August 23, 1987. Saline County Arkansas. 16-year old Don Henry and 17-year old Kevin Ives head into the woods to do some late-night hunting, but never return. Hours later, the two boys are seen lying on some railroad tracks before they are run over by a cargo train and the medical examiner concludes they had fallen asleep after smoking marijuana and their deaths were accidental. However, Don and Kevin’s families push for a new investigation, which uncovers evidence that they were violently attacked before their bodies were placed on the tracks. Throughout the years, a number of conspiracy theories would emerge to suggest the boys were murdered as part of a cover-up involving drug trafficking and that members of law enforcement were involved. To commemorate “The Trail Went Cold” reaching its five-year anniversary, we are finally covering the case known as the “Boys on the Track”, a story which is so convoluted that it is being released as a two-part episode. This week, Part 1 outlines the basic facts of the case and details how this whole saga gradually turned into a massive rabbit hole. Special thanks to listener Ryan Hanna for narrating the opening of this episode.
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This coming Saturday, February 20, “The Trail Went Cold” will be participating in a “Podcast-a-Thon” fundraiser for the Charley Project which will take place on GetVokl from 12:00 PM-midnight EST. All proceeds will be donated to a GoFundMe for the Charley Project. Our livestream show will be take place from 5:45-6:30 PM EST and the entire Podcast-a-Thon can be viewed here.
Additional Reading:
“The Boys on the Tracks” by Mara Leveritt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Don_Henry_and_Kevin_Ives
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/the-boys-on-the-tracks-book-12011/
https://unsolved.com/gallery/don-henry-kevin-ives/
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Don_Henry_and_Kevin_Ives
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/sep/20/suit-over-records-in-87-deaths-dismisse-1/
“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 going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon 2021: Austin” at the Fairmont Hotel in Austin, Texas on June 2-4, 2021, as well as “Crimecon UK” at the Leonardo Royal Hotel & Spa in London on June 12-13, 2021. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to either event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD21”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.com/CC21 or https://www.crimecon.co.uk.
“The Trail Went Cold” is now doing a weekly livestream show on GetVokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website.
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.