

https://www.newspapers.com/image/664216557/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/938207406/

https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/11/archives/25000-offered-for-lost-fliers-2-us-men-and-passenger-vanished-over.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/664065457

https://latinamericanstudies.org/belligerence/sherry-sullivan.htm

https://www.newspapers.com/image/850157644/

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19946668#.XafOjehKhPY

https://www.click2houston.com/news/2012/01/16/a-daughters-mission/

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2012/04/22/news/waldo-county-woman-suing-cuba-for-nonpayment-of-21-million-wrongful-death-suit/

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2016/07/21/news/maine-woman-seeking-closure-for-dad-she-believes-was-shot-down-over-cuba/

https://fox23maine.com/news/local/after-a-30-year-search-will-new-relations-with-cuba-help-mainer-find-her-missing-father

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-med-1_16-cv-00310/pdf/USCOURTS-med-1_16-cv-00310-0.pdf

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-1st-circuit/1934306.html

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

June 27, 2000. Warren, Massachusetts. After showing up at Comins Pond to work her shift as a lifeguard, 16-year old Molly Bish vanishes without a trace and leaves all of her personal belongings behind on the beach. The previous day, Molly’s mother had dropped her off and noticed a suspicious-looking man inside a white car in the beach’s parking lot and numerous witnesses report seeing a white car in the area on the morning of Molly’s disappearance. Nearly three years later, Molly’s remains are discovered in a wooded area five miles from Comins Pond and it is believed that she was the victim of an abduction and a homicide. Over the years, a number of different individuals are looked at as persons of interest, but there is not enough conclusive evidence to implicate any of them, so the crime remains unsolved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the disappearance and murder of Molly Bish, as well as its potential connections to the case featured on last week’s episode: the 1993 murder of ten-year old Holly Piirainen. Special thanks to listener Meghan Cotter for narrating the opening of this episode.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Molly_Bish

https://unsolved.com/gallery/molly-bish/

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

https://www.masslive.com/news/2011/11/gerald_battistoni_man_eyed_in.html

https://www.boston25news.com/news/molly-bish-rodney-stanger-may-have-crossed-paths-1/141310989/

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/north/2014/11/13/rapist-s-death-may-shed/35943050007/

https://www.wcvb.com/article/person-of-interest-in-bish-case-denies-involvement/10030222

https://www.wcvb.com/article/molly-bish-murder-person-of-interest-named-warren-massachusetts/36622524

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/frank-sumner-molly-bish-criminal-history-murder/

https://www.masslive.com/worcester/2021/07/molly-bish-murder-case-francis-sumner-sr-new-person-of-interest-remembered-as-hot-headed-as-dozens-of-new-calls-come-in-to-tip-line.html

https://www.telegram.com/story/news/2021/12/02/molly-bish-case-investigators-go-ohio-collect-dna-son-person-interest/8843156002/

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/dna-in-molly-bish-case-isnt-a-match-sister-says-its-disappointing/2775879/

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/molly-bish-case-remains-unsolved-25-years-later/3753477/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/molly-bish-massachusetts-unsolved-murder-48-hours/

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

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

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.