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Episode 68 | Massachusetts Cold Cases with Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe, Live from Faces Brewing in Malden, Mass



In this bonus episode, recorded live at Faces Brewing Co. in Malden, Mass, we explore local cold cases. With journalist Emily Sweeney, we uncover the intricate details behind some of the state's most perplexing unsolved crimes.



We mark the anniversary of Debra Melo's mysterious disappearance. The case of 30-year-old Taunton mother who went missing in 2000 continues to pose questions about the people closest to her. We call for the public's involvement to keep her memory alive and push for answers.



Next, we navigate three cases covered in Cold Case Files: The murder of retired Watertown police officer Gail Miles, the disappearance of Stow teenager Cathy Malcolmson, and the mystery surrounding the murder of John and Geraldine Magee in their Andover home. Despite years of investigative work, these families have few answers. Is there a connection to Gail's work as a cop to how she was killed? Why was Cathy's bicycle found on the exact route she rode to work months after she disappeared? Why would anyone want to harm the Magees?


We  shine a light on the Middlesex County Cold Case Unit's work to solve these cases, like the 1971 murder of Natalie Scheublin in her Bedford home - a case finally resolved five decades later. 


Delving deeper, we explore the disappearance of Jennifer Mbugua, a dedicated nurse who went missing from North Attleboro in 2014, the case of murdered boy Eddie Flynn, found in Billerica in 1947, Bruce Crowley who was last seen in Provincetown in late December 2022 and reported missing by a family member after his car was found in a parking lot there in early January 2023, and the still-unidentified remains of a man f0und on Town Beach in Sandwich in June 2014. Despite items found with his body, he is only known as "Man of the Dunes".


Plus the years-old unsolved cases of Andy Puglisi, missing from Lawrence since 1976, teenagers Melanie Melanson who disappeared from Woburn in 1989 and Deanna Cremin who was found murdered in Somerville in 1995, Rita Hester, the Black Trans woman stabbed in her Allston apartment in 1998, Charline Rosemond found shot in a parking lot in Somerville in 2009, Brittany Tee, missing from Brookfield since 2023, Karina Holmer's 1996 grisly murder that still haunts Boston, and Reina Rojas who disappeared in 2022 after taking a ride from her East Boston neighborhood to Somerville.


We emphasize the importance of public awareness and legislative advocacy, hoping for breakthroughs that could finally solve these mysteries.


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Slides from the live presentation:

Crime of the Truest Kind, New England True Crime

Debra Melo is missing

Light A Candle For Debra Melo




What is a cold case?

Massachusetts unsolved crime stats
Massachusetts missing persons stats
Emily Sweeney cold case files
Unsolved homicide Gail Miles Roxbury 2011
Unsolved homicide Gail Miles Roxbury home Wardman Rd

Cathey Malcolmson Stow 1985 missing
Cathy Malcolmson location of bike on Rt 62

John and Geraldine Magee Andover 2011
Magee home on Orchard Crossing Andover


Missing Jennifer Mbugua Fall River North Attleboro 2014
Missing Jennifer Mbugua Fall River

Missing Bruce Crowley Provincetown 2022
Missing Bruce Crowley Provincetown 2022

Unsolved Eddie Flynn Billerica 1947
Unsolved Edward Flynn Billerica 1947

Unidentified Man of the Dunes Sandwich 2014
Unidentified Man of the Dunes Sandwich 2014

Missing Andy Puglisi Lawrence 1976
Missing Melanie Melanson 1989
Unsolved Deanna Cremins 1995
Unsolved Rita Hester 1998
Unsolved Charline Rosemond Somerville 2009
Missing Brittany Tee Brookfield 2023
Unsolved Karina Holmer Boston 1996
Missing Reina Morales Rojas Somerville 2022
Crime of the Truest Kind hosted by Anngelle Wood

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