DANIELS, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Despite the strong community bonds and neighborly demeanor generally associated with the Southern West Virginia region, the area has also played host to many instances of missing persons and nefarious disappearances.
Enter the Cold Case Crew: three Raleigh County friends drawn together by a mutual fascination with local cold cases and a passion for providing a voice to those left awaiting justice.
Initially discussed as a potential true crime series, it was determined that the project would require a more distinct focus in terms of subject matter. Thus it was decided that the content presented would offer analysis of local unsolved investigations, and from there, Cold Case Crew became a reality.
“We were all friends before,” says Beth, one the show’s three hosts who capitalize on their own distinctive rapport established prior to the podcast’s inception. Each creator brings a specific set of interests and skills to the table which makes them an indispensable part of the team: Ashley, “the social media sleuth;” Beth, “the creative extrovert;” and Whitney, “the research junkie.” The three creators recently sat down with LOOTPRESS to discuss the origins of the show, memorable cases, and more.
“We always talked about doing a podcast or writing something together,” says Whitney. “We thought originally we might do true crime, and then we thought we’d do something with more of a niche. Beth suggested doing cold cases and we thought, ‘that’s a great idea, let’s do that.’ We decided we’d focus primarily on West Virginia, so the majority of our stuff is West Virginia cases.”
From there, the Cold Case Crew began officially releasing content in early 2022, and have since released dozens of episodes and attracted a substantial following throughout the Mountain State and beyond. Fittingly, the first case to be taken on by the collective was one of the oldest in the documented history of Raleigh County: the murder of Patricia Sue Brogan Richmond.
As for the selection of which cases to explore, the process is generally a loose, organic one which facilitates input from all involved.
“We’ve had a few requested cases. But for the most part one of us will just suggest something, and if there’s already something else in place we’ll do that one next,” Whitney explains. For instance, for the Season Three premiere on the disappearance of Brenda Lambert, Brenda’s sister, actually reached out to us and asked if we’d consider covering the case.”
While similar endeavors may rely on speculation as a primary means of source material, the minds behind Cold Case Crew maintain that accuracy and fastidiousness are key in the production of quality output.
“We want to make sure we get it right,” says Beth. “We don’t want to be known as a show that just repeats the story, we want to actually look into it and investigate it.”
“We don’t put anything out there that’s not backed up by truth, we’re very careful about that, continues Whitney. ”We like to air on the side of caution with that because we would never want to implicate somebody who was innocent. That’s one of the things that I think is amazing about the three of us is that we’re looking out for everybody, even the people that might be guilty, you know? We try to keep everybody’s business private while we continue to investigate all of our cases. We would never want to do anything that would potentially jeopardize an investigation or a possible trial.”
The team has even taken to the road on numerous occasions to get a first-hand look at the locations in which certain incidents took place. It is also not uncommon for the Cold Case Crew to work directly with family members of individuals involved in a given case, as well as local law enforcement familiar with the proceedings.
Family members of victims and those close to individuals to which cases pertain are invariably allotted the utmost consideration, given the sensitive nature of much of the subject matter discussed. But the resolution of burning questions to the end of bringing about closure for these individuals is nearly as paramount an objective to the show’s hosts as is bringing justice to victims as well as perpetrators.
“There are families that don’t have closure because somebody was murdered and the person hasn’t been caught. But when the person’s never been found, when that body has never been found, there’s no kind of closure for that family,” Beth says.
As independent investigators, the hosts inevitably find themselves invested in the cases being analyzed for discussion due to their close proximity to said cases. When asked about cases which stick out most prominently in their respective minds, Ashley refers to the debut episode which seeks to unravel the murder of Patricia Sue Brogan who, in 1973, failed to return home after departing for Beaver, WV to run errands. Her co-hosts concur, expressing a shared affinity for the show’s first release upon its establishment.
Beth points to another investigation – detailed in the August 3, 2023, episode of Cold Case Crew: The Suspicious Death of Danny Casolaro and the Octopus Conspiracy – as having been particularly memorable as well.
“Danny Casolaro was not from West Virginia, but he died in Martinsburg. He was a part of this huge conspiracy and they’re trying to say he committed suicide. We went to Martinsburg, sat down at their Police Department, and went through all the paperwork. We’re not forensic specialists or anything, we’re just normal people that have done a lot of investigating. But there’s no way that man killed himself.”
The preceding episode, which discusses the disappearance of 24-year-old Tammy Jean Daniel in the late-1980s, is one considered by Whitney to have been perhaps the most memorable.
“I will forever try to bring her home,” she says of the investigation which remains inconclusive to the present day. “It’s a Raleigh County case from 1987. She came home from the bar and was dropped off at around 3:00 AM, then she was never seen again. Her husband said she left at 5:00 AM and no one has ever seen her again. We’ve had the pleasure of speaking to people in her family. They’re absolutely amazing people and will stop at nothing to find out what they can.”
“There are still signs, there are billboards up from Crime Stoppers right above Lewis Nissan,” Beth adds.
Though the quality and thoughtfulness of the work conducted by the Cold Case Crew in their investigations could lead one to consider the work journalistic in nature, the show’s creators insist that the primary mission of the endeavor is one of advocacy and a search for truth.
“I don’t consider myself a journalist, I just consider myself somebody that wants to advocate for these families,” Whitney clarifies.
Episodes of Cold Case Crew can be found everywhere podcasts are available, including Spotify, Apple Music, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and more! Here, listeners can dive into an assortment of unresolved investigations which have been subject to careful analysis by the crew. Listeners can also join the hosts as they’re forced to think on their feet during the show’s “Unscripted” and “Blind Reaction” episodes. Additional information can also be found at the Cold Case Crew website.
WIth regard to the various investigations presented for discussion in Cold Case Crew, it is ultimately up to the listener to make their own determination as to what truly transpired in a given case. As such, one must ask themselves, in Ashley’s eloquent turn of phrase:
What’s YOUR theory?